2007 Deer Hunting II©2007 Samuel Sims |
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Uncharted Travels I was looking forward to the second hunt of this year. Chris came up from Florida for an 8 day adventure to say the least. After an all day trip from sea level in Florida (about 90 degrees & 98% humidity) directly to over 6,000 feet above sea level and freezing temperatures. Welcome to Wyoming Chris! We had to introduce Chris to the entire family and finish watching my son's final football game for the season. By 3 PM we began our gear scramble, a popup trailer we had never used before packed full of gear & the back of the pickup overflowing with groceries and gear as well. Since this was Chris' first visit to what we call "God's Country" I wanted to make sure he had plenty of daylight to take in the breath taking views of the mountains from sunrise to sunset every day. One thing anyone who knows me will tell you, I am not a professional guide or outfitter & do not pretend to be. I do know how much I love the outdoors in the Rocky Mountains and wanted an opportunity to share this with my friend on his first trip out. We spent the evening in Chugwater, Wyoming. Waking up the day before opening day for our hunt area, Chris & I were greeted by one of Wyoming's signature season changes "Snow in the Morning". It was coming down in huge flakes and the clouds kept the sun shadowed all morning. Since I have been in Wyoming 20 years and hunting for 15 years, I had never had the opportunity to hunt the area Chris had drawn for. We were in Uncharted areas for both of us, I had asked several people the best area to hunt and we had decided to take an approach to the National Forest about 15 miles or more to the South of the forest borders. Misdirected I drive an '86 F250 with dual-tanks so 30 miles or more was not a worry. We had been climbing for several hours into the mountains taking our time and looking to find a nice camping spot for opening morning. About 4 PM both Chris & I were starting to see doe on the hillside, and neither of us had taken our cameras out of our gear box. We did think to get the binoculars out when we gassed up in town. Despite our 9 hours in the vehicle the excitement was still building as more wildlife appeared on the hillside. With sunset approaching Chris & I thought we had better start looking for a camping area, problem was we were still 3 miles from any National Forest entrances. We mapped a course to a small section of National Forest and started driving AGAIN. The view of the ranch lands and landscape was incredible, in the middle of all this gorgeous country we stopped for the 4 massive mule deer 45 yards off the road. The leader a beautiful 5 x 5 buck was standing on top of the ridge staring at us, nearly 15 minutes went by and the bucks continued to eat and meander around the top of the ridge not giving us a second look at all. Being good sportsmen, we watched them with the binoculars, the thought for Chris & I to scramble for the cameras never even crossed our minds. After watching these trophies walk over the top of the ridge and disappearing out of sight we drove a little faster to make camp. About 2 miles out of the National Forest we hit "pudding" on the road, the mud was about 10" deep and incredibly slippery. We chained up, drove about 1,000 yards and stopped to look at the carcass of what we could guess was a nice bull elk. The rack was cut off the elk and the remains left 200 yards off the road near a fence line. This sight really gave us an empty feeling, no one likes to see that in the field where you are planning a hunt. We finally hit the National Forest boundary about 6:30 PM, looking for a camping area proved to be a challenge as we were on a constant down slope or climbing. The altitude on the GPS was bouncing between 6,500 and 7,300 feet like a tachometer. I was concerned because we would not be able to find a level spot to set up camp at this rate. With less than 45 minutes of sunlight left we found flat ground to set camp. After a short hike around the camp, the rain started to come. Not ordinary rain that you are happy to see, this was snow & ice that melted seconds before it dropped on you. The camper was untested and completely foreign to Chris & I so we started breaking out the tarps and rain gear. Now 8:45 PM we had to get out the maps and plan for our hunt on opening morning. What Now? Looking at the maps, GPS and cross referencing our travel from the day I discovered we were 10 miles from where I had wanted us to be. Now for most folks that sure doesn't sound like much, but we could not just hike or drive 10 miles to where we needed to be for opening morning. The trip was over 45 miles one way to get to the rights side of the mountains for our hunt the next morning! Trying to stay quiet, I got up at 3:00 AM to start breaking camp. I knew we had to really move fast if we were going to get a hunt in before noon. I had the truck packed and ready to go by the time I woke Chris up about 5:30 AM. We were en route to Wheatland, Wyoming before sunrise. We filled the tanks, grabbed some breakfast at drive-thru and began heading out for our mapped hunting area. By 1 PM we hit the boundaries for the National Forest, now stopping several times to take pictures of the Bison Ranch at 7,000 ft, a small school house, and the best one of all Laramie Peak. Finally, Opening Day Hunt We found our campsite now 12 hours after I first started packing the truck. Chris looked at me and said Sam it is 3 PM, were we going to get a hunt in for the evening or not? So it was time for the afternoon/evening hunt. Driving the forest service roads through the mountains, Chris & I were looking for clear cuts and openings. I looked at Chris and asked him if he wanted to fill his doe/fawn tag right now. His