Deer Hunt 2013
After not getting my hunter safety until I was 17 and being unsuccessful in drawing out every year after, this year I finally got a tag!! I didn't even realize I did until like a week after they posted the tags when I got an email about it, and at that point I was very excited to say the least. Since I put in myself I think it finally helped my chances. My area was 11 which is around Ely, NV. On thursday the 10th, my brother Derek came up with his truck and trailer from Logandale and then Ryan Reese and I drove my car up from Cedar and all met up just outside of Cave Lake to start the trip. Friday morning we were up by 6 and on Grandpa Hardy's ranger searching for my buck! We literally drove around for 4 hours with no luck, not one deer was out there and we covered a lot of country. So we made our way back to camp and sat and talked for a bit trying to decide what we should do next.
We decided we were going to hop in the truck and go for a drive, Derek was going to show us cave lake and success loop and then we were going to go the the wildlife management area and talk to some people and find out where all the deer were. As we were driving up by the canyon a bit we got to a spot where we thought would be a good place to get out and hike around a little, maybe see if we could scare up a few deer. Derek went one way and Ryan and I went another. About 15 minutes later Derek radios me and says he's found a little 2 point that looks pretty good and to come check it out and see if I wanted to go after it. So we headed his way and started sneaking down into a canyon to get closer to this deer that was just eating away in a small grass area at the bottom. As were getting closer we realize this 2 point is actually a really good sized 3x4. I was nervous we were going to make too much noise coming down the hill but the thing barely flinched the whole time, just kept eating. So I got about 230 yards away and Derek let me rest the gun barrel on his shoulder to steady it, which still shook a little, but I still got him shot.
He didn't just drop like we were hoping but it turned out to be ok. He ended up heading down the canyon and Derek and I had to chase him, and with 2 coats and a long sleeve shirt on, I got pretty warm. But Ryan had stayed on the other side of the canyon and kept his eye on the buck and directed us where to go when ever the deer dropped into bushes. We chased and searched for him for about a half an hour before he finally dropped for the last time. And wouldn't you know it he dropped only about 30 feet from where we could pull the truck to, so in the end he actually did us a favor. We didn't have to cut him up in pieces and pack him out like we were planning, but instead just dragged him the 30 feet and took him back to camp to skin. But before that we of course took some pictures and Ryan was nice and gutted him for me (bless his heart). When we did get back to camp and the two boys started skinning him and they had me jump in and help, which turned out to be not as hard as i'd thought it was going to be. After we got him all cleaned up, we then cleaned up ourselves, made dinner, and watched a movie to finish our successful day off. The next morning we tried sleeping in but none of us slept good that night so were were up by 7 and all loaded and on the road by 8. We stopped in Ely for breakfast and were back to Logandale by 12:30.
All in all it was such a fun trip and I couldn't have asked for a better experience or better "guides" to be with me helping. They definitely took care of me and I don't know what I would have done without them! I think they had just as much fun as I did though and it wasn't even their deer. Gotta love boys and how much they love hunting season. ;)
