2006 Deer Hunting (Michaels - Elk Hunting) 
©2006 Samuel Sims
For anyone who has not read the story it is below. This was an incredible hunting adventure for only 3 days in the mountains & plains of Wyoming.
GETTING STARTED!
Michael dropped his with a great 520 yard shot (ridge to ridge). We chased after the bucks, 3 in all, for about two hours the first morning. Michael had not shot his father's 7 mm before. Not bad for a first and only shot Michael!
The next day we traveled through some new areas just to see what the deer might look like. It was below freezing in the a.m. and the fog was so thick you could not see more than maybe 50 - 75 yds at a time. We hiked in a few times into the back of a few draws and found plenty of signs of deer.
At one point in hiking we found a trail that took us back to the top of the ridges. The GPS said we were at 7,200 to 7,600 ft in the bottom of the ridges. By the time we reached the top at one point the GPS indicated we were only 44 ft below 9,000. During the hike we kicked up an Antelope, the only shocker was that he was above 8,000 feet and alone!
After crossing Mt. Mo Fo and Exhiliration hill, both which I think I appropriately named we decided to stop for lunch around 11:30. We noticed the deer were popping up all around us. They were mostly doe's and fawns, but it was odd to see them eating and up during the mid-day.
I took off after lunch to hike down a draw and meet up with Adam & Michael in the bottom of the canyon. Not 20 yds into the hike I kicked up more fawns and even more sign of deer. It began raining, a really cold rain I might add, around 1:30 p.m. At first we thought this rain would not be a problem, but as time passed we had to stop and put the only set of chains we had on the front tires of the truck.
KICKING THEM UP!
After nearly 2 hours of driving we had only gone about 2 miles North back towards camp. Now about 3:30 I had an opportunity for a smaller buck (3 x 3) at around 600-700 yds uphill. I tried one shot and it dropped about 4 feet below him, I knew it was way to far to get a decent shot in. He was with 20+ doe's and fawns.
We drove another 1/10th of a mile and kicked up more deer 15+, no bucks in this group. Remember it is only 3 - 4 p.m. and it is starting to rain pretty heavy, so Adam made the comment it was really odd to see the deer out and feeding in the rain so early in the afternoon.
No sooner than we had said that we turned to see another group of deer. There were 8 or more doe's and fawns. The bucks we saw with them were huge. There were 2 forks with the bigger bucks. I had forgotten to grab my back pack while we were getting out of the truck so the bulk of my gear except ammo and my gun were in the truck.
Adam had Michael grab his gun and backpack out of the truck and we started through the waist-high soaked sagebrush. The rain was coming harder and harder, our first shot was beneath a small ridge so we decided to get on top and hide in the sagebrush. Michael suggested we try to synchronize our shots for the first one. So we took about 15 mins. to get set and keep our scopes, glasses, binoculars and ourselves somewhat dry.
Michael said he would count down from 3 and we should shoot at the same time. When the first shot does not send them running, one thing is certain, you are shooting from far away. Even though the distance is very deceiving, I have learned to adjust quickly. The buck I was shooting at turned broadside to me again at the same distance. I unloaded another round and it went just over his back behind his shoulders. This shot sent them running over the ridge, I tried a neck shot on him as he was leaping over the ridge.
TRACKING THEM DOWN
Adam suggested we go see if any of the shots were hits. Winds up we were at over 600 yds on the first shot. We did not find any blood and continued scouring the ridge, Adam & I were both peaking up over the ridge and spotted a few of the doe and fawns we kicked up with the bucks. On a small ridgeline beneath us about 300 yds we found the bucks.
Again we pulled off a synchronized shot. Now from the 4 bucks we originally spotted there were only 3. Again I tried a shot while my buck was running butt and tail in my scope. We marched in now only 900 yds or more from the truck at the ridge where we were shooting again there were no signs of hits. We spent only a few minutes looking and the other side of this ridge was still hidden from us. A couple of doe and fawns hopped out of the sagebrush about 400 yds away and starting running up another high ridge to the treeline.
