During the Utah general deer season, my best friend and I woke up at 2:00 in the morning to get to the trailhead and start hiking to our destination. While we were hiking, my best friend broke his foot and his big toe on a tree. He decided that he could make it back to the car and get home so his parents could take him to the hospital. He told me to continue on the trail and get to our glassing point. It was a six-mile hike.
I made it up to the glassing point. At sunup, I had only seen two other guys. They were in the canyon to the west of me, and I was glassing to the canyon east of me. I had started to see deer right at light and had spotted three to four bucks. I was looking them over when I saw the one I wanted. He was huge and wide. I could tell he was a 4-point from about 300 yards away. As I made a move to a better position to shoot, he was moving to check does. He had started to rut early, so by the time I got in position and was ready to make the shot, he was out 350 yards. My rangefinder was so cold that it was having a hard time picking up the range. I had to hold it underneath my armpit to warm it up for just a few seconds before the deer walked into a clearing where I could get a good range. I got ready for the shot and got the range of 350 yards. I got steady and waited him out. He slowly worked his way into an opening where he stopped. I squeezed the trigger, and right as I shot, I could see blood pouring out of him. I knew he was hurt, but I put another round in the chamber and got ready for the second shot. He bedded down, and I put another round into him for the final shot. He was down.
This was my biggest buck to date. I was so excited, and I instantly called my best friend who had been hiking up with me. I told him I had killed a big buck. He was so excited and wanted to see pictures. Once I was off the phone with him, I called my dad for the reinforcements I needed to help pack that big deer out. Once I called him, I told him I was happy to hear that my brother and his wife were going to help pack out my deer. When the phone calls were done, I started my way over to the buck. I got down there and found him. I looked at his antlers, and he had a 4-point frame, but his right side was weird and messed up. It was a frame with weird kickers. I took pictures and started processing all the meat. I got it cleaned up and hung up in a tree so that I could load my pack evenly. I packed the whole deer in my pack and got up to the trail where I met up with my dad, my brother, and my sister-in-law. We loaded the deer between the four of us and started our long hike out.
This hunt was an amazing experience, and I couldn’t have done it without my family. Once we got home, we cut the back straps and ate them. They were delicious. Hopefully the next hunting season is just as good. Thanks for reading!
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