Awesome pics JD, looks like a fun day in the field! Cool moose, I've seen the same thing near Lloyd. Great big bulls in a zone with no season

Skeeter, with the way that gun is shooting I wouldn't want to be the buck that crosses your path at 200yds!

Yesterday I got up at 4:00am and headed down to High Prairie to go hunting with the buddy that took me out last year when I was a non-resident. He shot his buck about two weeks ago (nice double beamed 6x4)but has still been seeing plenty of nice bucks in the fields around home.
He had one in particular in mind for me to go after. It was an average framed 5x5 (so he thought) with palmated beams and tines. He had estimated it would go somewhere in the 150's. That sounded alright to me so we headed out at first light to try and catch him coming in from the fields.

the arearecently received a good dump of snow which seemed to change the deerpatterns a little. We were both a little disappointed to sneak in on what looked to be a completely empty alfalfa field at first light. We decided to hang around sincemy partnerwas confident the deer were in a different field a little further out and would still filter past us. Sure enough a few does showed up followed by a 120ish 4x4 and a nice 145ish 5x5. we tried to get in position for a better look but with daylight gaining on them the bucks got nervous and galloped into the bush before we could get close enough for a good peak at them. The next few minutes provided some entertainment in the form of ayoung (100ish) 5x5 chassing and harrassing his four smaller companions before they all moved off to the bush fo the day.

Unfortunatley,my partnergot called to work in the afternoon and was going to miss the evening sit. He instructed me to go to the same spot and see what came out.

I arrived the field with about two hours of light left so I hunkered down behind a bale and tried to keep out of the wind. It wasn't long before the 5 young basket racks came out and started feeding and acting likethe bunch of rowdy teenagers that they are. With legal light running out i stood up behind the bale and glassed the field edge in front of me. After checking my watch and seeing just two minutes of light left I looked back to see two deer walking towards me from roughly where the two bucks had entered in the morning. I grabbed my rifle and sprinted 50 yards to the next bale and deciding that I didn't have time to reposition for a broadside I got the bipod ready and waited. the deer were walking straight at me and by now i could tell that one was a good buck. I lined up on him but as I did he passed behing an old row of bales that had been left in the field. PANIC! Without time left to move I waited and hoped he would pass by one of the openings between two bales. No sooner had i found the lowest opening than he stepped into it and put his head down to feed. He turned his head just enough that I could tell he was the palmated buck that my buddy had seen. That was all I needed to make up my mind. He was quartering towards me offering onlythe base of his neck and near shoulder. He dropped instantlyas the shot from my .280 passed through his spine and down into his lungs exiting through the ribs just in front of his diaphram. It was only after I ran up to him that I realised he had all the extra points and double main beam. Final tally is 10x10 scorable points. I'm not sure what he'll score as his typical frame is only about 120. He is a very small bodied deer and looks young. I can only imagine what he would have looked like in like in ayear or two.

Here are some pics I took this morning. I'll post field pics when they are sent to me.

Great story and helluva buck, saskabush!!!!! Unreal character and like you said who cares what he scores. That is a once in a lifetimer(many lifetimes more like it!). Is it me or is he a 3 beamer? Sure looks like a extra beam on the right side. If so you know the drill with regards to B&C and 3 beams. Again who cares, a realTrophy. Will be interesting how they score that rt side though.

Any plans forhonoring this fella? Shoulder mount or other

Congrats man that is exactly what the doctor ordered to get the fellas (oops any ladies viewing as well) revvvvvvvvved up!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME STUFF

I sure hope a buck crosses my path allowingthe 7 mag to bark.

Thanks Skeeter, I definately appreciate the rarity of deer like that one. I won't be holding my breath on ever seeing another like it in the wild let alone shooting one.

As for score, i'm not even concerned about it. He does have a second mainbeam on the one side which to me makes him even more of a trophy.

I'm leaning towards shoulder mount. Even my wife seems to think that's a good idea (I still can't believe my ears). At the very least he'll be a euro mount. I'm not sure if i'd prefer seeing the shoulder mount or the freedom of being able to hold it in my hands and look at it from all angles. I know that sounds weird. I've been told I have a problem.

I should also add a note of appreciation to my partner for sharing his hunting spot with me (again). I definately owe him a few. On a side note, of the five guys he regularly hunts with, all of us have tagged deer better than 150( i think mine should gross high enough) and it's not even november yet. Talk about an awesome area he has.

Thats a great buck Saskabush. Like you and Skeeter previously mentioned, regardless of what he scores its awesome. I have yet to ever even see a non-typical, so congrats.

As for me not much has been happening. Havent spent a whole ton of time out in the bush - spooked a few 4pt baskets outta their beds (whitetail) while lookin for my cousins first deer, but no go.

Tonight I headed out for a quick peek around my bow area, saw a decent to small four point so I thought id put on a stalk. Ended up only being able to get within about 65 yards from him - I know I know WAY too far for a first bow shot, but I took it anyhow. Missed, the arrow hit about 5 yards too low. I followed them in my socks (really cold on frozen ground btw) and got within 25yards of him, but only his does were out in the open and he was in a little patch of approx 100 lodgepole pines - again no clear shot. He moved horizontally quartering away from me, so I persued him over a hill but I suppose they got wind of me because all I saw were their rear ends running down the hill a couple yards away.

I figured Id leave them for the day, probably been spooked enough.

As an interesting side note, following the above noted incident, I walked down towards where they ran, and ran into a young 3 point I have seen a number of times earlier in the season. Has anyone ever seen this? One of his horns has been COMPLETLY knocked off at the base. Ouch thatd hurt? anyways I thought it was cool.

Going to begin my pursuit of whitetails soon - anyone ever use decoys with scents at the same time? Itll be my first time.

Heres a couple pictures of that muley buck I was talking about a few posts back

another

Strange day hunting today, very snowy and windy. Me and a couple buddies were out with the muzzleloaders, I was looking for a whitetail and he has a draw muley tag. Seen some nice ones of each but nothing to massive, but we did see some elk, maybe that doesnt sound exciting but I've never seen elk in this zone, I've only started hearing of people seeing the odd elk around here a year or two ago. Anyways I thought it was pretty neat to see down here, heres a couple pics.

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