Okay, so I finally got my buck. It has been a hard year. I would be typing for a couple of hours if I wrote everything that was wrong with our luck this year. Lets just say that there were trucks and trailers being burnt down to the ground, almost going fist to cuffs on the mountain with two morons, cops called, 3 inches of water in our tent (yes, while we were sleeping in there), etc., etc., etc. The list goes on and on.
Back to the story, this is my "Back Up Buck". Time was winding down and Nathan still hadn't gone out for himself, so I shot this dude on Monday night (the 27th). That way Nate could take the rest of the week to try and murder a buck for himself. Nate called me Monday morning and said that he found a decent buck and he put him to bed. So I took off work at noon and headed up to meet him. We started our hike at 2:30 and pretty much reached to where we wanted to be by 4pm. So we sat there and waited until the buck decided to come out of the trees and eat. It was around 5:45 or so. He just pretty much stood there eating at 400 yards, but he wouldn't turn broadside. He was standing and facing us the whole time. Well, of course, the bad luck fairy decided to throw something in the mix, heaven forbid she gives us a day off, and low and behold two hunters, otherwise known as The Nevada Boys, started to come up through the draw. All of the sudden Nathan's tone in his voice went from a nice, sweet (yes he can be at times), "You have all the time in the world, just wait for him to turn..." to "Danica, take him now. Get on him and drop him, NOW!" By this time the one Nevada boy was standing at a fence post and was just shouldering his gun to shoot. The Nevada boy was only 200 yards from the buck. So I knew that it was game time. So when the buck lifted up his head and turned to look at the other hunter, I shot. I snuck the bullet right in under his chin and nailed him square in the chest. He jumped and went only about 30yards and was down for the count.
I mean it was a tough shot, not only being 400 yards, but when they are facing you like that, you have a target no bigger than a milk jug. What was cool was that Nathan got it all on film, you can see the vapor trail of the bullet, and you can see the bitshag in the background just standing there looking at us walk up to the buck. So the boys came up to talk to us, and they are like, "So, did you decide to take the buck when I put my scope on it? Because I was just about ready to shoot, when I seen the buck jump and then I heard a huge BOOM!" I was like, "No! We didn't even see you standing there until after we shot the buck." YEAH RIGHT. We had you goombahs pegged from the moment you popped your head out of the draw. It felt nice doing something to someone, that I had done to me ALL YEAR. :0) Vindictive, I know.
Scouting - Over 200 hours
Time away from family and friends - 150 hours
Gas Money for the hunt - $600.00
Nights spent on top of the mountain - 9
Shooting a buck out from under a out of stater and getting it on film.....
PRICELESS
Now this beauty is Tessa's buck that she shot. She has worked her butt off as well for this monster. She is 5 months pregnant, hiking in the mountains, all over hell and back for this buck. He scores 192", including the non typical points, and is quite the trophy. Not only is this a sweet buck, but what makes it even sweeter, is that this buck was being chased by a couple of people, including Nathan,Rance and Kent, during the archery season, as well as, you guessed it, the Nevada Boys. Yeah, you got that right. We shot down the Nevada boys' dreams TWICE!! GO HOME OUT OF STATERS!! Way to go Tessa. I am proud of ya.
