Third times a charm!

Mike Bodenchuk. Does that name mean anything to you? Well, to me it means the world as I consider Mike not only my good friend but my mentor who paved a pathway for me to get where I am career-wise. Mike was the State Director of the Utah Wildlife Services program while I was pursuing my wildlife degree, he opened my eyes to wildlife damage management. But my intention of this blog is not to focus on my job...

Mike wanted to kill a blacktail...so bad in fact, he came up to Oregon not once...not twice...but three different years before he was finally able to fulfill his quest. A quest that seemed nearly impossible, almost like there was bad ju-ju...a curse...... a veil between Mike and a blacktail buck. Days before his visit I could regularly find bucks, and then of course once he'd leave...they'd come out of hiding. I can't explain it, but it's the truth...that is until Nov. 2, 2014.

Good luck will sometimes surprise the hell out of you at a time when you least expect it. With blacktails I've learned to expect anything anytime as long as you are out in the woods...and not on the couch.  Unfortunately, Mike's previous luck with the little Columbia ghosts only taught him that they were virtually non-existent. That is until 2:00 PM on a fairly warm afternoon when most deer where holed up in the brush. Mike, his son Hunter, and myself found ourselves perched on a landing overlooking a fresh clearcut. We've hunted all day and our eyes and feet were both sore. Without a deer sighting from the landing, I confessed I was tired and I was going to get a few minutes of shut-eye. Mike and Hunter didn't seem to mind as they laid their heads back against the soft soil and followed suit.

I woke up with the sun bright in my eyes. I pulled up my binoculars and decided to glass the wide open clearcut once again. I located what looked just like a great big white-faced buck bedded. My eyes tried to convince my brain just what they were looking at...but my brain was trained that with Mike around there is no way we were gonna see a buck, let alone a big buck!

The buck's ear twitch pulled me out of my hypnotic state of confusion and disbelief. "Mike! Mike!" I whispered really loud trying to contain as much excitement as I could. He rose from the ground looking a little confused himself. "Wanna shoot a big blacktail!!!!?" He must have really thought he was dreaming to hear those words! Quickly we gathered ourselves and with his .308 at around 350 yards, he was able to kill a great big blacktail on a warm afternoon bedded out in the wide open. It was unbelievable.

Luck? Fate? Skill? It made no difference. All we know is it took three trips to Oregon to make it happen and it was oh so sweet. Looking back on the hunt, a part of me wishes he wouldn't have ever killed the buck. The buck was the draw, the challenge, the reason for Mike to come spend time with me in the Oregon backcountry. I'm gonna miss that.

Mike and his son Hunter