Let me start by saying that Dad's day was notably more exciting than mine. As Dad mentioned, I deer hunted with Dan (hunter) and PJ (guide) today. We started in the area where we had we had seen a nice mule deer buck on Wednesday evening. This is a portion of the Beaverhead National Forest, just to the east of the lodge and Grasshopper Valley. The terrain is rolling foothills, populated with a mix of juniper, spruce, sage brush, and willow shrubs in the low-lying areas.
We arrived in the area, and quickly saw 6 does, so were excited about our chances. However, the longer we stayed in the area, the more HUNTERS we saw instead of game. Thus, we headed out by 11:00 am.
We soon arrived on Polaris Road, and stopped at a spot where we had a view of the "valley herd" that Dad referred to in his blog today. As we peered through our binoculars, we saw that the elk had moved from the safe confines of the Circle S to huntable land. Continuing to pan the valley we noticed that not 300 yards below us, Dad and Cody (guide) were sitting in a ditch, and Dad has his rifle aimed at a herd of elk! "Okay, Dad, here's your chance!," I thought. But then noticed that he did not likely have a clear shot (as he confirmed in his blog). We also noticed that we were likely close enough to potentially spook the elk, so we pulled out and headed back to the lodge.
After hearing about Dad's adventures over a late lunch, we headed back out for our last afternoon of hunting. We hunted similar terrain as the morning hunt, except much h
igher elevation. We glassed hillsides and cuts, rocks and ridges, trees and stumps, for 90 minutes before seeing our first deer at about 5:30. A mule deer doe silhouetted at the top of the hill. Then another doe came over the hill, and another, and another. As we continued climbing the hill, we continued seeing more deer, but still no bucks. Finally, while cresting the top at about 7200 feet elevation, we saw a small fork buck. Both Dan and I decided to pass on the little guy. Our excellent hunting adventure ended on the top of that hill as we watched a fabulous sunset over the Pioneer Mountain Range (photo at right does not do it justice!).
Next post will be a summary of our road-trip home.
We arrived in the area, and quickly saw 6 does, so were excited about our chances. However, the longer we stayed in the area, the more HUNTERS we saw instead of game. Thus, we headed out by 11:00 am.
We soon arrived on Polaris Road, and stopped at a spot where we had a view of the "valley herd" that Dad referred to in his blog today. As we peered through our binoculars, we saw that the elk had moved from the safe confines of the Circle S to huntable land. Continuing to pan the valley we noticed that not 300 yards below us, Dad and Cody (guide) were sitting in a ditch, and Dad has his rifle aimed at a herd of elk! "Okay, Dad, here's your chance!," I thought. But then noticed that he did not likely have a clear shot (as he confirmed in his blog). We also noticed that we were likely close enough to potentially spook the elk, so we pulled out and headed back to the lodge.
After hearing about Dad's adventures over a late lunch, we headed back out for our last afternoon of hunting. We hunted similar terrain as the morning hunt, except much h
igher elevation. We glassed hillsides and cuts, rocks and ridges, trees and stumps, for 90 minutes before seeing our first deer at about 5:30. A mule deer doe silhouetted at the top of the hill. Then another doe came over the hill, and another, and another. As we continued climbing the hill, we continued seeing more deer, but still no bucks. Finally, while cresting the top at about 7200 feet elevation, we saw a small fork buck. Both Dan and I decided to pass on the little guy. Our excellent hunting adventure ended on the top of that hill as we watched a fabulous sunset over the Pioneer Mountain Range (photo at right does not do it justice!).Next post will be a summary of our road-trip home.
1 comment:
So will the blog be bound for distribution and sale come this Christmas? Thanks for keeping us up-to-date. No apologies necessary regarding Eastern SD, Duke concurs. The beauty was all saved for the Western side as you noted yourselves. Congratulations on the hunt...save a little for us on one of our visits home. See you both in a few days Lord willing and the creek don't rise! Tootles, Shawn
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