Craig's Nevada Hunt
First posted October 25, 2009 Last edited October 28, 2009
Just a short update on Craig's Nevada hunt. Alarmingly, the deer herds are way, way down due to drought, predators, burned-out habitat and too many tags issued. Craig has been scouting, etc., for days and days and hasn't "seen anything." That doesn't mean he hasn't seen anything big, it means he hasn't been seeing anything.
I joined him earlier in the week and returned yesterday. In four days of hard looking, we saw maybe a dozen doe, two spikes and one 3x4 two-year-old buck. We saw him early Friday morning, but he was too far away for me to try to get, and too small for Craig to consider. We lingered awhile longer, hoping to see something more, when two shots were fired from somewhere behind us. We couldn't imagine someone shooting at the 3x4 because the buck couldn't have moved that far from when we last saw it. If those shots were fired at that buck, someone was shooting more than 600 yards. We were situated in a good spot and decided to wait thinking that something might be pushed our way.
Then two guys came from the direction of the shots. Saw them looking at the brush, maybe checking for blood. Only one of the guys had a rifle, and if he thought he hit that buck from that distance, he was delusional. Then after a few minutes, he fired again from another impossible distance. The doe came pouring over the hill toward us, but no buck. The guys kept on their quest; actually, it was fun to watch them do all that work. We figured they must have been young, cuz they set a pretty good clip chasing that buck.
About 250 yards from us, we spotted the buck. Darned if it wasn't the 3x4. He was panting, confused, scared but not wounded. Like a moth to a flame, he was making his way back to the doe, which meant he was coming towards us. I had a 150 yard clean shot at him, but I didn't take it. Had he been bigger, I'd have shot it. He saw us, came to his senses, and wisely decided to run for his life rather than court the ladies. I bet that buck is still running.
Sadly reports from other areas are just as grim. Nobody is seeing anything. When you stop to think about it, Craig did a great job in even finding a buck. At least I had an opportunity to shoot, which is more than most can say. The season ends this Friday; knowing Craig, he'll stay out till the bitter end. He has a few more places to try, but if those areas are as bad as the rest, even he won't find anything. However, if he finds where all the deer have gone, he'll give me a call and I'll join him. Hey, I never claimed to be more than a "fair weather" hunter!
That's the tale so far...will keep you guys posted when there's more to report.
Sandy
Oct 29, 2009
Craig called. Deer down...4x5, nothing "great," but on the second-to-the-last day of the season, this one looked just fine. Seems Craig got out of his truck to close a gate, and the buck, which may have been pushed by all the shooting, came towards him. Craig decided if the deer were to come within a certain range, he take 'em. The deer kept coming, and Craig shot him at about 100-150 yards. For the record it took three shots. Any of the three would have been a kill shot (the first went through the heart), but the buck just didn't go down. It was an easy harvest (about the first, and only, easy thing for Craig this season), which was just a short pack out to the truck. The buck is smaller than the one he passed up on opening day, but that's the difference between opening day and the end of the season.
Sounds like he's getting out of there in the nick of time. It's been raining, foggy, snowing, windy and very, very cold. Craig said he was getting worried about the road conditions. Doesn't take much moisture to turn the dirt roads into mud.
He has some pictures, so he'll send them when he can.
Sandy
