A few days ago I shot my first buck and must admit I had very mixed emotions about the experience which for me really began several years ago. When I got diagnosed with SIBO and had to switch from a vegan/vegetarian to Paleo diet I made the decision to fully embrace the Paleo lifestyle and in March of 2015 part of that became taking up hunting again. It all started when I re-read The Paleo Manifesto and the chapter where John Durant decides to go deer hunting to supply his own food. I grew up hunting in Iowa and had indeed supplied my own food before so I knew I could do it. But, I grew up hunting birds, rabbits and squirrels and while Dad had gone deer hunting I had never been along. After my first bird hunt in 30+ years I began looking into big game hunting since the amount of freezer stocked is way higher than with small game. Within a month I had read several books on deer hunting and was contemplating hunting deer.
I put in for tags in 2015 but didn’t get a draw in the one unit in Idaho that I was trying for and by fall I was not 100% back to health so I opted not to push it and go on the open hunt that year. In 2016 I got back on it and by May was planning a trip in the fall to Idaho with my friend Kreg. I put in for a draw on Unit 55’s controlled hunt and we figured if that didn’t come through we’d go hunt the open hunt in Unit 56 since both are close to his ranch. Amazingly I drew the tag for Unit 55 so it was time to get serious about deer.
First step was buying a rifle. I had been debating between a .30-06 and a .270 Win and after much reading opted for the .270 which is a very flat shooting rifle and I knew I could need some distance in Idaho. I looked at a few models and finally settled on a Tikka T3 Lite. Next came the scope, I bought a Nikon Prostaff 7 4-16x 42mm with a BDC reticle. Add to this a full set of camo, boots, a bi-pod and tripod, spotting scope, rangefinder, and a ton of ammo. I started going to the range on a regular basis until I was hitting decently at 100 yards. Then Kreg and I went out and he had me set up at 200 yards and after working on dry firing a bit I moved to the target and was able to shoot 1-1.5″ patterns at 200 yards. I was ready and now it was just waiting for the season to open.
In early October I hunted the WA muzzleloader season locally with no success at all. I had seen deer and caught deer on my trail cam but on the mornings I was hunting there was nothing to be seen at all. I hit the range a few more days and finally was ready to head to Idaho.
Kreg glassing one saddle
On our first morning we drove through City of Rocks and up into the Sawtooth National Forest where we began glassing for deer. On the drive in City of Rocks a nice 4×4 buck crossed the road in front of us in the dark, things were looking up. The rest of the day we glassed several good spots and saw a ton of does but not a single buck anywhere. We also encountered our first moose of the trip, one that was about 20 yards from the truck when we went to get back in. But we found a great saddle where we saw probably 40 does so knew where we were going to head back the next days, there simply had to be bucks around.
One of five moose, we needed to scoot this one off the road
On Wednesday morning we went right to the good saddle, hunting the road on the way up and again seeing a lot more does on the drive. Once we started glassing we saw a group of deer just below the saddle coming and there was a nice buck and a spike intermixed with about 10 does. We belly crawled to the rise and I got set up with the bipod. The deer turned and started up the saddle about 150 yards away from us with the nice buck near the rear of the group. I got ready and when the buck came into view got him in the scope. I was reaching for the trigger when a doe stepped into my field of view and wrecked the shot. The deer headed over the saddle without giving me another shot opportunity. Still, we saw a couple of bucks and at least got set up on one, it was a good morning already. We glassed the canyon for the rest of the morning and saw a few more bucks at long distance along with another moose.
Our favorite saddle to glass
That afternoon as we were heading up the mountain we spotted a few more bucks. I had a shot at one close to the road, probably only 50 yards away. I got out and when I set up my scope was still out to 200 yards so things were blurry. Instead of taking the easy shot I tried to focus the scope and a doe walked in front again taking away the opportunity. Lesson learned. We saw another decent buck with some does near an opening in back of some trees and I got out to stalk him but they ran off before I had a shot. Once at the saddle we saw a nice buck heading down with some does and watched about 40 does in a couple of openings below us but the buck never appeared. Late in the day with just a bit of shooting light left we found a buck and four does on the far side of the saddle and started a stalk to get in range. I set up in the saddle and had about a 175 yard shot. Several times the does kept going in front of the buck and when I finally had a clear shot I took it and the deer scattered. We went to check the area to see if I’d hit the deer but there was no sign of blood or hair at all so it appears that I missed completely which is way better than wounding the animal. We again encountered a moose, now we were up to five moose sightings and three of them were very close.
