whatever happened to this man ? i never saw what became of his hunt.
@truck24hr we need an update
Very tough hunt. I was hoping the ML season would be a bit less crowded. While it may have been, there were still plenty of hunters.
I've hunted the area several times (duck and upland), and knew the wind would be rough, but two days were 40 MPH with 60 MPH gusts. The cold in those winds was insane.
I packed in deep several times to glass wooded draws, but was never rewarded. The 2* and 0* days I hunted closer to the roads, and saw a lot of deer movement.
Hiking up to a glassing spot the last morning, and I slipped up within 40 yards of a 140"+ stud of a whitetail. He may have been bigger even, the huge body made it hard to gauge for me. He was facing straight away, and I wasn't confident enough in my bullet choice to attempt the shot. I was shooting a 240gr bullet instead of my normal 300 grainers in anticipation of a longer shot. Still wouldn't have tried that shot though with a ML.
Watched that buck walk over the ridge and that was it. Several does in the area kept me from pursuit. I backed off the mountain, hunted again that evening with no luck, and headed home.
I'm making plans for next year. I need better glass. While I could glass deer near a mile away with my Vortex 10x42's, I couldn't differentiate between make or model over about 800 yards. I hope to be packing some Swaro 10x42 rangefinding bino's next year.
A successful hunt none the less. Learned a lot, figured out I didn't need 90% of what I took. I loaded the 4 wheeler in back of my Nissan Van figuring I'd use it a bunch, but never did. Had a killed, I may have, but I don't mind packing one out.
4wd would have been helpful possibly. I did get stuck on the last day on a sandy trail, but I aired down and got right out. Overall the van did great, and home is where you stop.
