I don't agree with everything being said regarding soliciting help, but I do agree with a good portion of it. Anyway, the general point is taken.
I am not a great story teller, but here is a brief run down of my Trout Creek hunt. Both my Dad and I had the tag. He is 64, and I am 41. I/we scouted a total of about seven days during the month of September, but the dates were split apart. The scouting was disappointing, as I did not see a single deer over about 150" while scouting. Most of the scouting was done at long distance, as I did not really want to get down in to the draws and spook anything. We were looking for deer in the 165-170 range or greater.
On opening day or day one, we started doing some real hunting and getting down in to the draws a little more. I jumped the buck in the picture that you can see standing through the brush, but I decided to pass him because I did not think he was quite what I was looking for. In total, I saw six bucks opening morning including the one I took a picture of and two other 28" + wide bucks that I saw moving at a long distance (it is possible it could have been the same buck twice). My Dad also saw a few bucks but nothing of consequence.
On days two through five, we ended up hunting for a 190" type deer that my Dad jumped on day two. Even though we hunted for this deer for four days, We never did see him again. However, I did see a 170" type deer that I could not get a shot at. We also saw a few other small bucks during this time period.
On day six (our final day to hunt because I had to get back for my son's football game), we decided it was time to give up on the 190" deer my Dad saw and return to where we were at opening morning. I split apart from my Dad before daylight and the plan was that we would work down a canyon (me on the bottom and him on the top) and meet back up at 11:00. At about 10:30 with the sun shining bright, I popped up over a finger ridge to an area of the canyon that was wide open with just a few pieces of sage and some rock out croppings. I was really surprised when I spotted a deer out in front of me about 400 yards, and I was even more surprised when I threw up the binos and saw it was a shooter buck that was walking towards me at a fast pace. I could tell instantly that he had good tines and was likely a shooter, but I needed to verify he was for sure at least a 4x4. However, there was a roll in the hillside and he was getting ready to go out of my sight picture in to a small draw where he could easily escape down to the creek. Thus, before I was 100% sure he was a 4x4, I decided I needed to take a shot quickly before he was gone. I ranged him at 313 yards, and then quickly got in the prone position. Unfortunately, the grass was too tall and thick. Scrambling for options, I got down on one knee and propped up my pack in front of me for a rest. Although I have never shot like this, I went ahead and took a quick shot even know it was uncomfortable. I heard the whack as he went down but then he got right back up. Feeling how uncomfortable the first shot was, I threw the pack aside and just shot the second shot off my knee. I again heard the whack just before he tumbled out of my sight picture. I immediately walked quickly over to where he was, and saw him laying about 100' from where he vanished out of my sight picture. I felt confident that he met my minimum standards of 165", and then I was pleasantly surprised when he grossed out at 178 and 7/8" (see attached field photo). Shortly after, I met up with my Dad and he told me that he passed up a close shot on abut a 160" deer. I then packed the deer out to the closest road while my Dad walked back to get the truck and drove it around to the road. I cut all the meat off the bone before packing it out. Because I already had a pack full of stuff, it took me two trips to get the buck and all my gear out. If I did not have to make a very steep climb, I may have been able to get everything out in one load.
The three biggest bucks we saw on this trip were all jumped or pushed out of their beds. Even though we spent many hours glassing, I think most of the bigger bucks were not even standing during day light hours. There was a 185" buck with an amazingly big frame killed in the same area I killed mine, and it was also jumped out of it's bed.
All in all, I think it was a pretty decent hunt. I wished my Dad could of got what he was looking for, but he seemed to be happy with the way things turned out. He said he enjoyed just seeing the big 190" deer.
Excavator
