Other then the two young bucks we busted when we went in the tree belt to set up the blind... nothing. Only two road hunters drove by and that was early. Had the whole place to ourselves the last 45 minutes. Was surprises we didn't have anything come cruising through. I will be heading in deep tomorrow morning away from the roads. Hopefully they are moving a bit more then they have. The afternoon will find us back in the blind again. Going to be cold tomorrow... high of 21. Good news is the low won't be much colder. Should be a good day. Tim
Wasn't Prepared for The Wind Dang wind started by 9:30 and bye 12 noon I was on my way out of the bush with face burn from the wind and my feet swelled up due to the cold. The wind switched and it started to gust up to 55 kMS and come from the north right into my face. I was warm till the wind started! When it's that high with -12c or 3f and your not dressed for the element, then you do like I did. I almost stayed to long as my feet swelled up and my joints didn't work that great either. On my way down the slope a mature doe stepped out in front of me @ 55yards,she looked my way and then the other ,then turned and went back in the bush. She didn't see me cause I was camoed right into the slope wearing my white camo. I took a few more steps down the slope and looked back up and there was a great buck standing broadside, now he'd have been @50. I can make that shot. He turned to look the other way as I nocked an arrow, then he walked that way also which was away from me. I tried rattling but he didn't want any thing to due with it. That was all I saw for deer. Took some anti-iflam pills, hopefully I can get back out tomorrow. Supposed to be warmer Just checked the windchill, it said it feels like -19. I would have known that I would have worn my Kodiak boots good for-100. My feet still get cold in those if I don't move my toes. I would have been okay in my HBS, maybe tomorrow. Rocky
Marshall was out yesterday and had a couple encounters, both with shoot able bucks. I just walked in to about 75 yards of two does. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We got out together for the first time yesterday. Here's the story: Yesterday was a successful day for us as we talked about it at camp last night. We not only saw deer, but were able to sneak on some. Marshall put the sneak on a real tall, thick 2x2. We started about 150 yards away and he snuck to about 100 and used the fog that was rolling in to make a run close to the deer. Unfortunately, the deer thought the same thing. By that point, we were both soaked to the bone (snow and ~30 mph winds in the bowl we were in) so we decided to pull out and try and make a fire to warm up and wait it out before trying again. With the snow coming in the night before, we couldn't get anything dry enough to start. I ended up cutting myself in the finger with my knife and bled pretty good, so we decided to head back to the truck. We split up along the way as Marshall went to recover the dead head we had found earlier in the morning. As I got closer to the truck, my finger stopped bleeding and I started seeing tracks. After a couple of quail scared the life out of me, I decided to follow the tracks. I never saw anything, but from the tracks, it would have been a big doe or a 1.5 - 2 year old buck (shooter in my book). We came home and warmed up and changed into dryer clothes and planned to check out another spot. We were able to the Rhino from my father-in-law, so we headed out. We got to where we were going with about 1.5 hours left of shooting light, so we unloaded the Rhino and took a drive. Midway up the canyon, we started to get rained on, so we broke and made for camp, which we still had to set up. We decided while debriefing the day that we would look where we were in the morning, and if nothing promising, head home for the night. We woke up around 5, had some breakfast and warmed up around the fire before taking off. The watering hole we were going to set up on was dry, so we headed back down. On the way back down, we jumped 4 does. After following them from the road in the Rhino and not seeing a buck with them, we decided to head out of the canyon to the flats. Once there, we drove around looking for anything fresh. We hit a point where we were so cold we needed to walk. We walked for about 45 minutes and didn't see one ounce of fresh sign, so we came home, showered and warmed up. Tomorrow I think we are going to go back into our spot and see what we can get. I'm not sure if getting out later will have any effect with the snow on the ground or not just yet. I'll keep you guys posted
ProV1 Congrats on the buck,always good to get some meat for the winter, I'll be out tomorrow afternoon then not till Monday I'll start my daily sits then. Good luck team ,late rutt up here. Rocky
Hanging at the house today. Marshall is feeling a little under the weather and the weather isn't cooperating very well. We'll head out to our spot tomorrow, trying to be walking about first light. We were jumping deer we couldn't even see Thursday. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Day pack is almost ready to go, still need to put water and some food in. Waxed my string and wiped my bow down (took on a little mud in the side by side yesterday). Weather looks to be clearing up a little bit. I haven't talked to Marshall to see how he is feeling. Really pumped for tomorrow's hunt. Is anyone else out today?
