adk deer hunting The Greg Fives Buck

[NFA-ADK]

Day 2 Nov 10^th Set up the game plan that I would push to Mike, Dominick, Shawn and Connor.  Wind was perfect South East blowing my smell back to the river area.  I pushed but did not see any deer until I was about a mile plus into the drive.  Doe busted me smoking directly on the trail (High ridge line.) and headed North then West I believe.   Kept pushing East and Slightly South.  At about 2:30 I saw a deer but could not identify if it was a buck.  I tried a few calls but it was so windy I do not think he heard me or was not paying attention to my calls.  Real high winds this day!  Regardless I lost him and could not see him after scanning for a few minutes then stalking upon the area I last saw him.  Found his tracks where still going east but he was heading south going downhill towards Moose River.  After sneaking and peaking for about an hour I still could not see him and decided to pick up the pace and go after him even if just to push him into my other hunters who were supposed to be in the area, it was getting late.   About 20 minutes later I was able to see him from a ridge and identify him as a young buck.  At about 100 yards I wanted to get a bit closer for a good shot and slow stalked to about 75 yards.  I found a nice seat with a tree and steadied my shot even though he was not the stud I was looking for I still had to calm myself as my aim was sloppy.  Steady on second attempt with good breathing and squeezing the trigger I cracked the silence of the woods.  He bucked good and started to head back to my location.  After about 45 seconds he was perfect broadside again at 50 yards, I shot again as he kicked again, good hit.  He dropped about 70 yards from the last hit as the radios where going crazy with chatter, I let everyone know a buck was down. 

With everyone wanting to know where I was I let them know I was going to clean out the deer and start the drag.  I wanted to save the heart but it was split in two.  I made it about 20 yards before calling back for help!  lol  This was not a big deer (165-170) but my ankle is in bad shape!  After changing batteries in the radio and GPS to give my location it was starting to get close to dark.  I was able to drag the deer about 120 yards before the NFA crew caught up to me, it was also nice seeing two more deer as a Doe and her yearling daughter passed my location.  That made my total sightings for deer at 4 in two days.  About 700 more yards to get the deer out and we were back to a camp site where we could retrieve our vehicles.  We got out about 15 minutes after dark and I traveled about 3 miles for the day. 

We cheered to the buck who gave its life so that we may enjoy the thrill of the chase and the bounty he provides.  We enjoyed the tenderloins with barbeque sauce and it was delicious.  Mike, Shawn, Connor and Dominick helped with the drag and Jason who arrived the same day was able to enjoy the bounty.  Hats off to Jason for trying with a traditional bow.  Like the new transition glasses but they get real dark in snow conditions even without the sun out.  Definitely helped with me seeing deer better.  My smallest racked buck yet we had one of the best times in camp ever, thanks guys for a memorable NFA 2018 hunting trip!

We dedicated this buck to our dear departed best friend and longtime hunting partner Greg Fives.  We were on channel 5.5 had 5 guys who helped drag out the deer and we got out of the woods at 5:55.  Last waypoint was 505 and I probably covered about 5.5 miles total in two days.  That’s my story and I am sticking to it!   RIP Greg Fives your spirit was with us the entire trip and we could not stop talking about you and the stories you left us!

[NFA-ADK]

[Hunter007]

Great story what  caliber you get him with ?

[Five Seasons]

When someone asks you why you deer hunt.

this.

this right here. 

[NFA-ADK]

Model 94 in 44 Mag. my 4th ADK buck with it!  Love that gun first time using it in a few years as my eyes have been getting worse.  That is ok now that I have glasses and can see past 20 yards again. 

[NFA-ADK]

We only had 3 days of hunting and with not finding the big supposed 8 pt or 12 pt in the area this guy went to the number one spot real quick once identified on day 2.  Between my back aches and ankle issues the choice was made real quick.  One thing I can say is that a slob of a flat footer was in the area and a bunch of hunters where after them.  Could see his tracks in the dirt going after the doe and he was at least 240 lbs.   Day one had me wondering if my ankle was going to blow up once I got back to camp, lucky for me it was ok.  I did not cover that much area day one but was stuck in a swamp for about an hour just before dark.  Went back to check for the doe crossing again and saw two hunters basically blocking the area off to look for them doing the same thing sitting in there trucks.  So much for hunting that spot last light, I ended up going back to camp and lick my wounds.  lol

[Hunter007]

13 minutes ago, NFA-ADK said:

Model 94 in 44 Mag. my 4th ADK buck with it!  Love that gun first time using it in a few years as my eyes have been getting worse.  That is ok now that I have glasses and can see past 20 yards again. 

Nice been thinking about getting a lever in 44 mag  just to use up there 

[Robhuntandfish]

great camp and hunting trip - congrats! 

[dbHunterNY]

congrats to the party

[Marion]

Excellent. But bummer on your white clothes, you seem to have gotten tons of blood on em

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[moog5050]

Sounds like a fun hunt - all expect the 800yd drag!  Well done.

Edited November 13, 2018 by moog5050

[grampy]

Congratulations on a great buck! And can't thank you enough for sharing the story with us. It brought a smile to my face. And I have no doubt it brought one to Greg Fives, too.

 

[NFA-ADK]

My best friend Shawn's son was up for his second year hunting, it was real nice having him at camp and I think he enjoyed the comradery of dragging a buck out.  Amazing how even a small buck can change attitudes in camp.  So much for me telling them we need more than 3 days hunting to get a buck!  Usually it takes me 3 days to get on a good track and make a game plan to get the deer.  Think it would have taken me a few hours to drag him out solo, really thinking about butchering them in the woods.  No so bad if they are not to far in but sometimes low elevation and uphill drags make me contemplate skinning and butchering at the location.