Johnny's Buck

Johnny Walker and I headed out the first Friday of deer season last year for new country we had never hunted.   We carried a "light" camp, food, water, ammo and our guns.  The climb to 10,000 feet (we started around 6500) took 1.5 hours longer than I planned since we had to go over, down and through the cliffs to the right of Johnny's head in the first picture.  

We jumped his deer, and another little buck, at around 10 am.  We were making our way over a small rim when the buck jumped up from under another rim just above us and to our right.  Johnny isn't one to shoot any buck.  He will go without filling his tag if he doesn't see a good one.  When he first shot at this buck I wasn't sure why.  He said he had seen drop tines on the buck and decided that was a good enough reason to shoot.   The buck died and rolled a few hundred yards below us.  The walk over to his buck was a little nerve racking.  I was telling him I thought it was a pretty small buck.  He started worrying it didn't have drop tines and by the time we got to it he was really second guessing himself.

We were planning to see more country but decided to get his buck down the mountain.   He needed to get back to work and we wanted his deer hung properly and well taken care of. Before heading down we climbed to the next saddle and looked into the next drainage.   We saw to young bucks, but nothing I wanted to shoot.  So we headed for the deer and then the truck.  It was a long, steep, rugged, nasty walk out of the area with a half of a deer and all our gear, not to mention the head/antlers Johnny was carrying.  We left the truck at 4:30 am and were back by 7 pm.  It was a good, hard day!  

Johnny looking back at his deer from the saddle.  The cliffs we came through are visible in the back ground on the end of the ridge.  

Johnny with his buck we affectionately named Wally.  It had 9 total tines on its right and 7 on its left.  Needless to say he was pretty happy when we got over there and it really DID have drop tines, unlike my dad's buck from a few years ago!  Hee, hee, nice job Matt!

Me with Johnny's buck.  I helped gut and skin and pack it, so Johnny wanted a picture of me with it.  I lost my knife sharpener somewhere around where this buck it.  Why anyone covers tools with a camo pattern I'll never know.  I guess so its easier to loose so you have to buy more.  Hopefully this year I will find it.  As long as there weren't any avalanches it could still be there.  

Two good views of the drop tines.  My buck and my brother Adam's are in the back ground.