Dean Parisian
Well-Known Member
Life is pretty much what you want if you live in America and have your health. You pretty much have unlimited opportunity to hustle for what you want. I have worked at good health and hustled along the way. Never had a job where punching the clock was a thing, usually only worked half days, 6 to 6.
I have learned that most hunters who want to shoot big bucks will put themselves into places that big bucks live. They don't live just anywhere. Colorado is a state that can honestly turn up a book buck in every GMU (Game Management Unit) in the entire state. That is pretty cool and a testament to genetics, landowners, and a Wildlife Agency trying to manage animals, money and hunter expectations.
Last fall in Colorado my oldest son and I were hunting east of Colorado Springs on private land and there was some property that the landowner had said was OFF-LIMITS due to his good friend. His friend was coming out to hunt a specific buck, a good one, that he had been keeping tabs on all fall and we were told not to hunt this specific area.
Along about 10 a.m. on opening morning, my cell phone was buzzing in my front pocket. I answered. It was the landowners friend. He was out of breath and asked my location. We were six miles away on a hill, watching nothing in sight. He told us where he was and said to "get over here as fast as you can".
I am a slow driver, always have been. I bumped it up a notch and sent dust flying high down county roads in drought-stricken Colorado.
Saw his rig sitting at the intersection he said he was at. He looked frazzled. He said that big buck that he wanted to shoot was over the hill. He said he had missed it twice and was so angry at himself and the deer had run off and was out in a section that was a couple miles long and he wanted me to have a crack at it. I sped off over the hill and there sat a blue pickup in the middle of the road, loaded with orange jackets and binoculars. I had permission to be on this property, they didn't and I pulled in to the approach and shut down and we bailed out. The small group of deer had taken off to the southwest and had gotten out into some fairly open grassland. I saw one buck on the dead run, disappear and knew he had the muley trick up his sleeve, he laid down on the dead run due to his heavy body weight before the rut. The big group i sent my son off to intersect to the South and I headed west towards Pikes Peak off in the distance. I was half running, half glassing, half out of breath when I had a couple of does appear on the little incline ahead of me so I hit the deck and didn't move. They were't sure what I was and had stopped to gander and more does were on the horizon. Then, I saw horns walking up behind them. I knew immediately it was a shooter buck so had to somehow get off my back and into a low slung shooting position. My shooting sticks were back in the truck so I knew this was going to be off my knee as the grass was too tall for a shot laying down. The deer started walking to the north, from left to right, and then trotting and then a slow muley lope. The buck was far behind and I started in when I had his high back show itself. Missed. Stayed in the scope, Missed. Had more of his body coming out from behind the hill, missed again. Still on my knee, still steady, and more of his body was showing itself on the run. At the 4th shot he crumbled. This video was taken when I was about half way to him. I thought I should pull out my phone and record the moment.
My friend got every ounce of meat off the animal! That is Pikes Peak off in the distance. I am forever grateful for being a huge fan of hunting (shooting) with a suppressor and that phone call. It was a good deer.
I have learned that most hunters who want to shoot big bucks will put themselves into places that big bucks live. They don't live just anywhere. Colorado is a state that can honestly turn up a book buck in every GMU (Game Management Unit) in the entire state. That is pretty cool and a testament to genetics, landowners, and a Wildlife Agency trying to manage animals, money and hunter expectations.
Last fall in Colorado my oldest son and I were hunting east of Colorado Springs on private land and there was some property that the landowner had said was OFF-LIMITS due to his good friend. His friend was coming out to hunt a specific buck, a good one, that he had been keeping tabs on all fall and we were told not to hunt this specific area.
Along about 10 a.m. on opening morning, my cell phone was buzzing in my front pocket. I answered. It was the landowners friend. He was out of breath and asked my location. We were six miles away on a hill, watching nothing in sight. He told us where he was and said to "get over here as fast as you can".
I am a slow driver, always have been. I bumped it up a notch and sent dust flying high down county roads in drought-stricken Colorado.
Saw his rig sitting at the intersection he said he was at. He looked frazzled. He said that big buck that he wanted to shoot was over the hill. He said he had missed it twice and was so angry at himself and the deer had run off and was out in a section that was a couple miles long and he wanted me to have a crack at it. I sped off over the hill and there sat a blue pickup in the middle of the road, loaded with orange jackets and binoculars. I had permission to be on this property, they didn't and I pulled in to the approach and shut down and we bailed out. The small group of deer had taken off to the southwest and had gotten out into some fairly open grassland. I saw one buck on the dead run, disappear and knew he had the muley trick up his sleeve, he laid down on the dead run due to his heavy body weight before the rut. The big group i sent my son off to intersect to the South and I headed west towards Pikes Peak off in the distance. I was half running, half glassing, half out of breath when I had a couple of does appear on the little incline ahead of me so I hit the deck and didn't move. They were't sure what I was and had stopped to gander and more does were on the horizon. Then, I saw horns walking up behind them. I knew immediately it was a shooter buck so had to somehow get off my back and into a low slung shooting position. My shooting sticks were back in the truck so I knew this was going to be off my knee as the grass was too tall for a shot laying down. The deer started walking to the north, from left to right, and then trotting and then a slow muley lope. The buck was far behind and I started in when I had his high back show itself. Missed. Stayed in the scope, Missed. Had more of his body coming out from behind the hill, missed again. Still on my knee, still steady, and more of his body was showing itself on the run. At the 4th shot he crumbled. This video was taken when I was about half way to him. I thought I should pull out my phone and record the moment.
My friend got every ounce of meat off the animal! That is Pikes Peak off in the distance. I am forever grateful for being a huge fan of hunting (shooting) with a suppressor and that phone call. It was a good deer.
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