I had a feeling we were going to push these bucks up again, so I decided to step up to the top of the ridgeline. As I reached the top of this small ridge, I looked down and 25 yds away was the buck I had been shooting at and a fork. Surprised I dropped to my knees and waved at Adam & Michael to get down. We were facing west and the ridge dropped into a ravine that ran north and met up with the creek. Adam was shocked to see that is was only the fork and deer I was shooting at. He thought the one he had been siting in was at least a decent 5 x 5.
I stood up and fired a round in a hurry, barely getting the deer into my scope. I didn't want him running into that ravine and heading through the creek. My shot I never saw hit the ground or the deer at all. So I turned to Adam while I chambered another round asking him to hit it, as it was now at a full sprint. Michael was watching in the binoculars and I heard him say oh dad you hit it good. I popped one last shot at it again with the rear facing me, I was trying to hit him in the neck and drop him for good. We knew he was gut shot pretty good with Adam's 7 mm at only 150 yds.
We had taken 3 steps to the North to start the tracking and the big buck Adam had been shooting this whole time was lying only 15 yds away. He did not move through any of the shots and the sagebrush was so high you could not see him laying there. I told Adam, here is your deer, his shot had shattered the knee on both the front and rear and gone through the rib cage. Adam caught him going over the hill the first shot. He could not use either his front or rear leg on his right side.
Adam's scope had fogged up so I handed him my gun and we let my buck jump over the ridgline about 400 yds north. Since I left my backpack in the truck I knew this was going to be a long haul. Adam, Michael & I drug Adam's deer to the ravine at the base of some trees where we could find it easily in the dark, then we started tracking for mine. I went up the next ridge to the West and Adam & Michael took the bottom of the ravine and the rain turned to snow. As I came to the top of the ridge and turned North about 300 yds along the top of the ridge I kicked up the fork that was with my buck.
I walked up to where the fork had jumped up and found my buck laying there. Adam & Michael came up and we drug mine to the bottom of the ravine at the base of more trees. Michael had his knife luckily and we started gutting while Adam went to see if he could get the truck and my gear. Evening was approaching fast and we had only a limited amount of gear in Adam's backpack. Michael & I finished gutting my dear and marked it with a glow stick high in the tree. Snow was falling really hard by now and we had to get to Adam's and start gutting it in a hurry. Michael and I were like two snowmen at this point. We were gutting Adam's and just at the point in the process where we had to get the rest of the gut pile out, when Adam walked up.
It was now almost 7 p.m. The sun was behind the hills and night was coming in. We broke out a couple of dragging harnesses and Adam asked if we were ready. I said why is that? Adam said we are a mile away from the truck! I about passed out when he told me that. We hooked up Michael & Adam to his deer and started off towards mine. After hooking up we had to drag uphill over both ridges we had crossed chasing these deer.
We finally got the deer to the truck by 9 p.m. with the help of the snowfall, we were soaked and pretty tired. Only to realize we didn't know how to get back out of the area without having to go over Mt. Mo Fo or Exhiliration hill. We drove Northeast for about a mile and came across the creek which cannot be crossed at this point with any vehicle.
We turned around and the camp was only 1 mile North from the point we just left, but the mountains were impossible to get through in the dark and covered in wet snow. We drove Southwest for another 3 miles to find the main road nearly impossible to travel on. With only chains for the front and pudding like mud on the main road we were going to be lucky to get to camp that night at all.
After a grueling 3.5 hours of driving (2 miles) we were at camp. The next day a trip to town to buy another set of chains, we packed up camp and drove North to Rawlins, Wyoming to go home. We had arrived in Rawlins at about 6:00 p.m, only to kick up 3 nice bucks in the back yard of the local homes. The pictures above were sickening as the two biggest bucks were bigger than what Michael & I just went through hell to shoot in the mountains.
We had a great hunt and look forward to sharing the experience with others.
HUNTING 2006
by: Samuel W. Sims
Pictures: (Deer)
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