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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