# First Buck for me..



## nateysmith (May 13, 2013)

This year was what I would call my first year of hunting. The reason I say this is because last year when I went out with my friend, we did what we thought was scouting for bull elk in an any bull unit. Little did we know how difficult of an area this was and the work it should have required. After reading as much as I could online, we also decided we would choose a different area. One that was closer to where we lived so that we could get out there more often. This was complicated because I was working on finishing my Master's degree and I also wanted to have time with my wife. She was supportive of me wanting to get out and I was really appreciative of that.

Well, I made it out this year on opening morning (October 19) for the deer hunt. This was my first year of having a deer tag. Little did I know how many people would be out there. Things were further complicated because my hunting buddy had a baby and she was in the hospital. Luckily his next door neighbor who has been hunting most his life was willing to come out. Even though this friend had a broken ankle, he was going to take me to some spots that he thought would hold deer. He was not wrong, but this was also the thought of many others. The campers and tents looked like little cities. We were out there by 7am before the sun had come up. We did this because the animals are most active at this time. Well, we got to a spot that we decided we would be good for glassing for deer. We did see some but they were at 450 yards before they ducked into the thick brush. After watching a doe, we decided to look at other areas. We then saw a herd of 8. Only one was a buck, a spike, and we ranged him at 950 yards. We couldn't get to him in time. As we were driving back, we saw a grouse and my buddy said at least we won't go home without any meat. We continued to drive and decided to try a few other canyons along our drive home. We knew since there were so many hunters afield, the deer would be moving much more than usual. As we drove to these different areas, we saw a couple does, but that was it. Opening morning had not been a success for us, but I got a text that another friend of mine had luck on his hunt with his father-in-law which was his first deer hunt as well. This was exciting and gave me hope that I too could tag out.

I didn't go out again until Monday morning (October 21). It seemed like a long time, but luckily I had the whole week off. This was for a few reasons. First, I wanted to have some time with my wife. Next, I had two papers that I needed to finish that in total needed to be between 30 and 40 pages. Then I also had a two hour certification test to do and also try to get out to hunt for deer. Monday came around and we went out hiking early. My friend was able to come out with me this time. We started hiking towards a good spot for glassing for deer. Partway there, my buddy started throwing up. He had forgot to eat and didn't bring anything to drink. This was the 2nd time this had happened when someone came out with me. On the Spike Elk hunt when we went after the scared herd, my dad started throwing up after hiking a few miles in and back. So once my friend stopped, we kept hiking for a little while. We got to our spot, and we weren't seeing anything. There was a little ravine area that I could drop into, so I told my buddy I would make as much noise down there as I could and he just needed to be ready in case I scared something out. He agreed, so I dropped in the ravine. I didn't see anything, and when we met back up, he said only 2 does came out. He wanted to go again later that day, but I had a few things that I had to do so the morning was the only time I had. Later that night, my two buddies went out to another area and one of them was able to get his first buck, a 2x1, at about 75 yards. I knew the deer were out there, but it was a matter of finding them.

So after a long night of writing and the also the next morning, I finished my capstone project written report. As soon as I got done I showered with some anti-scent product and I headed for the hills (October 22). I went out again, but this time by myself. My two friends both had things that day so neither one could come out with me. As I pulled up, I saw plenty of people in their trucks doing the same thing. They were looking for deer and so was I. As I started along a trail listening for anything moving, I looked about me to a ridge and two kids were in their hunter orange yelling down to another friend that was coming along the trail that I was using. At this point I thought that my chances of finding a deer were slim with other people doing things that would scare them off from coming to the area I was hiking in to. I got to the top of the ridge, and went in further than where I saw the other two hunters. I hid under some pine trees and started to glass. I was there for a couple hours and didn't see any signs of movement. I started to hike back to the truck being as quiet as possible. I didn't hear any shots while I was there so I don't think anyone else saw anything. Unfortunately I still didn't see anything this day as well.

