Ahhh…usually by mid-November, my hunting gas tank begins running on low…financially, physically, and mentally, but the hunts that I often anticipate the most are those with family in November….rutting whitetail.
This year, Roo and Loo both picked up some fun whitetail tags. I thought my schedule was busy until I tried to arrange time with the girls to hunt. These girls have full schedules but we squeezed in a day for each girl.
Roo’s hunt
I’ll start with Roo. 5 weeks ago, Roo and Tanner welcomed Canyon Michael, their baby boy, to this world.
Roo has embraced motherhood so naturally, but that didn't stop her from wanting to fill her whitetail tag. With Emily watching Canyon, we had a half day to get it done.
Knowing that Roo wouldn’t be able to push it hard physically, I knew just the place to take her; a simple 100 yard little hike and we were positioned to watch a good portion of river bottom.
As quickly as we got into position, a small buck came trolling for does upriver. Not a minute later a small group of does bounded our direction from upriver with a big buck in tow.
I’ve tried hard to become more disciplined through the years…you know…containing my excitement and letting the children take control of their own hunt. Roo excitedly looked through the binos “that’s a big buck dad!”, I was having a come apart inside wondering why she wasn’t getting on the gun. The buck finally melted into the thick canopy.
“Why didn’t you get on the gun?” I asked. Her response made me proud. She said we had just gotten there and wasn’t ready to end the hunt so quickly. I could relate and I’m glad she let it go because for the next few hours we got to talk, laugh and catch-up on life. I know it was my first time out hunting while my hunting partner is breast pumping milk for her baby! I cherish these outdoor moments with my kids, even if they’re parents themselves..
As the sun flirted with the western mountaintops, the air cooled and deer activity picked up. This particular spot can be tricky as its thick cover and you only have a few good windows to get a solid shot. The spotter and the shooter need to be in sync with each other in communication and patience.
After 4 hours of sitting and naming each opening between the heavy cottonwood/willow cover, we were like a well-oiled sniper team. With minutes of light to spare, I spotted a wide-framed heavy buck sneaking through “cattail slough” and if the buck maintained it’s direction, would possibly cross through the spring creek opening.
If the buck would’ve taken one more step before stopping, this story would’ve ended much differently…but he didn’t. He turned broadside and stopped right in Roo’s window for a split second at 430 yards. Roo’s deadly aim hit the mark and the buck was dead. The buck ended up being the same buck we saw when we first got into the stand, a wide, heavy 8-pt with a broke point on its driver’s side.
We quartered the deer out together in the dark with more laughs. The landowner let me access the road just behind where the deer died. All in all Roo hiked 200 yards back and forth from the glassing knob and then a 10 yard walk from vehicle to dead deer. I’d say we followed the doctors orders on no strenuous activity.
Laynee’s hunt
Laynee is a real firecracker and a good writer as well. She wrote her best recollection of the hunt:
All started at 6amish. We left to go to maverick because I insisted on a breakfast burrito. Then we had to turn around and go home to grab my permission slip to get on the sleeper ranch. And then we finally were able to head out. We started on our “Nipple peak” just at sunrise. It was super pretty.
I admired the sunrise while dad glassed for some deer. After about 20 ish minutes we hiked back to the truck and drove to a different place, across the river. We hiked about 2 1/2 miles to a spot, and watched a few deer.
The biggest one we saw was in a field which was off limits. So dad glassed around to our right and claims that he saw a big ol buck. So we hiked up and over the ridge that was behind us, so we could sneak up on them. Once we came to the ridge that they were supposedly behind, we dropped off our packs and slowly and quietly crawled up our dirt ridge.
Dad leans in and whispers “this could all happen pretty fast so just be ready.” And on the other side, we see one doe. Two doe. Two more does. Dad says he spotted the buck and got Black Betty all set up. I get on the gun and find the buck.
As soon as I’m on him, he walks into some bushes. After a short wait, he walks back out and I’m able to get a good look at him for the first time. Once I’m on him again, he goes right back into the bushes, and climbs out the other end, where I’m not looking. Dad does his whisper shout and says “there he is! Get on him!” I swivel the gun to the left and whisper “how the heck did you sneak over here you turd?”
I get on him in almost no time, and wait about 3 seconds until he’s perfectly stopped, take a breath, and pull the trigger. I hear the sound of black Betty’s bullet his something. I look up and say “Did I get him?!” “Shh, he’s under the power pole, shoot him again!” I put another one in Betty, And get set up on the deer again. I pull the trigger, and down he goes right into the bushes.
We hike down to him and dad let me search for him while he videos. After about 5 minutes I finally found him. While we were up on the hill, I didn’t realize how big he was. But once I was standing there in front of him, that’s when it hit me! I pull his antlers free of the thick brush and we pull him out for a couple of pictures. Then me and dad enjoyed our lunch in the sun.
Once we finished harvesting the meat from him, I set up my X of appreciation, and we started packing up our packs. But then that’s when the problem occurred. That’s when I realized I shouldn’t have brought my giant jacket. And the other giant jacket. And my extra shirt. Because I had to carry all those jackets, and dads jackets. And Black Betty.
Not that I’m complaining, I mean dad carried the meat and the skull so I’m very thankful for that. But it was not the easiest hike back to the truck. It was a very successful and memorable hunt. Even if I was coughing, sniffling, and snot rocketing every 40 seconds. Still a great hunt.
And there you have it. Being outside with two girls that mean the world to me. Steve Rinella once said the only time in his life when he feels zero guilt is when he gets to combine his passion of hunting with time spent with family members. I agree with Steve. You feel a slight hint of guilt if you are hunting without family, as well as if you’re with family and you could be hunting…
All in all, these girls both harvested beautiful whitetail bucks, both missing a G3 point. Roo’s buck on the left, and Laynees was on the right antler. It’ll go into family lore that these two bucks probably fought each other and snapped their points off while fighting, only to be harvested by two young women a couple days apart.
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