Sreekers 2013 Wyoming Rifle Mule Deer hunt.

[ScottR_EHJ]

Ok, so time for a recap story on the entire trip. It's a lot easier to get information down when I am on a computer keyboard rather than the phone. I am back home, so this hunt will go from live to recap after every short trip from here on out.

On Wednesday night a couple of my friends made their way up to camp, and they have both built long range rifles. Personally I prefer 400 yards or below, but hold off on that discussion for another thread.

We woke up Thursday morning and headed our separate directions. It had been brutally cold that night and I had to thaw out my boots with boiled water in the nalgene bottle. It worked pretty well, but that won't keep feet warm sitting on a cold hill. We saw a LOT of deer that morning as some of the pressure from other hunters had subsided. We were looking for deer on the lower ridges, closer to the 8500, to 9k mark. We didn't find anything that we wanted to put a stalk on that morning, and headed back over to the main basin to glass the bottom. We sat there shivering in the cold and wind until the sun finally knocked the cold out at 10:00 a.m.

 

[realunlucky]

What happened to the rest of story?

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Working on it, sorry for the cliffhanger....

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

As we warmed up a nap seemed like the most appropriate action to take. The deer had bedded down and rest was warranted for both of us.

My friends called on the radio for our location and we met up to decide what to do with the afternoon hunt. The Western side of the basin seemed to be where the deer were hunkered down and we all headed that direction.

I picked an area to glass where i had located a buck earlier in the week, but hadn't gotten a good look at his head gear. After an hour of glassing radio silence broke.....

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

We left my buddies about a quarter mile behind us in a place where they could easily watch two basins. They had located a buck a 160 class buck, roughly 700 yards down the hill. This was my buddies first ever mule deer hunt, and the rest of us wanted him to have a shot at this buck. We have all taken bigger animals and this would have been an excellent first muley for anyone.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

The rifle was dialed in for the long range shot with calculations for windage, distance, and declination all taken into account. Namack(screen name other places, he is not on here....yet) leveled off the rifle and squeezed.

 

[CaseyU]

... killin me

 

[realunlucky]

Me too!

 

[jarheadhunter]

sreekers where are you from in WY? I used to live in Green River.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

The shot looked good through the optics but after nearly two hours of looking, not a single drop of blood, or any sign that there was a hit. After the highest of highs thinking we should have a buck down, the lowest of lows happens when an animal isn't where you expect them to be. In fact when you are positive that he is in the next canyon still scared from the missed shot, but all the wiser to live through the season it makes the experience even more bitter. All the talk of backstraps cooked into our mountain houses quickly turned into hungry stomachs and aching feet for the hike back to camp.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Namack made the call that it was a miss and it was time to gather gear and start the 1500 vertical foot ascent back to camp. The sun had set behind the mountains to our west and the chill of night came on quick. Climbing back to the peak in the dark wasn't what any of us had planned for but were setting out to do.

We mentally mapped our way up to the top, knowing that we only had a 30 foot section hill in the last 50 feet that wasn't completely cliffed out. We finished the climb about an hour later, exhausted and ready for bed. The wood burning stove in the tipi felt better than normal that night.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

I will update this thread as the season goes on, and post up some pictures of some of the other notable events. I head out again on Thursday, but won't have much for cell signal so I am hoping to be able to post a hero shot or two.

We also learned that while it is possible to take long distance shots, and even with training(Namack has PLENTY), game recovery is always going to be tougher at those distances. We are positive that this was a missed shot, albeit by inches. However, judging a hit, a good hit, and a good shot is always going to be tougher the further out the shot.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Good stuff Scott... 750 yards ain't a short shot that's for sure!

Mike

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

sreekers where are you from in WY? I used to live in Green River.

Rock Springs

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Mike, no its not a chip shot by any stretch. We think the mistake was in declination as that can cut distance significantly, and in turn put the bullet much higher. We only saw the end of the vapor trail, which looked like a pass through, but.......a shot that goes over can look like a pass through at those distances.

 

[jarheadhunter]

Rock Springs

Shoot we were practically neighbors.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Mike, no its not a chip shot by any stretch. We think the mistake was in declination as that can cut distance significantly, and in turn put the bullet much higher. We only saw the end of the vapor trail, which looked like a pass through, but.......a shot that goes over can look like a pass through at those distances.

Yeah that's tough! And one reason why I bring my phone with me on hunts... I can use the phones "level" sensors to get an approximate angle for the shot. Or just use an Angle Cosine Indicator on the scope but since I always pack my phone with me I don't bother with the Cosine indicator. It's also tough for people that aren't used to spotting vapor trails to make a call out there at distance. If you don't have a decent amount of experience it's difficult to call high/low because it's tough to know at what distance the bullet is at when you see it in the vapor trail. Lot of guys don't realize just how much arc a bullet can have out there...

Mike

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Headed out to take advantage of the fresh snow. I am headed to the area where this buck was killed last year.

I have heard some reports of another buck of that caliber in the area. We will see what the deep snow flushes out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Go get em!

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Buck down, pictures soon.