MTNTOUGH - Use promo code RANDY for 30 days free

Baldy Locks

shortbus

New member
Joined
Feb 21, 2017
Messages
15
Location
Northern Utah
I have been accumulating points for antlerless deer for quite a few years now in hopes of the DNR making some doe deer permits available on the Wasatch front. The last doe tag I had was many years ago. It was an archery only permit, and back then I don't believe they gave you the additional opportunity like they do now. Not that it would matter because the permit was for the front south of I-80. So no firearms. Anyway back to the current hunt. I have been shooting traditional archery for the last few years but never felt confident enough to tackle the challenge. I drew this doe tag, shorlty after that I purchased a new longbow. Going from a recurve to a longbow is all that it took to get the confidence to hunt traditional. It improved my accuracy immensely. I never thought with the hot,dry and extremely noisy conditions that I would ever be able to get to 20 yards or under in August on the front! Wouldn't you know that on my second day of hunting after an hour and a half stalk on a bedded doe that I got to within 18 yards. Problem is I missed. Over the course of the archery season I was under 18 yards a half a dozen more times. Those stalks resulted in a couple more misses and others with no shot opportunity due to brush or bad angles. I couldn't believe that I was able to get under 40 yards at least 50% of the time. Hunting with my longbow was so rewarding I learned so much! It amazed me how important the right wind and paitentce is! I was perfectly content ending my archery hunt the way it did even though I didn't fill my tag. As many of you know with antlerless permits there is additional opportunity to harvest your animal if you Are not successful during that specific season. After all the goal for antlerless hunts is herd management right? Being a dedicated Hunter for the same area and also possessing an elk tag gave me a chance to get out last week and take the rifle out. Thursday morning was very slow and I didn't see much of anything. Around 10 I decided to relocate to the area I had been archery hunting because there had been a lot of does in there earlier in the year. The problem was most of the deer had fawns. The hardest part of the hunt was finding a doe without babies. I hit the trailhead around 10:30 with the intent of making my way into the protected pocket I had become very familiar with. As I made my way down the trail not 500 yard from the truck I heard something below me. The day had warmed and the snow was melting. I just figured it was just another branch being liberated from the heavy wet snow, but I decided to peak over the edge. Wouldn't you know it but there was a doe feeding around in the bottom. I watched her for several minutes and when I felt confident that there was no fawn around I settled in for the shot. At 70 yards I elected to take a shot that wouldn't harm any of the best cuts of meat. I touched the trigger and my hunt was over. The doe never even knew what happened. After I cleaned the deer and removed the heart and liver I weighed my options. It wasnt to far to the truck but I was also solo and there was I steep uphill portion. I elected to bring the deer out whole because there was fresh snow and I had a friend who wanted a life-size cape to train blood tracking dogs. Even though there were no antlers involved this hunt was one of my funnest and most rewarding. I hunted 15 days over the course of the entire hunt and it was well worth it. I am great ful to add to the stock pile in the freezer!
IMG_20181011_103405.jpg
IMG_20181011_103629.jpg
 
PEAX Trekking Poles

Forum statistics

Threads
110,814
Messages
1,935,401
Members
34,888
Latest member
Jack the bear
Back
Top