Early in the season we spent a few weekends out in the tents and endured a few heavy rain showers before setting up our little tent trailer for the last week. As an added bonus, we were able to set up a small 3gal keg of our homebrew in camp. Sure beats hiding under the tent vestibule on a wet November night!
Deer sightings were slow the first few days, but there was plenty of other wildlife to enjoy, though was only able to catch a few on camera.
I set up and rattled one evening, but didn’t spend as much time as I should have waiting afterward. Moving forward I wound up busting a buck out of some thick brush. He bounded off around a draw that had been thinned a few years earlier and stopped to look back at what had just spooked him. With time to take a knee before the shot, he fell in his tracks.
He’s no giant, but after several years without filling a tag, I was happy with him. These are the best pics I could muster with a point-and-shoot and tiny tripod on a coastal hillside..
I made it about half way through quartering him before I needed to head out and pick up Pop. We returned with Bro, finished the job and packed him out, arriving back in camp around 10:00pm. The next day I returned to the carcass to hang a trail cam and found it already covered with debris. Some other critter had now claimed this kill as their own! The trail cam videos soon revealed it was bobcat. The video of the cats (there was a tom, queen and a kitten) was interesting to watch as they went about their business without regard for the camera. This is what the carcass looked like the next day. Note the hillside scrapped bare to cover the cache.
The next several days were spent exploring some new areas, revisiting some old ones and just generally enjoying my time in the woods.
When good loggers go bad?
We heard while we were down that the first confirmed report of wolves West of the Cascades had come in. Can’t say I’m looking forward to the day when this shot shows a paw print the same size as my hand..
One of the more engineered fire pits I've run across. It even had a hearth!
The intensity with which some of these slash piles burn is amazing.
The sunsets through the low clouds were lovely as always. Wish I could have done them justice though.
I was in camp enjoying lunch with Pop after a long morning exploring an area I had been trying to get to for a few years, when the radio crackled. It was Bro down in his favorite honey hole looking for some strong backs and extra packs! Pop and I were loaded and on our way in minutes. I haven’t stopped to bother to consider all the reasons why yet, but packing meat has turned into one of my favorite parts of the hunt, and I got to do it again!
When we reached Bro he looked at us with a knowing nod of his head and flatly stated, “It’s a management buck. Couldn’t have him polluting the gene pool down here.” It was meant as a joke (I think..), but he is an odd looking fella. We took to calling him Goofy. Afraid I don’t have a proper field shot, so this will have to suffice.
Bro already had him bagged and ready, so all we had to do was lift and go. With three of us it was pretty easy hike, despite the steep vertical climb.
In the end we celebrated another enjoyable week of Blacktail hunting with a dark IPA we had brewed and titled, “Cascadia Blacktail Ale.” Seemed a fitting prost to a noble quarry and good times with a couple of guys whose company I enjoy most.
Cheers,
-c2
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