The hunt

[fatbob309]

My hunt started on Friday 10/23 so I got up early Thursday 10/22 and headed on up to set up camp and look around a little more. I was hunting 17a and had never been in the area other that a quick scout the week before. I knew where I was headed and with the truck pack and the Jeep on the tow bar I took off to kill to some deer.
It was a slow roll into my unit and with all the rain the dirt roads had lots of mud. Mud is not as fun in a 2wd truck loaded down and towing a jeep.
I found my turnoff and headed on in. Oh look a small, get your foot wet but not much more, water crossing... I would have taken this in a Honda... "Nice and easy... shit... Im sinking.. shit shit shit... nooooooo... dang it..." I sunk the rear of the truck in the sand and now the tow bar is wedged. No big deal. I'll pull it out with the jeep. Nope. Battery is dead on the jeep. More loud bad words as I try to dig my truck out, stuff branches under the tires, add rocks, lower the tire pressure. Nothing worked.
Time to walk... had seen a small place up the road that had a few cars. I was praying they could help me out. I make the quick walk and find my self at Walnut creek research center http://nau.edu/Merriam-Powell/WCCER/ run by two hippie folk that were awesome!!!! "Come on in! You need water? How far did you walk? Sure we can help you!" LOVE LOVE LOVE these people!
The guy grabs a battery and some jumpers and off we go to start the jeep. He makes fun of me in a man to man way and makes sure I am all sorted out before he takes off.
With the jeep started I was able to pull the truck out and only rip part of the bumper off the truck. After I hooked back up I noticed one of the towbar arms were a littl bent and the welds on the jeep mount were letting go. No big deal I will take it easy.
I found a new place to camp and when I went to unload the Jeep the mount was folded in a U shape... Not good but I can fix it... Im sure.
Its now 2:30 and I need to meet my dad back in town soon.

More to come!

[Avis]

So far I am enjoying this story.. lol

Pics or it didn't happen

[fatbob309]

After I made the drive to PV to meet my dad a get some dinner, we loaded up on the store firewood since the forest was still wet from all the storms. We made the drive back to camp and finished setting up. I showed him the jeep and he said the same thing I did just with less loud words "oh wow... thats not good but Im sure we can fix it" He looked at it a little more then looked around at what we had. "What if you run it into a tree?" 4lo and 4cyl of fury against a tree and the mount was "better"... Im not sure thats the word I want but it works.
After a good fire and some laughs my dad looks at his watch "getting late and we have an early day. Im going to bed" Me "What time is it?"
"7"
"NO... just no. Im not going to bed at 7" I lasted to 7:45 and gave up.

The first day of the hunt was going to be a crap shoot. I hadnt spent any time walking the forest and didnt know what we would find. We walked out of camp and into the forest "time to kill dinner"

The forest looked a lot like something you would see at a Bible camp in Prescott. We made our way deeper into the woods and up the hills to try and get to a clear overview. As we rounded the corner of a rock I see movement in the thick stuff. Gun at low and ready... 2 hunters... They dont see us.
We head to higher ground (see what I did...) to see what we can find. As we start over a ridge I see movement. Like a flash it was gone but I was sure it was a buck. The hunt is on! We work our way over to where it took off from. We find the tracks and head off over the next ridge. As soon as we start to crest the ridge whe hear a huff and see a buck on the next ridge 100-150yards away but in the thick stuff. My dad and I work to get a clean shot as this buck runs 10 feet one way and 10 feet back. I cant get a clean shot. Just too many trees in the way for me to take a shot on a moving target. My dad said the same thing. We watch as the buck runs deeper into the thick stuff. My hopes were at a new high. Its opening morning and we found a buck in less than an hour!!! We continue to follow the deer but as soon as we get to the other ridge we cant fingure out where he went.
Sad in the pants walk back over the hills.

More soon

[fatbob309]

The next morning we got up early and walked the same area that we saw the buck. No luck and we didn’t see anything moving.
We made the call to drive the road and hind a new area to hunt. We jumped in the jeep and off we went looking for a buck. We drove every road and trail in the area. We parked and hiked, and glassed, and hikes some more. We found pack after pack of doe but no bucks.
Most of the deer we found didn’t care about us at all. I walked past the same deer 3x and it was looking at me with the “whats up… you know you cant shoot me…” look. Stupid deer.

We ate lunch out in the forest and kept looking. After miles and hours of looking we had found nothing. We tried driving the road at last light to see if anything jumped out at us. Deer were all over the road but no bucks to be found.

Day 2 came to an end

[Skatchkins]

Sorry no kills.
Glad for the stories and forest and dad time.

[sweathog]

Bobs a tease. We want more!

[fatbob309]

Last day of the hunt for my Dad was Sun morning. We go up early and picked a spot that we knew was a travel path for deer in the area. I headed out before sun up and were ready to go as the sun was making first light. We sat… and sat… and sat some more. Nothing deer shaped was moving. The rest of the forest was full of life. Birds and squires mocked us to no end. Tarantulas made there way to who knows where in the forest. Seriously there were 100’s of them moving in the same direction. I NEVER want to find that cave or hole…
It got to be about 9:30 and we called it. Headed back to camp to pack up and deal with the tow bar on the YJ.
The welds on the towbar mount were breaking and it was all bent. I beat on it with a BFH and then used a tree to bend it back in place. It wasn’t good but it should hold till I get to town. He headed out and made a slow drive down the hill. I kept one eye on the jeep and one on the road. The jeep was moving more than it should but it was still tracking the GMC. Then it happened. Somehow the jeep got like an extra 10000000HP and tried to pass my truck on the outside. Its like it was reliving a past life of racing on a KOH track or something…
I was having none of that so I brake checked that little punk YJ and WHAM!!!! My jeep rear ended my truck. “Well that sucks but it could have been worse…” I got out to find the jeep humping my bumper but something looked off… My tailgate has NO damage!!!! So odd. We drove the jeep to a flat turn out and parked it and the GMC. I jumped in my dads truck and we headed into town to get a tow dolly and lunch. BrownBag made everything better.
After everything was said and done we made it home about 5pm Sunday night.

No deer this year but some great times with my dad.

[sweathog]

Ha-ha. Glad you guys are safe and home. I would have loved to see you getting passed by the jeep, or seen anyone on the road with you.

If you need the tailgate to have some character, Alan and I can help with that.