I drew in for Sandy Sanders either antlered/antlerless gun hunt this year. 35 square miles is a little overwhelming at first. I went out there last week for some pre scouting. It was late in the day when I got there, so I picked a high vantage point to glass a large area. It was beautiful. Some of the area is as wide as 6-7 miles without any road. I found a couple of places that deserved a closer look.
Check in was Friday at noon. I checked in and then donned my hiking boots, binoculars, gps, notepad, and range finder. I was off to gather as much recon as I could in 5 hours. As darkness approached I headed back to the truck. I made sure note how long it took to walk out and how long the drive took, so I would be sure to arrive plenty of time before light.
I am not a writer, and I am getting tired. The rest is a condensed version. Sorry for the guys that like to feel like they are there.
I made it in too my spot at 630, about an hour before legal shooting time. I think I walked a little faster in the dark since I was looking around as much. Almost 12 hours later of sitting in the same spot, moving to stay in the shade of a cedar tree that I was backed up into. I saw this buck headed up the far side of the canyon wall. I had ranged different points all day making mental notes of distances. Looking over a canyon makes distances appear a lot farther. I knew he was in range and one shot from "lil thunder" and he was down. I grabbed the range finder and ranged him at 206 yards and then lined up a point so I could find him. I marked him on the gps and found I was .88 miles southeast from the truck, and what the gps doesn't say is what the terrain is like during that straight line. I was .46 miles west of the "Y intersection" I had marked the week before. I knew right then and there east was the shortest and most likely the easiest way out. Gps elevation difference was 117 feet up from the buck to the road. I think most of that was in the first 120 yards.
Details: 8 point whitetail, biologist said they don't weigh anymore, he said it would probably be 150 dressed. 206 yard shot with a 300 RUM. Time of kill 6:22 in the evening November 6th, 2010 Sandy Sanders WMA.
Didn't get in the field pics, as I was smooth wore out, and didn't have anyone to take a pic at 9:42, yep took about 3 hours to drag the deer out that far. I took a snapshot after I loaded it in the truck to go to camping area to check in and process.
The buck was just left of center on the shelf in this pic.(looking Southeast) I took him out straight east (.46 miles from deer to road) My truck was .77 miles straight north of myself taking the pic. (.88 miles NW of deer)
Check in was Friday at noon. I checked in and then donned my hiking boots, binoculars, gps, notepad, and range finder. I was off to gather as much recon as I could in 5 hours. As darkness approached I headed back to the truck. I made sure note how long it took to walk out and how long the drive took, so I would be sure to arrive plenty of time before light.
I am not a writer, and I am getting tired. The rest is a condensed version. Sorry for the guys that like to feel like they are there.
I made it in too my spot at 630, about an hour before legal shooting time. I think I walked a little faster in the dark since I was looking around as much. Almost 12 hours later of sitting in the same spot, moving to stay in the shade of a cedar tree that I was backed up into. I saw this buck headed up the far side of the canyon wall. I had ranged different points all day making mental notes of distances. Looking over a canyon makes distances appear a lot farther. I knew he was in range and one shot from "lil thunder" and he was down. I grabbed the range finder and ranged him at 206 yards and then lined up a point so I could find him. I marked him on the gps and found I was .88 miles southeast from the truck, and what the gps doesn't say is what the terrain is like during that straight line. I was .46 miles west of the "Y intersection" I had marked the week before. I knew right then and there east was the shortest and most likely the easiest way out. Gps elevation difference was 117 feet up from the buck to the road. I think most of that was in the first 120 yards.
Details: 8 point whitetail, biologist said they don't weigh anymore, he said it would probably be 150 dressed. 206 yard shot with a 300 RUM. Time of kill 6:22 in the evening November 6th, 2010 Sandy Sanders WMA.
Didn't get in the field pics, as I was smooth wore out, and didn't have anyone to take a pic at 9:42, yep took about 3 hours to drag the deer out that far. I took a snapshot after I loaded it in the truck to go to camping area to check in and process.
The buck was just left of center on the shelf in this pic.(looking Southeast) I took him out straight east (.46 miles from deer to road) My truck was .77 miles straight north of myself taking the pic. (.88 miles NW of deer)