It was now Wednesday (October 23), and I hadn't seen anything. I was texting my buddy the night before and he gave me some insight on another area that I should check out. I would be going out by myself again this day. I drove out to the area and hiked in for about an hour. I hiked up to a good point that looked over a ravine and gave me somewhere that I could see deer coming in 3 different directions. I had been there for about 45 minutes, and I spotted my first buck. It looked like a 2 point and he was still just bedded down. I was looking for anything more than a spike with this being my first deer. I ranged him and he was out at 300 yards. I sent a text to my friends that I had spotted him. I asked them how high I needed to aim when my rifle was sighted in for 200 yard 0. My buddy let me know where to aim, and the buck was gone. I kept glassing and found 2 does. At this point my heart was racing trying to find the deer. I then spotted two bucks. I could see one side on one of them had at least 2 points. The other looked like a 3 point on one side. At this point it had been 30 minutes since I first spotted the buck. The sun had started to go down and it was causing a bad glare in my scope. As soon as the sun went completely down, I could see the 4 deer, the two does and two bucks. The does were feeding in closer, but the bucks were going further away. They were at 320 yards. I only could get a good picture of the 2-point. I decided to take the shot. I shot, and he instantly fell down the other side of the ravine for about 10 yards. It looked to be a one shot kill and the deer didn't suffer. I called Kim and then my two buddies. They immediately jumped in the truck and came to meet me. Little did I know where I shot my deer was going to be quite steep and would take me 30+ minutes to get to him. When I finally got to him, I could see he was a 2x1 as well. He had broken the tip off of one of his other points possibly in a fight with another deer. By the time I had started pulling him to about ¾ down the mountain, my two buddies showed up. They helped get him to the main trail and one of them showed me how to field dress him. He did it because he had left an at home date night with his wife. He showed me what he was doing the entire time. We probably ended up dragging the deer out for about a mile. That was quite the test of strength and endurance, but luckily we could take turns dragging him.

It is still pretty surreal to think that all the time scouting paid off. My buddy and myself were both able to tag out and it is an experience that I won't ever forget. I am so grateful to have such an amazing wife and all that she did to support this hobby. I am also grateful for some good friends and their wives for the help I received when I got the deer down. I am also grateful for all the tips that you gave me. I did end up checking the burn area in Alpine, which is where I got him down. I didn't get an elk, but I did see some, which I count as success. It was due to some guys trying to shoot an almost 500 yard shot that stopped us from being able to get an elk down.

I want to make a shout out to ridgetop, DallanC, Johnnycake, Martymcfly73, and huntinfoolutah for all their help, tips, and advice so that I could get better at this wonderful sport and get lucky enough to get some meat in the freezer. I know this isn't a big buck, but it was my first deer, so I feel blessed to have gotten something.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Congrats and hopefully there will be many more in your future!


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## CROC (Sep 12, 2007)

Nice Buck!!


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Congratulations!


-DallanC


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

Good for you!! Congrats!


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## royta (Sep 26, 2007)

Cool story. Congrats on the first deer.

I just have to ask, did you have a sage grouse permit? For the Alpine area?



nateysmith said:


> As we were driving back, we saw a sage grouse and my buddy said at least we won't go home without any meat.


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## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

Correct me if I am wrong, but there is no Sage Grouse permit for the Alpine area... Many hunters confuse FOREST grouse for SAGE grouse. Hopefully this is the case here. 

On another note congratulations on the first buck. Your story brings me back to my days of being 8 yrs old and just seeing does on the hunt was thrill. I think I was about 10 when we got our first deer ever. It sure is an amazing thing when it all comes together.


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## royta (Sep 26, 2007)

Nambaster said:


> Correct me if I am wrong, but there is no Sage Grouse permit for the Alpine area... Many hunters confuse FOREST grouse for SAGE grouse. Hopefully this is the case here.


You are definitely not wrong. I also hope it was just a confusion thing.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

I too hope it was a forest grouse......sage grouse are nasty tasting. You guys crack me up. -----SS


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Way to go Nate! You'll always remember your first buck.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Glad it was a good hunt for you guys.


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## royta (Sep 26, 2007)

Not sure what's to laugh about SS. If somebody actually thought they were shooting a sage grouse, then that is nothing short of poaching.

Well, at least the intent to poach is there. It's only because of both their inability to properly identify the species that it wasn't poaching.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

royta said:


> Not sure what's to laugh about SS. If somebody actually thought they were shooting a sage grouse, then that is nothing short of poaching.
> 
> Well, at least the intent to poach is there. It's only because of both their inability to properly identify the species that it wasn't poaching.


I laugh at people like you.

First, logic would lead one to believe that the guy didn't intentionally shoot the wrong bird since he posted the story on an open forum. Second, the poster didn't even shoot it, so more than likely, the GROUSE hunter knew his species and the poster simply confused his birds. Third, If you want to be a JR. Warden, why don't you kindly PM the individual and offer up your advice in a private, respectful manner instead of defacing his nice first buck post. No one likes to be called out on an open forum. Heck, why don't you turn him in? You might get awarded a sage grouse tag of your own if he gets convicted. Then you would have something to brag about.