eyes got big and Chris said sure, we jumped out of the truck following the doe over the nearest ridge line. As we came to the top of the ridge I signaled to Chris to get down, I spotted 7 deer just over the top of the ridge. Chris pulled up with his 270 set up and peered over the top of the ridge. One shot and perfect "fair chase" Chris had his doe and she was probably the biggest one of all those deer. Guessing at the yardage is was between 95 - 135 yards we could not have asked for a better chase or shot. The excitement intensified after tagging, gutting and loading Chris' doe into the truck. We could hardly stand it, looking deep into the trees and watching the top of the hills for antlers! With plenty of sunlight remaining we drove into a nice canyon, loaded with aspens all still dropping their golden leaves. There are trees growing out to the middle of rocks, streams cutting through the mountains and then it all opens up into a still green meadow surrounded by aspen groves. Aspens are awesome with the mountains and pine trees as their backdrop, the last of the gold leaves that have turned fighting the Wyoming wind to hang onto the trees. The ground looks like it was staged for a movie, the leaves are scattered perfectly across the grass. Grass is still bright green almost like a springtime growth. Just then, you see two deer ahead about 500 yards off, one a whitetail doe and the other a mule deer doe. Exiting the canyon we are back on the main roads, the National Forest is fortified in by private lands on all sides of the road. At one point we crossed over with some hunters from the east coast staying at a lodge in the mountains, the were kind enough to tell us about the $300 access fee charged by the lodge owners if you wanted to drive through their fence. Chris & I agreed in short time it would have to be a really cold day before we paid someone $300 to open a fence. Looking at the map I noticed a section of National Forest that had no roads other than the main road that cut thru a small corner of it. As we hit the corner Chris looked up the ridge and saw a couple of bucks. Ever Present Big One Chris & I jumped out of the truck and started watching these bucks, all good size but we were on the road. So I told Chris to walk up a bit to a legal shooting area (50 yards or more off the road). As Chris approached the deer 2 more stood up and immediately started working into the trees for cover. I caught a glimpse of the largest buck and his rack over his ears, I tried to signal Chris to get a shot at him before he ducked into the trees. It was too late, all Chris could see was the white on the rear. The missed opportunity was our conversation until we fell asleep. Day 4 of Chris' trip and the 2nd day of hunting we decided to venture into other areas of the National Forest, traveling several miles deep into the forest, we came into very rough terrain. Hoping to find either a big buck or a crossing back to the main road we continued through a gate onto ranch land. The road began to narrow horribly getting smaller by the minute and eventually turning into only an ATV trail. I told Chris I was going to follow a washout to a field and turn around. No sooner than I said that Chris said to take a hard left because we were about to high center the truck. Aside from Chris' warning I wound up dropping right into the washout. Praying the whole time that we could get out because the closest tree was several hundred yards away and we only had the come-along with about 30 ft of cable. I dropped into 4 low and we managed to crawl out, bad news was we had to go back through the several miles of narrow trails and 500 ft drop off's on both sides of the road. At one point we had to pull a tree off the trail to get back to where we came from. Day 4 was eventful but did not produce any game or wildlife, we had managed to burn up a lot of fuel on our trek into the mountains. It Just Would Be Hunting Without... ...Vehicle problems! Chris & I decided to do a morning hunt on Day 5 and then head into town to gas up. The morning hunt we kicked up a few doe & I had kept telling Chris I would not fill my doe tag until we had a buck for him. Early afternoon and we decided it was time to head into town. I stopped to look at the map and figure our fastest route to town and back hopefully for an evening hunt. We started driving and I looked out my window to find a flat tire on the front of the truck. One more thing to add to our list of shopping in town. As we came out of the National Forest we saw a game warden checking camps & vehicles. He caught up to us quickly and I decided we had better stop to see if he wanted to check our licenses etc. He had seen the blood from Chris' doe on the tailgate and wanted to check us out. He was very nice & helpful in directing us to the access areas we had been asking everyone about. We drove into Glendo, Wyoming a very small town mind you. Unfortunately, it was another 38 miles to Douglas, Wyoming to get a spare tire. The evening hunt was looking even less probable. So we did all of our errands in Douglas and made for the hills before dark. Coming into the mountains we drove up on a bunch of mule deer out feeding, then about 400 yards out of the forest we saw a doe mule deer feeding on the left side of the road and not more than 50 yards across the road a nice 4 x 4 bull elk. I gave Chris my digital and we decided to see how close we could get to him to get a picture. The pictures are in the ones above, but you have to look close since the shadows are pretty dark. He is on the right side and we figured we were inside of 50 yards taking the picture. Tick Tock Day 5 was another eventful day, but still no buck for Chris. Now with only 2 days left before Chris' long journey home I was getting anxious to kick up the big bucks