Thursday rolled around and I knew that this was going to be the last good full day of hunting since the weather was going to turn and we had to get a deer by Friday morning or we wouldn’t have time to process before I had to head home. I packed along a venison Epic Bar for luck. We went back to our spot and on the way saw one buck before shooting light and then three together near the saddle. We got out to try and get ahead of them and set up on them. The bucks came to the edge of the rise just as I was there and I never really had a shot before they saw us and charged down the hill. We set up and started glassing again.
We found a huge buck, serious trophy, about 550 yards away down the canyon in some quaking aspen just bedded down. After watching him for a while we decided to start an approach and see if we could get in range even though this deer would be a beast to get out of that canyon, it would have been about a 1/2 mile uphill haul to get it out. On the way we glassed up another smaller 4×3 buck, probably the same one we saw in the aspens the previous day since it was just above that area and I decided to try for that one instead. We closed the range a bit and got to about 300 yards and the buck was still moving up and away but there were no does around. I was a bit worried about a 300+ yard shot but Kreg said I could do it given my shooting at 200.
I set up my tripod and got set up waiting for the buck to turn broadside on me. I took a shot and missed then remembered I needed to be at the first bubble on my scope and not on the crosshairs. I took a few breaths and settled down, trying to get into predator mode. The buck turned again and this time I had the bubble just in back of the shoulder and the next thing I knew I had fired. I re-acquired the deer and just saw his antlers shake a few times in the sage, it had dropped on the spot at about 330 yards.
Watching the buck die in my scope was an odd experience, I was excited and felt some remorse at the same time. This buck had just given his life to help feed me and the family, it was a great gift that I had to thank him for. I was very glad to see that he just dropped and didn’t suffer, the buck didn’t know what hit him. I thought about a few lines I had read in Meditations on Hunting by Jose Ortega y Gasset:
Every good Hunter is uneasy in the depths of his conscience when faced with the death he is about to inflict on the enchanting animal. He does not have the final and firm conviction that his conduct is correct. Bet neither, it should be understood, is her certain of the opposite.
Back to the road, the buck was shot on the hill just above that fencepost in back of the deer
Now the real work began. We hiked over to the spot, found the buck, tagged it and took photos then began field dressing. I had hit the deer about 4-6″ to the left of where I had been aiming but it was a clean shot that took out the lungs and didn’t destroy any meat at all. I had read about dressing and watched a few videos but was glad Kreg was there to direct the process which went amazingly fast and was much cleaner than I anticipated since the deer had bled out in the chest cavity. We drained the blood then rigged up some rope to drag the deer back up the hill to the saddle. The drag was long and slow, it took about an hour to cover the 1/4-1/3 mile up to the road but it was all uphill.
butchering
Back at the ranch we first ate some breakfast then began skinning, quartering and butchering the deer. We worked through the afternoon and early evening getting the quarters done and collecting a big pile of meat for grinding the next day. After we finished the quarters we pulled the tenderloins and cut the backstraps then finally cooked up some venison medallions which were excellent. The next morning we finished with the carcass and ground and packaged burger. The last job was removing the antlers and then disposing of the carcass, there was not much left when we were done. In the end I filled my 65 quart cooler with venison which will get us through the year.
I owe this successful hunt to so many people. Primarily Kreg and his whole family who took me into their home for the week and who helped with the whole process. Second, our friend Tom who started all this by giving me a bunch of venison and antelope when I was sick and encouraging me all along spending time at the range, recommending gear and talking hunting. Virtually I owe a lot to John Durant who helped put this idea in my head, Hank Shaw whose books really got me interested in hunting and cooking wild game and to Steven Rinella whose books, MeatEater TV show and podcast really taught me a lot about big game hunting. I couldn’t have done it without all of these people.
Gear wise everything I bought worked out so well, I had no complaints:
- Tikka – the rifle preformed just as advertised
- Nikon Sport Optics – suppled my scope, rangefinder and spotting scope
- Hornady – I shot 130 grain SST Superperformance ammo and found it patterned very well the Tikka.
- FirstLite – this clothing was awesome and highly recommended by Tom. I bought everything in the Fusion pattern and stayed toasty warm and dry the whole trip.
- Kifaru – also got a nice day pack to hold gear in Fusion pattern that worked perfectly.
Finally I have to thank Catherine who has had to deal with a husband who changed from a hard-core vegetarian/vegan to a meat eater and hunter in the last few years, it has been a crazy ride.