I will take his story for what it is.....a great first buck story that I appreciate.-------SS


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Glad things worked out good for you Nate. I'm also glad you decided to take/use the advise of these fine folks on this forum. I try to help out at least a dozen people on these forums every year and out of those 12 people, maybe one or two will ever do a follow up and let me know how things went. Well over half of them will not even check out the areas I give advise about.
Congrats again.


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## royta (Sep 26, 2007)

Springville Shooter said:


> I laugh at people like you.
> 
> First, logic would lead one to believe that the guy didn't intentionally shoot the wrong bird since he posted the story on an open forum. Second, the poster didn't even shoot it, so more than likely, the GROUSE hunter knew his species and the poster simply confused his birds. Third, If you want to be a JR. Warden, why don't you kindly PM the individual and offer up your advice in a private, respectful manner instead of defacing his nice first buck post. No one likes to be called out on an open forum. Heck, why don't you turn him in? You might get awarded a sage grouse tag of your own if he gets convicted. Then you would have something to brag about.
> 
> I will take his story for what it is.....a great first buck story that I appreciate.-------SS


You make some good points, SS. I shouldn't have made assumptions.

Nateysmith, I apologize for saying those things. As you can probably tell, I'm a bit passionate about game animals and following the rules. I'm glad you were successful on the deer hunt. You've probably been bit by the hunting bug, which is a great thing.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

royta said:


> You make some good points, SS. I shouldn't have made assumptions.
> 
> Nateysmith, I apologize for saying those things. As you can probably tell, I'm a bit passionate about game animals and following the rules. I'm glad you were successful on the deer hunt. You've probably been bit by the hunting bug, which is a great thing.


Wow royta, I'm impressed with your ability to think in retrospect and wish there were more like you.....this forum would be a better place if there were. -----SS


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## royta (Sep 26, 2007)

Springville Shooter said:


> Wow royta, I'm impressed with your ability to think in retrospect and wish there were more like you.....this forum would be a better place if there were. -----SS


Well, sometimes I put my blinders on and can only see things one way. Then I'll hear a different viewpoint and think, "whoops".


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## nateysmith (May 13, 2013)

royta said:


> Well, sometimes I put my blinders on and can only see things one way. Then I'll hear a different viewpoint and think, "whoops".


Ya, I think I was wrong in identifying the species. It was grouse that he got, but it was actually in the Strawberry area that we got the grouse. Thanks for everyone that has taken the time to read.


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## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

nateysmith said:


> Ya, I think I was wrong in identifying the species. It was grouse that he got, but it was actually in the Strawberry area that we got the grouse. Thanks for everyone that has taken the time to read.


This to me is nothing but funny... My little brother and I always seem to have the same dialog every year and it usually goes like this:

Me: I just came back from the property and found tons of elk
Spencer: Did you see any sage grouse? 
Me: Nope I have never seen any sage grouse up there. 
Spencer: Are you kidding me there are tons up there. We slaughtered them last year. 
Me: Oh you must be referring the to FOREST variety
Spencer: You know what I meant
Me: Well there are 3 types up there and only 2 that you can shoot. 
Spencer: Well what did we shoot last year?
Me: The first one you shot was a ruffed grouse and the 2 big ones that you shot were duskys. 
Spencer: Well did you see any of those. 
Me: Tons of them
Spencer: Well then let's go SAGE grouse hunting. 
Me: Did you draw a permit for SAGE grouse. 
Spencer: You know what I mean. Let's just go hunt grouse
Me: Ok but just don't shoot at the sharptail grouse up there.
Spencer: This is why I hate hunting and grouse is the only animal that I want to hunt. 
Me: Hunting Ducks would blow your mind if that is the case. 
Spencer: A duck is a duck
Me: Ya unless it is a coot, a shoveler, or a merganser
Spencer: No wonder you spend hours and hours on a forum trying to keep up with what you can and can't shoot. How about we just go Sage Grouse hunting and you tell me if I can shoot it or not like we always do. 
Me:Want to go deer hunting this year? 
Spencer: Nope...

Anyhow shooting a Sage Grouse where you were hunting deer is like shooting a Caribou in the desert... You are safe from my critical eye...


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