for him. Day 6, we tried another hidden trail into the National Forest. In our travel up and around the mountain peak, we decided to take a few pictures like the one on top of this story! That is Laramie Peak behind Chris & I. Chris had made the decision that I needed to fill my doe/fawn tag and not wait until he got his buck. No more than 10 minutes after Chris told me I jumped out of the truck and ran to the edge of the forest and dropped a small doe. It was strange to sit for nearly 30 minutes watching the other doe and fawns hanging around. They would not leave until we were 30 yards from my deer, even while we were field dressing the doe & fawns were only staying about 50 yards away. I fired only one shot so they did not get spooked from the beginning. Creepy was the feeling having all the deer surrounding you as you take one of their herd away. Having filled my tag, Chris & I thought we should give the same hillside a try now a couple days after we saw the bucks. We parked off the road about 100 ft and began walking up the hill. Chris had brought his radios that had a vibrating call feature, this is really nice especially when you are looking to kick deer up. Nothing like a squawk on the radio to give away your position! Chris was going to go up a bit higher on the hill to see if he could kick something up. The timber was incredibly thick, so I figured I would sit down to glass the open areas. The wind was steady at 30 mph and gusting up to 50 mph. Talking was useless beyond 10 yards apart, so Chris' radio was helpful. Grabbing my binoculars I saw 2 bucks in a small clearing about 500 yards off and 300 yards below our position. Immediately, I remembered the vibrating feature on the call button of the radio. I kept hitting it and Chris was not answering, of course the general frequency we were on prompted everyone in the hills to answer my call. The bucks were now looking at me. Chris finally answered & I told him to get back to my spot. Chris sat in a position where he saw the biggest buck lying down in the shadow of the tree line, my position I had was good for one of the smaller bucks lying in the sun. I asked Chris which one he was going to try a shot on, he said the big one lying in the trees. One shot with the 270 Short Mag and all the deer disappeared into the trees. I asked Chris if he hit it, he said "no", that nasty word! Just then the 3 smaller bucks came up a ridge on a dead run, time enough to get one shot off. Another 300+ yard shot on the run behind trees. I didn't ask, needless to say. Chris went around to the top of the ridge and my approach was to double check to see if there was any blood from a possible hit. I thought Chris was going to meet me at the ridge, so I waited about 20 minutes then started hiking to the top calling Chris' name the whole time. Now 3:30 PM and I started to get concerned that Chris may have gone off a bit further than I was expecting. I hike back to the second shot position and start looking for Chris and calling his name, it is now 4:45 PM and I was getting nervous that I had just lost my friend in the hills and it would be dark soon. I gathered my thoughts and started getting the orange marking tape out to mark off a trail back to the truck. Unfortunately, I had reached down for the radio and realized I handed it to Chris to turn off before his first shot. Just then I looked up and saw Chris over 800 + yards away and above the area where we first saw the bucks. We signaled each other to meet up at the truck, I didn't realize Chris kept telling me to use my radio! It was back at camp that evening that Chris told me he set the radio on the ground before his first shot. We only had the morning hunt left before returning to Cheyenne on Day 7, now we had to deal with searching for equipment I should have never taken off my pack. What Next? Coming Up Big at the Last Minute Day 7 and we had a sleepless night, ran out of propane in the camper with 70 mph wind gusts all night long. It was freezing by morning & we had no heat. Both of figured we could go get the radio, do a short morning hunt and come back and pack up camp. I went to start the truck...once, twice & about the 10th try I said it has to be flooded. Already 6:30 AM and the sun is starting to peak over the mountains, I told Chris lets pack up as much as we can and let the gas evaporate a bit. 8:45 AM no buck, missing radio, flooded truck, low on fuel & frustrated we finally get the truck started and head straight to "Buck Hill" to get Chris' radio. By 9:00 AM we are out of the truck and headed up the hill, when I tripped on a nice bull elk shed. Chris threw it at the base of a pine tree so we could pick it up on the way back to the truck. We thought we had better hike up the back side of the hill just in case the bucks were back, 150 yards up the hill I caught a glimpse of the biggest buck of the 4. He was standing broadside staring right at us, I turned my back to him and told Chris he was right there! By the time I turned around Chris was already lying prone and ready to shoot. I said "are you...." and Chris fired a perfect shot through the vitals at about 275 yards or better. I said he is hit, Chris was so excited. I watched the buck walk behind a pine tree 10 feet away and lie down. Down to the wire and Chris landed an awesome shot on the third try on this newly named "Buck Hill". We walked to the top of the ridge found the radio and went off to tag Chris' first Mule Deer in the Mountains of Wyoming. Truly this was the exclamation point at the end of the 7 day hunting trip. There is no way to explain in stories or tales of how exciting each trip hunting is, but the memory and experience is beyond words! Chris, my friend, I cannot wait for next season and the adventure to come! HUNTING 2007 |
Pictures: (Deer w Chris Latherow) |