Opening Day Buck
Last Wednesday the rifle deer and elk season opened under cloudy and threatening skies. Ardella and I headed out early afternoon to get a load of larch firewood before walking in about a mile to evening hunt. As we rounded a curve in an old road I noticed the beautiful fall colors that jumped off the mountains to rejoice the autumn. Bright yellows of larch and golds of birch stood out against the dark green of the pines. We settled in behind an old slash pile of logs and were soon joined by a cow moose about 150 yards away on the adjacent hillside. She was busy feeding on a variety of plants but seemed to prefer birch if she could reach the golden leaves. The cow found a birch log sticking out a slash pile and decided to use the log to scratch behind her ears. Then she proceeded to rub her neck on both sides before finally leaving for the evening. A doe appeared at the bottom of the clear cut and I told Ardella not to shoot her as she would be our decoy. We watched her for about an hour and it seemed like that was going to be the only deer. We were busy glassing when I spotted something about 250 yards away that looked out of place in the tall grass. I watched it closely and finally a set of horns appeared briefly. The buck was headed away from us and would soon disappear if he walked uphill. He finally turned around and started feeding downhill. He soon disappeared again behind some brush for several minutes only to emerge and head directly to a large hemlock tree. Once the buck got behind the tree he turned broadside but all we could see was a head on on side and a tail on the other. Then he turned toward the doe and went across a grassy opening. I heard the safety click off on Ardella's rifle followed by a loud boom. The buck staggered and took a few steps and went down. I congratulated her on the 165 yard shot and noticed that she was shaking but had a big smile. We found the buck laying against an old stump with a shot through the heart. She uses a 7 mag. with 175 grain Speer bullets. It was a great hunt and I had to unload some of the wood, but it was worth it.
Last Wednesday the rifle deer and elk season opened under cloudy and threatening skies. Ardella and I headed out early afternoon to get a load of larch firewood before walking in about a mile to evening hunt. As we rounded a curve in an old road I noticed the beautiful fall colors that jumped off the mountains to rejoice the autumn. Bright yellows of larch and golds of birch stood out against the dark green of the pines. We settled in behind an old slash pile of logs and were soon joined by a cow moose about 150 yards away on the adjacent hillside. She was busy feeding on a variety of plants but seemed to prefer birch if she could reach the golden leaves. The cow found a birch log sticking out a slash pile and decided to use the log to scratch behind her ears. Then she proceeded to rub her neck on both sides before finally leaving for the evening. A doe appeared at the bottom of the clear cut and I told Ardella not to shoot her as she would be our decoy. We watched her for about an hour and it seemed like that was going to be the only deer. We were busy glassing when I spotted something about 250 yards away that looked out of place in the tall grass. I watched it closely and finally a set of horns appeared briefly. The buck was headed away from us and would soon disappear if he walked uphill. He finally turned around and started feeding downhill. He soon disappeared again behind some brush for several minutes only to emerge and head directly to a large hemlock tree. Once the buck got behind the tree he turned broadside but all we could see was a head on on side and a tail on the other. Then he turned toward the doe and went across a grassy opening. I heard the safety click off on Ardella's rifle followed by a loud boom. The buck staggered and took a few steps and went down. I congratulated her on the 165 yard shot and noticed that she was shaking but had a big smile. We found the buck laying against an old stump with a shot through the heart. She uses a 7 mag. with 175 grain Speer bullets. It was a great hunt and I had to unload some of the wood, but it was worth it.
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