So for today's hunt we went back to our spot. We started walking in just as first light was coming and we didn't see anything. It took almost an hour and a half in before we saw any does (saw a total of 27 does today). We finally started pushing does around but didn't see any bucks with them. We watched for a little bit, but nothing. It was about 9 when we saw a little button buck walking towards us. Wanting to fill my tag, I told Marshall I'd take a shot. He disappeared underneath our feet and when Marshall popped up he took off. We then sat on the watering hole for about an hour. I watched 2 does at 175 yards just mosey on over the hill. Marshall came up to where I was set in and we decided to keep heading south. Over the next ridge we saw a little forky (best guess is a 1 year old buck) and a big 3x3. The forky walked over in front of us, roughly 30 yards. I was at full draw, but the bush I was using as cover blocked any shot. Marshall then set out on an 1.5 hour stalk on the 3x3, in which the closest he got was 100 yards. There was a doe underneath Marshall that we thought would bring the buck to him, but she ended up luring him away. We jumped up and proceeded to chase (mind you at this point we're about 6 miles as the crow flies to the truck) until we see that the 3x3 has gone over the other side of the mountain. Being at the foothill of the mountains and knowing there was a road close, we decided to call my father-in-law for a ride. About 2.5 miles later, we had a couple of cold beers, swapped some stories, and got ready for the afternoon hunt. We followed some tracks to a decent vantage point and waited for 45 minutes. We walked a little bit further up the mountains then where we started the morning and just took a stroll back in. We jumped 6 more does and what we believe to be a little spike. We made it to a turn around point and decided to joke around and just walk back. We found some mountain loin tracks along the way back, and two of the does and the spike were back to where we jumped them. The day was long and we walked ~9 miles today. Both of us are beat, but optimistic that we have a good spot. Our problem is now we are running out of time. We both have commitments on Tuesday which will prevent us from hunting and Marshall goes back to work on the 20th (the last day). Oh, and the temps never got above 30 today*
wreckless448 Sounds like a great day on foot, specially being that high up in the foothills. Wish I could get around in the higher grounds we have here in Alberta these days. Arthritis has taken it's toll on my knees! Good luck on your last few hunts! Rocky
Had another buck within bow range and overshot him. Headed out with the Rhino to a different spot this afternoon. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quick recap of this morning's hunt: We hit our parking spot just after 4:30 and started in. We moved in rather quickly as we noted that we had beaten the light. We got in where I had scouted and posted the video from at 6:00, about 30 minutes prior to sunrise. We sat in place for 30 minutes before we noticed a group of does about 175 yards above us. We dropped a little lower and tried to come up and around and we jumped a decent buck. I never got eyes on his rack, but Marshall said he was a good one. We split up to try and get around him and Marshall watched him tend a doe in the other direction. We continued up the mountain and watched three separate groups of does, ranging from 204 to 400+ yards away. Looking at how high we were and the lack of buck action, we decided to call it a day. We walked back and got talking about changing our approach from "tagging out" to "having a good time" by loading up the Rhino, a cooler and our bows and seeing what would happen. We started to drive out of our spot when Marshall noticed a little forky. I fumbled for my release and bow and Marshall ranged him at 40 yards. Unfortunately for me (and fortunately for the buck) he moved about 6 yards closer and the arrow went right over his back. I followed in pursuit for about 5 minutes before realizing that our best chance of seeing him again was to continue the drive out. No luck. We planned on taking tomorrow off for my niece's birthday, so we won't be back in the field again until Wednesday, which will be our last day. We will be loading up the Rhino and taking off early in the morning, since Wednesday afternoon filled up with an interview and some last minute studying (I applied for an IT position within my company, and am a little out of practice in the field. IT was my military specialty and Networks were my function during a deployment to Afghanistan) My wife is convinced that going out by myself is a bad thing, but I might try to go find that little buck down low Thursday morning, the last day of the season. It's been an enjoyable hunt so far, with hopefully a couple of outings left. I'll end up posting my season breakdown after I get it all figured out.
I know that my left knee is feeling all the hiking and I'm sure that Marshall is hurting just as bad. It has been a great couple of days.
Tomorrow will be our last day out. We're going to go out and just have a good time and enjoy the last day. Hopefully we get a chance at a deer.
Well I have some bad news, I got called in to work this morning from my tree stand. I leave tomorrow back for work and will miss the last 2 weeks of the season. I was out this morning but the dang winds were playing havoc on me again. Here's a shot of what I'll miss for the next 2 weeks. Good luck team ,sorry I didn't contribute to our point total. . I'll cheer you's on from up north.Been a pleasure meeting and getting to know you's. Rocky
