Saturday morning rolled around and Dad and Glen headed up to set up camp. I followed later on as I had to work that night and wasn't able to meet up with them until about 10:00am. The morning started off with a promising sign. As dad and Glen were driving along on top of Wolf Creek early in the morning, they came across a line of four bucks! When Glen tried to get out of the truck however, they spooked and he was never able to get a shot, but an encouraging sign nonetheless.
By the time I had finally made it to camp it was around 10:00am and I was already exhausted from working all night. The temperature was already really hot, and a ton of smoke lingered in the air due to the wildfires burning across the western states. Because of this, we decided that we would hold off on hiking up into the area until later that afternoon. So, when 4:00pm rolled around we got all geared up and headed out. The hike was slow going from the start, incredibly hot and dusty. We finally made it to the top of the sandy ridge below our cameras and looked up to see several elk above us. 5 spikes, and a few cows and calves as well! We tried to get closer and use some calls, but they were already on to us, and they took off before we could get within range for a shot with a bow.
The next morning came, this time we decided to get dropped off on the Grand Daddy road and hike across, rather than fight the heat and dust. We spent an entire day on the mountain, but didn't see anything until evening time. I jumped a single cow elk, and Glen came within about sixty yards of a two point buck, but was not able to get within range before it caught his scent and took off. With that, armed with our flashlights, we made the long hike back down to camp in the dark, empty handed.
The next morning, Glen and Dad packed up camp and headed home, as they had to be back to work and wouldn't be able to come back until next weekend. I however, was off until Wednesday and decided to stay another night on my own and give it another try. I headed down to Hanna for a "grease burger" and tried to come up with a plan. After thinking about it I decided that I would try a different spot, and drive up on top to see if I could find the 4 bucks that dad and Glen had seen on the first morning.
So that's what I did, I drove up on top and cut off on to the Cold Springs road. From there, I found a small dirt road and followed it for about a mile until I noticed a doe feeding in the distance by some pines, and figured it would be a good place to spend the night. By about 2pm I was out wondering around looking for deer. Right off the bat I came across a two point buck in the distance. I tried to get closer, and made it within about 50 yards, but it managed to disappear into the woods before I could get a shot. I then began hiking around, and came across another buck, a 2X3 feeding about 70 yards above me. I snuck to within 47 yards, drew back on my bow, and let it fly. The arrow flew just over the top of the buck and it was a clear miss. The deer, startled, took a few steps and I shot again, this time at 60 yards, another clear miss! This time the buck took off and I figured I had blown it...A couple of hours later, I started to see more deer, I came across another two point and a big four point as well, but was unable to get within 70 yards before they spooked. As soon as it got too dark to see, I headed to bed feeling pretty disappointed with myself for missing the shot, but encouraged that I had seen so many bucks.
The next morning rolled around and right away I was seeing deer all over the place. A two point here, a three point there, another huge four point, etc. In fact, as I walked around I was seeing more bucks than I had probably seen within the past four years combined. I decided to return to the spot I had been the night before. I crept over the ridge and couldn't believe it when I saw three bucks right in front of me in the exact same place I had missed the shot the night prior. I put the range finder on the nearest buck and sure enough it was within 37 yards! I drew back and just then, before I could get to full draw, my release slipped causing the arrow to fire before I had it pulled back! This of course spooked all three bucks and needless to say, I was really frustrated at this point. Feeling as disappointed and pissed off as ever at the situation, I headed back to camp, figuring I had used up all of my luck for this trip, and started packing up and getting ready to head out.
Once I was packed up, I decided, "what the hell, its a long shot, but maybe those bucks will come back". I headed back up to the same spot, found a cool spot in the shade, and sat down. Within about an hour, and just before I was ready to head out, I heard something behind me. I looked to my right and just 10 yards away was the same 2X3 buck I had missed the day before! I sat there in silence, I couldn't make the slightest movement, or the buck would surely take off. So, I sat as still as I could, and I waited patiently, not making a move. Within a couple of minutes another back showed up as well, a spike. Finally, the 2X3 buck turned away from me and I was able to quickly stand up and come to full draw with my bow. This time the buck was only 15 yards in front of me. I aimed carefully and let fire, there was no question this time, the buck was hit, and it was a solid hit. The arrow clearly passed through, and even though he took off, I knew he wouldn't make it far. I had shot my first buck with a bow! I was really excited, but knew I was in for some work.
After about 15 - 20 minutes I approached the buck, he had only made it about 50 yards from the area I had hit him. He was not hard to find and left a good trail, there he was, laying in the long green grass. I couldn't believe that after all the missed opportunities that I had had within the past 24 hours that I was still lucky enough to have a successful hunt. Though I was excited, I quickly got to work, had to field dress the animal, drag him back to camp, and load him into the back of my Hummer all in the heat of the day (2:00pm) by myself. At this point I was definitely wishing that my dad and bro could have been there as well, but with some careful work and planning I was able to get him off the mountain within just a couple hours.
So in closing, 2012 has already been a successful archery season! Opening weekend I have already taken my first buck with a bow, and am ready to head back up for elk this weekend. All in all I saw a total of 14 different bucks within 24 hours, hopefully Glen can have the same success next weekend.
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