One week before opening day I was glassing for Lefty when I found another great buck 26 inches wide, tall with awesome mass and deep forks. His running mate was no slouch either. I would be happy with either of them this late in the game. I felt a little better with three potential shooters in a three mile area. I still had some areas I hadn’ t checked yet that usually hold some good bucks so I felt pretty good about opening day.
Three days later, it was just Dusty and I. I snuck back in on the buck bedded under a different tree. I got to 16 yards of the bedded buck and waited the most punishing 12 hours of my life, again with no water or food, only to have another buck stand between us and blow the whole deal. Needless to say, close calls like these with no success can take a toll on you mentally.
The next morning the buck was nowhere to be found. That didn’ t surprise me much. Out of frustration, I told Dusty lets go back to camp. Back at camp I made breakfast and we hit the rack for a nap.
We woke up around 3pm. And I told Dusty I had to clear my mind and we were going to switch gears and head to an area that has held some great bucks in the past. The area was 27 miles from our camp so we headed out.
Opening day my wife, brother in law Dusty and father in law Duane and I were glassing the area where the tall buck lived. After a couple hours, Dusty spotted the big bucks running mate. We quickly put together a plan and I was off. I snuck to 23 yards of the buck across a shale slide but had no shot because of the thick brush. He had two more steps to take and I had a shot. I could see his awesome antlers and neck now and just started to draw my bow when he jerked his head up and looked down the hill towards a two track road. As luck would have it, another hunter was driving up the road and spooked the deer to cover. At that point I backed out.
Day two I snuck in to 36 yards of the buck’ s bed and waited for him. He came just as planned and I drew aimed and released only to hit a limb on the huge tree he liked to bed under. He trotted off unharmed and not sure what happened.
Day three I snuck to the same spot but he beat me to his bed this time. He was a little more cautious this time and bedded on the other side of the tree. I sat there for 7 hours only 18 yards from the buck, cooking in the 100 degree heat with my water only 300 yards down the hill, only to have him walk out on the wrong side of the tree and wind me.
When we got there for some reason I felt a sense of relief and peace of mind. I was showing Dusty a couple of spots where we had seen deer bedded in the past. One bed in particular where a buck was bedded two years before we nicknamed“ Wally” because it looked like he ran into a wall with his main beams and bent them up. He was just a heavy 4x5 in 2010.
A few minutes later Dusty said,“ I see a deer down in that green stuff.” Being with someone in the desert for 8 days can make you a little edgy. I looked at him and said,“ In the green stuff???”“ Could you narrow that down a touch??” He looked at me and said,“ By that tree.” At that point I wanted to push him off the rim rock we were sitting on but just then he pointed down the hill only 400 yards away and I saw the deer.
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