# Gods Country



## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

Spent the past two days in a beautiful area on the Southern region. 
















The fall colors are just starting to show and the pictures just dont do it justice.















When I was younger deer camp was always a fun time of year. I never remember many deer being killed but it was a great time with family. We have shifted gears as a family and we now all muzzleload. Its been a really fun transition. Many more deer have been taken but our camp has gotten smaller. I got into it first and mentioned it to my Grandpa and the rest is history. Its hard for the whole fam damily to get out on a tuesday night and stay through the weekend. This year it was just Grandpa, Me and my Uncle Ryan.

My dads father is 74 and still in better shape than me!! Its unbelievable. It helps that he has 60 pounds less fat on him but still crazy. :mrgreen: 







We arrived in camp late Tuesday in some of the prettiest country in the state. It was quite cool at 8,500 feet but we had a comfy little place to stay.
























We cooked up some pasta with chicken and red sauce and went to bed early.

Opening morning we were up before the sun. We dressed quickly and headed out. I went South and climbed a small ridge to a place I could glass a large open hill side. It was still very dark but I spotted three deer feeding high on the ridge about 450 yards away. I quietly closed the distance towards the base of the hill and sat down 75 yards from its base. I set up the scope and waited for it to get a little more light.

About 5 minutes later I was glassing the deer, the first ones I saw were two small bucks sparing playfully. I smiled and scanned left and saw what I thought was a doe and fawn because one of them was so much bigger. I picked up the binos and glassed the rest of the hill not seeing anymore deer. I went back to the original deer and with the added light realized the "doe" was actually an in-line five point :shock: I didnt see the other side but had seen all I needed to! The hill I was glassing actually turned out to be two larger hills with a relatively flat spot in the middle. The big buck happened to be feeding in that flat area so *if* I could make it to the top of the hill directly in front of me, I would be within 60 yards of the feeding deer.

I started slowly towards the hill and made it half way when a little two point stood from his bed. :shock: I froze and so did he and about this time I noticed another buck about half way up the hill I needed to climb. This new buck looked wide and tall in the low light. I had a choice and I had to make if FAST. Shoot this decent buck on the hillside in front of me and tag out early. Or hope that these two bucks didnt bust me and spook the rest of the deer just 150 yards away. I made my decision and took aim at the deer on the hill.

My Omega blew an insane amount of smoke and I heard the powebelt rip *through the grass somewhere near the buck!* I had not taken enough time to settle down and totally missed this deer standing broadside at about 50 yards!! :| The buck fever really got to me I guess. Luckily I had the nerve to reload quickly. The small two point I woke up and the buck I had just missed trotted up to the top of the hill and stopped for one more look. They were just at the end of my comfort zone but I wasnt positive I had missed so I took aim again and just after my second shot I heard the tell tail TWACK of a 250 grn bullet hitting deer hide!

Both bucks trotted off and I marked the area well. This was the time I had to stop and think about what had just played out. I had seen five deer in the first 20 mins of the hunt and every one was a buck. I was excited and needed to calm down. My feelings were mixed. I was very happy to have shot a decent buck. I have been craving jerky and back strap steaks for over a year. At the same time though, a quote I know kept running through my mind, "You cant kill the big ones if you are skinning the little ones" I convinced myself that the buck I had shot was not too little and that that bigger deer would have winded or heard me and been gone when I reached the top of the hill. I took a few more minutes to break down my gun and clean so if another shot was needed, I would be ready.

About 45 minutes had passed so I slowly made my way up the hill. I got to the spot where I had shot and almost immediately found blood.








It was dark red and had no smell to it so I assumed the deer was hit in the vitals and wouldnt go far. Boy was I wrong.  I tracked the deer with the help of Ryan who had come to investigate at the sound of the shots. We followed the tracks into a small grove and found where the deer had stopped for a bit and bled out some. He must have regained strength here and the wound must have sealed up some because he left the grove not bleeding hardly at all. We found sparse blood here and there for another mile. I was sick.

We lost the trail several times but after much deliberation we would find it again only to lose it almost immediately. The buck slowed and we finally caught up with him. I saw blood staining his flank and realized my first shot was quite a ways back in no-mans land. I shot again and he went a few yards and bedded down. I made my way to him and when I got about ten yards from him he stood and tried one more time to get away. One more shot and he was done.

Quite and exciting morning. If I had it to do over again would I change a few things? Sure, I should have taken a little more time on the shot and stuff. I did keep on the trail though and didnt give up when it got really hard to follow. Anyway, enough talking. Here is the deer. He is a young 2x4.








We boned him out and returend to camp to get the meat on ice, wash up, and eat. Breakfast sandwiches made on the camp chef to celebrate a great hunt. 8)


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## bigbuck81 (Oct 10, 2007)

Amen Brother! :lol:


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

Nice buck, congrats. I dig the little cabin, looks fun.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Great Report. How did the rest of the hunting party fare?


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Nice job Nortah, sounds like you had a good time.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Great pics and great hunt. That Kolob area is beautiful any time of year, but especially in the fall. I had to work up there on Elk ridge last week, where they are putting in the water line, didn't seem too much like work because of the area. 

Yeah I know your grandpa, he is a great guy. Did he get one?

Oh, did you get some time to fish Kolob? If so, how was it?


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

Nice report , pics and deer. That cabin looked like the Hilton. 8) Was Paris there ? :wink:


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Oh yeah, that picture with you and the buck with Kolob Canyons and Pine Valley Mountain in the back ground is great. 8)


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Good report Nor-tah !! Good post !!
Great job on them pictures.....I like the 'breakfast picture' the best !! |-O-| |-O-|

Oh yeah !! Congrats to you !!!


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## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

GaryFish said:


> Great Report. How did the rest of the hunting party fare?


Hey thanks guys! We boned the deer out and got him on ice by noon. My Grandpa was the only other one with a tag, we hiked our guts out Wednesday night and hunted down the ridge. Saw a couple deer that night including a little three point that was on a dead run so no shot was made.

Thursday morning we did the same thing I did opening morning but only saw two nice bulls so we got on the wheeler and drove to some other properties. On the way we saw a small two point. My Grandpa wanted to shoot it so I shut the wheeler off and he rushed a shot and missed. He is up on the beavers today and tomorrow with my two uncles that had tags and couldnt get away mid week. I'll let you know how they do.

Bowgy- I didnt even get to fish at all. Grandpa doesnt have a float tube and Kolob seems to require one, plus I fish every week so I wanted to dedicate some time to hunt. That area is breathtaking for sure.


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Great report Nor-tah! Congrats on a fine buck, that'll be some good jerky to take along on your other adventures  .

Awesome looking country. That's some hunting in style right there. 8)


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Bo0YaA said:


> Nice buck, congrats. I dig the little cabin, looks fun.


That is what I was thinking! Congrats and thanks for sharing!!


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## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

Great report and nice tracking skills. Ill bet some guys would have given up. And it is a pretty good deer to boot!


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## REPETER (Oct 3, 2007)

Great looking deer buddy! WTG! :mrgreen:


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