First Camera Buck!

Well, I’m late in posting. I apologize. I posted about a last minute opportunity to follow my cousin on a deer hunt in Oregon, and a flying trip it was. My cousin, Cody, had Tuesday off from work, so I got a phone call on Monday afternoon letting me know there was a boat going up the reservoir Monday night for a Tuesday deer hunt, and would I like to come. Well, of course I’d like to go - I was ecstatic! So, I threw my bags together and met my aunt, Christy, my uncle, Ray, and Cody at Ray and Christy’s house for a boat ride in the dark to their cabin on Owyhee Reservoir.

Earlier in the season each of them had passed on smaller bucks and just a few days prior, Christy and Ray had spotted a shooter buck, but didn’t have time to get off a shot. So, Christy decided she wanted that buck, and went with Ray to find him - or at least a comparable one. Cody, letting me know that he would be less picky was my vote to follow with the camera.

We went hiking up the ridge in the false dawn and when the sun hit the highest peak more than a mile from us, Cody spotted a couple bucks feeding over a ridge. One was a shooter to him, so away we went. I found that sitting at a computer doing these blogs and trying to get a website going has not done great things for my endurance. Cody just about walked the lungs right out of me. To quote Jerry Reed - we had a long way to go and a short time to get there - as Cody wanted to get to them before they bedded for the afternoon. Mule deer do crazy things sometimes as we’ve seen them bed at 9:30 in the morning. We hustled up the ridge, then crossed several saddles before coming up to the ridge where Cody had last seen the bucks.

We peeked over the top and saw they hadn’t gone far at all once they crossed the top - they were feeding just 100 yards from us. The sage was very tall and the deer didn’t present us with a shot, so we slipped up the ridge a little further as the deer continued to feed away from us. We set up with the sun to our backs and the wind in our favor - we lucked out with the wind! Then it was a game of the camera could see the buck, Cody couldn’t. Then Cody could see the buck and the camera couldn’t. Finally, I lost the buck completely. The sagebrush was so tall it was easy to lose him in the terrain, but all excuses aside, I have to do a better job! It was time for me to begin panic mode - which understandably wasn’t exactly what Cody needed at the time. I was worried that I was not going to get this shot on camera - I just couldn’t find the dang buck through the camera lens!

About 45 minutes from when we first peeked over the ridge and saw the bucks, I finally found the buck in the camera at the same time as Cody had a good shot at the deer. Problem, though, is that Cody had been keyed up for almost an hour now and he was resting his gun on an unstable tripod - the tripod he uses for his spotting scope. He figured, certainly any tripod would be better than nothing! He took three shots, although I should mention that his first shot was a killing shot - a little far back, but a killing shot none-the-less.

Of course neither of us had a still camera - so you’ll have to wait for the video to be completed to see pics of this buck. He was a wide forked horn that will provide some very tasty morsels! For me, it was the first kill I’d had the chance to film and a huge rush! For Cody, I believe it was his first kill on camera and a special moment to be together for each of us. Cody had helped me bag two Idaho deer and a nice Idaho bull, but this was the first time I’d been able to help pack his meat out!

Christy and Ray never saw a single deer - doe or buck. A rarity for this unit - especially for this family that knows the unit so well. All told, it was an awesome trip as the country itself makes the trip well worth any effort to get there. Backstrap - well, that’s just icing on the cake!