My best friend growing up had told me that as soon as I drew a tag, I needed to let him know so that he could book flights out. As soon as the draw results came out, he booked his flight and we started planning out the dates.
August 17th finally came around, and I headed to Las Vegas to pick up Cameron so we could get on the mountain. We got to the parking lot at about 4 p.m. and started getting our packs all secured and ready for the hike in. We had about five miles ahead of us and some pretty steep climbs. We got to camp at about 7 p.m. and still had some time to glass. We glassed for the rest of light, only seeing a couple does and some elk.
The first thing we saw the next morning was some elk, and not long after that, we spotted one of my hit listers we named “Scar.” He was with four other bucks, but our number one target buck named “Playboy” was not in there.
On Monday, we woke up before light and got on the glassing knob, finding Scar and all the other bucks immediately. We watched the group of deer feed over to the next basin, so we decided to go on a hike to get to the other side to glass new terrain. We got to a good spot for lunch and sat down. Expecting to be there for the rest of the evening, we made ourselves comfortable and started glassing. It wasn’t long before I picked out a bedded deer. I looked at Cameron and all I could say was, “It’s him.” We immediately got excited and made a plan. It wasn’t long before he got up and fed 200 yards to his next bed, which was a lot better position.
We started on a long two-hour stalk, and as soon as we got within 200 yards of him, it started raining. We crawled up to where we could see him at 110 yards. Just out of range, I told Cameron that I would need to try and get closer. I slid down the steep hill and got into a position. I was 80 yards from his bed. I looked down, but he wasn’t there. I watched as he walked through my only shooting lane at 101 yards. I wasn’t quite comfortable with that range, so I waited until he got out of sight and crawled back to Cameron. While I was headed back up, the buck had started his way right back towards his bed. He walked only 60 yards from where I was positioned. With our luck, the wind finally swirled and he took off.
We got up before light the next morning to go sit on the glassing knob for a total of half an hour before spotting him again. We watched him for multiple hours before he finally bedded. Cameron and I looked at each other and said, “If we are gonna kill that deer, it’s gonna be right there.” We made a plan of attack before packing our stuff and putting boots on the ground.
Two hours later, we found ourselves only 140 yards from the tree he was bedded under. We dropped our packs and started stalking. We got within 100 yards of him and kicked off the shoes. We stalked to a spot and ranged the tree he was under at 41 yards. I knew that if I got 10 more yards I would just have to use my top pin. I chose a tree to get to and crawled over to it. When I got to the tree, I started to stand up to see if I could see the buck. I only saw a smaller buck, and he was already on alert. I told Cameron I was gonna need to pull back and stand up. He said go for it, so I pulled back while crouched and stood up. That little buck jumped up and took off immediately. I didn’t have much time before Playboy spotted me and stood up to take off. I quickly released my arrow and hurried it behind the shoulder. As he ran off, Cameron jumped up to see my arrow sticking out the side of the biggest deer we had ever been able to hunt, let alone see. We got super excited and heard him crash only a few seconds after I shot. We hurried and checked the blood to see what it looked like, and we knew that I had just punched both of his lungs.
After that, the true work began with a trek of getting him out of that steep basin. I shot Playboy on August 20th at 12:00 p.m., and we didn’t get him cut up and packed out to the truck until 8:45 p.m. It was well worth the time spent scouting for him and the back ache of hiking him up 1,200 feet of elevation gain just to go right back down 1,300 feet of elevation loss. I will always remember this hunt and will hopefully be back in after Scar in a few years when he grows older.
August 17th finally came around, and I headed to Las Vegas to pick up Cameron so we could get on the mountain. We got to the parking lot at about 4 p.m. and started getting our packs all secured and ready for the hike in. We had about five miles ahead of us and some pretty steep climbs. We got to camp at about 7 p.m. and still had some time to glass. We glassed for the rest of light, only seeing a couple does and some elk.
The first thing we saw the next morning was some elk, and not long after that, we spotted one of my hit listers we named “Scar.” He was with four other bucks, but our number one target buck named “Playboy” was not in there.
On Monday, we woke up before light and got on the glassing knob, finding Scar and all the other bucks immediately. We watched the group of deer feed over to the next basin, so we decided to go on a hike to get to the other side to glass new terrain. We got to a good spot for lunch and sat down. Expecting to be there for the rest of the evening, we made ourselves comfortable and started glassing. It wasn’t long before I picked out a bedded deer. I looked at Cameron and all I could say was, “It’s him.” We immediately got excited and made a plan. It wasn’t long before he got up and fed 200 yards to his next bed, which was a lot better position.
We started on a long two-hour stalk, and as soon as we got within 200 yards of him, it started raining. We crawled up to where we could see him at 110 yards. Just out of range, I told Cameron that I would need to try and get closer. I slid down the steep hill and got into a position. I was 80 yards from his bed. I looked down, but he wasn’t there. I watched as he walked through my only shooting lane at 101 yards. I wasn’t quite comfortable with that range, so I waited until he got out of sight and crawled back to Cameron. While I was headed back up, the buck had started his way right back towards his bed. He walked only 60 yards from where I was positioned. With our luck, the wind finally swirled and he took off.
We got up before light the next morning to go sit on the glassing knob for a total of half an hour before spotting him again. We watched him for multiple hours before he finally bedded. Cameron and I looked at each other and said, “If we are gonna kill that deer, it’s gonna be right there.” We made a plan of attack before packing our stuff and putting boots on the ground.
Two hours later, we found ourselves only 140 yards from the tree he was bedded under. We dropped our packs and started stalking. We got within 100 yards of him and kicked off the shoes. We stalked to a spot and ranged the tree he was under at 41 yards. I knew that if I got 10 more yards I would just have to use my top pin. I chose a tree to get to and crawled over to it. When I got to the tree, I started to stand up to see if I could see the buck. I only saw a smaller buck, and he was already on alert. I told Cameron I was gonna need to pull back and stand up. He said go for it, so I pulled back while crouched and stood up. That little buck jumped up and took off immediately. I didn’t have much time before Playboy spotted me and stood up to take off. I quickly released my arrow and hurried it behind the shoulder. As he ran off, Cameron jumped up to see my arrow sticking out the side of the biggest deer we had ever been able to hunt, let alone see. We got super excited and heard him crash only a few seconds after I shot. We hurried and checked the blood to see what it looked like, and we knew that I had just punched both of his lungs.
After that, the true work began with a trek of getting him out of that steep basin. I shot Playboy on August 20th at 12:00 p.m., and we didn’t get him cut up and packed out to the truck until 8:45 p.m. It was well worth the time spent scouting for him and the back ache of hiking him up 1,200 feet of elevation gain just to go right back down 1,300 feet of elevation loss. I will always remember this hunt and will hopefully be back in after Scar in a few years when he grows older.