- Jan 21, 2014
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I just returned from my Idaho deer hunt. I had another great solo adventure. I wasn't able to break free until the second week of season, but didn't really mind since for me it always seems that Nov.10-20 is the magic time for the mule deer rut, most places I hunt out west. I explored a lot of new country, since this was a unit I had never hunted before.
After a couple days of checking out likely areas I ran across a buck that I really liked the looks of. It was getting late when he came strutting across the saddle and ran a couple smaller bucks off. I thought I should make a move fairly quickly due to the fading daylight. I actually bumped the buck and his does at about 100 yards, but they got over the ridge before I could positively identify the right buck. After a mad dash up over the knoll, to get some elevation on them, I relocated the deer in the next saddle. Fortunately he gave me a great broadside shot and the old Model 70 Winchester 30.06 did the trick at 305 yards. The cool thing about this hunt was I used the rifle my Dad let me start using at 12 years old and officially gave it to me for my 16th birthday (I'm 51 now!) After a couple 2 mile trips to pack my buck out and after a good nights sleep I was able to stay and explore a few more days.
(added some pics farther down in the thread)
After a couple days of checking out likely areas I ran across a buck that I really liked the looks of. It was getting late when he came strutting across the saddle and ran a couple smaller bucks off. I thought I should make a move fairly quickly due to the fading daylight. I actually bumped the buck and his does at about 100 yards, but they got over the ridge before I could positively identify the right buck. After a mad dash up over the knoll, to get some elevation on them, I relocated the deer in the next saddle. Fortunately he gave me a great broadside shot and the old Model 70 Winchester 30.06 did the trick at 305 yards. The cool thing about this hunt was I used the rifle my Dad let me start using at 12 years old and officially gave it to me for my 16th birthday (I'm 51 now!) After a couple 2 mile trips to pack my buck out and after a good nights sleep I was able to stay and explore a few more days.
(added some pics farther down in the thread)
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