I grew up blacktail hunting on public land with my dad in our hometown in Washington. That is where I learned my way around the woods and took my first buck at age 11. I instantly fell in love. I will never forget that moment not only for my own excitement, but also for my dad’s shaking hands as he called to tell my mom what we had just accomplished.
Fast forward a decade to meeting my husband, Chad, an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed blacktail hunting at home, but he was also very successful hunting out of state. I was skeptical, but I went on my first out-of-state hunt with him in 2014. I realized I had been missing out! The following year, I started buying preference points in several states and practicing shooting at longer ranges. My father-in-law, Blain, is extremely knowledgeable with reloading and helped me develop new loads for my rifle. This really improved my accuracy and shooting abilities. Over the next couple of years, we all had some success both in and out of state. We were learning more about draw odds and potential units as the years went by. Chad started subscribing to Huntin’ Fool, which further broadened our research abilities.
In 2018, we had done our homework and decided to apply for Wyoming. Our group included my dad, Bruce, Chad, and Blain. My dad and I applied for Wyoming mule deer tags, and Chad and his dad applied for elk tags in the Bighorn Mountains. We had enough points that we knew we would draw, but we were still relieved when the results came out and our plan was confirmed. We all drew our tags and were getting the opportunity to go on our first big hunt together. We had all hunted with one another but never the four of us together. These men had all individually contributed to my knowledge of the outdoor world and now those worlds were all colliding. I was beyond excited.
We knew that preparation would be critical on this hunt. We practiced shooting all summer at longer ranges and in wind, trying to prepare for the vast openness and well-known winds of Wyoming. We also worked to improve our fitness levels, knowing the terrain would not be forgiving. We took a trip to the Bighorns in September to scout out camp spots and learn the area. We didn’t want to leave. We saw some nice bucks, bulls, moose, and even a black bear. We marked handfuls of potential camping spots on our onXmaps, hoping to get our number one location nicknamed “Pee Camp.” This spot was the furthest camp in from the main road and would give us closer access to the areas we wanted to be hunting. The countdown to our October hunt was officially on!
When the time came to hit the road and head east, we were more than ready. Blain had arrived in Wyoming early with Tyson, a family friend, to set up camp. They were able to get to our favorite spot and set up days before Chad, my dad, and I arrived. Tyson headed home, and Blain stayed in camp, awaiting our arrival. The drive was supposed to be about 16 hours, but when we got into Montana, we hit snow and it never stopped until we got to our camp in Wyoming. That really slowed us down, arriving in camp only 12 hours before the season started rather than a day and a half early to scout.
We went for a quick drive before dark with little success or new knowledge of where we would start our hunt the next day. This was not exactly the start we had hoped for, but it sure was making for an adventure.
Opening day, we decided we would target elk. There was plenty of snow on the ground, and the idea was that if we targeted elk, we would unintentionally run into deer along the way. That plan was executed perfectly. We started out the morning watching a group of bulls several miles away in a roadless area. We weren’t sure if we could even make it to them in time to make a stalk or if we were ready to commit to that difficult terrain. While we talked game plans, Chad and Blain decided to hike over the backside of the ridge to glass into a different drainage while my dad and I watched the bulls. They weren’t gone very long when Chad came running back, whisper-shouting, “Get your rifle. Big buck!”
I grabbed my rifle, and we headed back over the ridge to the glassing point Chad had found. We sat down, and the second I saw the buck, I knew he was the one. We had plenty of time as the buck fed along a burn across the canyon. Chad looked at me and said, “He’s big, scary big.” I instantly thought, Oh, great, so no pressure! At that moment, I decided I wasn’t even going to look at his antlers again. The last thing I wanted was to get buck fever and miss this opportunity.
This was it, the moment we had practiced for all summer, only this time, there was over a foot of fresh snow on the ground. I lay down three different times before I found a spot that I felt comfortable on and had the opening I needed to make the shot. My father and father-in-law were set up at the glassing point about 50 yards up and to my right. Chad was set up right behind me. I got on the buck and dry fired several times, trying to calm my nerves and steady my breathing. Chad ranged the buck. I dialed my RBros 260 AI and loaded, waiting for the buck to feed into an opening. It only took seconds before he was standing broadside. I took a breath and squeezed the trigger. I watched as my bullet made impact. The shot was true, and he didn’t go more than 40 yards. I immediately started to shake as the adrenaline hit and I realized what we had just done. It was all high fives and hugs after that.
As we arrived at the buck, we were all in amazement. This buck was much larger than the caliber of animal we were expecting to see in this unit, scoring over 180". He was beautiful, but to me, the true trophy was that we did it together. This was a buck-of-a-lifetime, and I could not have done this without the three men standing beside me. It was truly one of best hunts, and having my husband, father, and father-in-law there made it priceless.
The hunted concluded with four filled tags. Each hunt was another great memory on the mountain with all of us together. Our relationships grew immensely in those mountains as we shoveled snow, ground out tough miles, laughed so hard we cried, shared great meals, and overcame unforeseen obstacles. We all came home with notched tags, but I think we came home with a lot more than that.
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