your eyes are deceiving you. While this buck looked like a stud, he was deceiving because he had a huge body but we couldn’t put more than 175” to him. However, the more we examined him the more we thought he was a brute. I couldn’t help myself and within the first 20 minutes of light I left my pack and dropped off the crest to get a closer look! The wind hadn’t even started its diurnal shift yet and I have always been aggressive with my stalking, but it was the first day so I wasn’t too concerned. At 100 yards I looked back at Chad and signaled to him “OK?” He signaled back that I was indeed where I needed to be. The bucks in the group continued to feed higher on the mountain going at a quick pace to their beds. After another 30 minutes and a mile of carefully traversing a shale slide, the bucks were on top of another ridge just North of where we originally set up. Chad watched the entire thing go down through his Vortex spotter. I was now a mere 53 yards away and the buck was leaning up against a cliff wall feeding on a Columbine patch. Suddenly, the wind hit me from behind with a pretty stiff gust! I already had an arrow nocked and knew it was a NOW or NEVER scenario! I came to full draw, knowing good and well he was a great buck but not feeling certain if I wanted to end my hunt within the first couple hours of first light on the first day of our hunt! I stood up in one full motion at full draw, took a step forward and leveled my pin. Without another thought my finger dropped the trigger and I watched as the arrow cracked the buck tight in his pocket! He wheeled around on his two hind legs as he let out a long winded huff. It was as if the wind had been taken from him. I stood there watching him run straight downhill 150 yards catching all his gears, when suddenly his back end started to shudder. He fell and came to a baseball diamond stop. Shaking and trembling, I let out the most guttural yell ever! Chad was silhouetted on the ridge to the South of me jumping, fist pumping, and literally screaming with me! When we met up, we were both shaking, high fiving, and laughing. As we walked up on the downed giant we knew we under judged him. At 30.5” wide and 191 green gross, he is my best archery buck to date!
But wait, this story has two parts and the best part is yet to come. Back at camp, we sat momentarily reliving the moment not believing what just happened. It was still early, so we asked each other, “You wanna go back out and look around?” Off we went back up an adjacent ridge to glass the remainder of the afternoon. That evening we found another 180 class typical four with giant bladed eye guards and an ancient 32” typical 3X3 that carried easily 40+ inches of mass. Chad was dead set on the 3x3 because he had so much character. This buck was literally about as sexy as a 3x3 can ever get, so I completely agreed we should try for him the next morning. Back at camp, we chowed down the Mountain House and hit our bags early. Upon arriving at our vantage point the next morning the sky was dark and filled with thunderheads. The wind was blowing 30-35 mph and gusting uphill. The temperature had dropped below 30 degrees and the bucks were about a thousand vertical feet below where we left them the prior night. Already bedded in the thick willows at gray light, we devised a plan. Within 30 minutes of first light on the second day Chad was on his stalk! He rapidly traversed a class 3 shale slide, descending into the gut of the giant basin that was gobbled up into 4,000 ft. of dark timber. The wind was still howling but the bucks were all bunched up tight in the willows just outside the timber. Chad was in position within 35 minutes, arrow nocked and waiting for the giant 3x3 to stand. Chad did not have a shot at the deer. The surrounding willows only allowed for visibility of the tips of their antlers. After only 20 minutes the wind swirled and sent the bucks scrambling for timber. We glassed to see if they would come back out that evening, but they did not.
That night back at camp we discussed our options. I felt strongly we should take a look into another basin a couple miles away. I told him it would give the bucks a little time to settle back in and possibly allow us to find something better! The next morning we had a long hike, so we struck out at 0400 and traversed a long spine ridge to get into position. The weather from the previous day left frost on all the tundra, and everything had a small shimmer of white. The warmth of our bodies sweating under our merino layers made it look as if we were steaming in the pre-dawn light. We literally had not arrived at our glassing spot when we saw a bachelor group of bucks feeding uphill 300 yards away! We dropped to our knees and in oxygen deprived breaths stammered out words like, “that’s a big buck!” We carefully peered above a small outcropping and watched as all seven bucks fed along the edge of the cliff at 12,900 ft. They were ridiculously easy to approach since the wind was already moving uphill. All we had to do was move our position uphill 200 yards to get above them. I must admit, it almost sounded too perfect! This buck was easily 30+” wide and carried great forks with awesome mass. He was a no brainer; just one of those bucks you look at and don’t need to say anything. Within 15 minutes, Chad was screaming out over the basin like a Spartan warrior claiming victory! Crazed, excited, and emotionally charged, Chad yelled that the buck was down! I couldn’t believe it! No matter how much I relive the moment in my head, no matter how many times I reflect back on the story, it’s still one of the most incredible moments of my high country journal. Two best friends preparing to face odds, challenges, and obstacles yet achieving immense success through determination, attitude and ability.