Sometimes, It’s A Long Walk Back

By Tom Cooper

Bill spotted a couple deer feeding on the coarse, sagebrush-like plants covering the upper end of the draw. This time, the guy with the spotting scope had plenty of time to set up. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to wait for the two-point to grow the antlers we hoped to see. The hike continued into the draw and up the other side for a look into the next one. Glassing revealed several does and fawns in two locations. The bucks were missing. As we moved to cross this draw, one group of deer ran out the upper end, the second group took the bottom route, heading across the “flat-looking” sagebrush plain visible below us.

The third draw was the smallest but brushiest of all. Glassing from behind a large boulder, we didn’t see anything. As I said, it was brushy, so when a small 4 x 3 buck jumped right in front of us, it was a surprise. Bill seemed tempted, but the youngster was quick and disappeared into thick brush at the head of the draw. The guy with the scope was not very useful.

Draw number four was a lot more interesting. At first glance, neither of us saw any movement or deer color. The sky had cleared and the sun was bright. There were lots of Juniper trees mixed into the sagebrush. Within five minutes, gray shapes started to appear through the green Juniper branches. While it was a great little experience and certainly reinforced the need for patience when glassing, does and fawns owned this piece of real estate; again, the bucks were missing. The deer departed uphill as we proceeded to our last draw. Number five was easy, we didn’t see an animal. The guy with scope wasn’t needed. Having hunted this area a couple years earlier by hiking across the crown of our mountain, I recalled a game trail leading from this draw into a large basin on the backside of the mountain.

Take a Look at the Backside Basin

We climbed and found the game trail, then headed for a look into the basin. Recognizing a rocky outcrop in front of us, I told Bill there was a really good view around the right side of the outcrop, but it required a little crawling. Slowly moving across the outcrop, our initial scan didn’t reveal anything. Eventually, we spotted a mature buck feeding downhill along a shallow ridge. After sneaking back, we devised our plan. Bill would return to the outcrop and get ready for a broadside shot while I slid down the hill 150 yards, and climbed across a small cliff toward the buck. Hopefully, he would hear me or see enough movement to cause it to change position, allowing Bill to rest his rifle on his pack and take a broadside shot. When a plan comes together, all the participants are really happy (except maybe the buck). It took two shots, although I think that’s still below Bill’s average. It had been an amazing hunting morning to this point; now we had serious work ahead.

Lighten the Load for the Hike Back

Experienced with no-gut game processing, we quickly decided it was the best approach for Bill’s buck. We needed to leave as much weight behind as possible. Our butchering was complete in just over an hour, and we had two boned shoulders, two hams, two back straps and two tenderloins all in cloth game bags. We loaded the boned meat bags into two rucksacks we brought with us; both of us carried a bagged ham over our shoulder.

Instead of returning via the five draws we crossed to get into this predicament, we decided to follow a drainage downhill until starting our return around and across the wide open and “flat-looking” plain at the base of the mountain.

Our expectation was we would avoid all the ups and downs required to cross the five draws. Expectations can be good and bad. Ours were good, but reality was bad.

The hike to the road seemed endless; we rested countless times, drank all our water, and cursed the long up and down hike constantly during the final hour. When we reached the road, we dropped everything, then hiked the ½ mile uphill to our vehicle.

Just a few general statements to conclude my story. Digital measurement on a topographic map suggested our total hike was a touch under eight miles (we expected four) and included 850 vertical feet (expected 450). The spotting scope and tripod were not useful. To be clear, we didn’t hunt the next day, instead it was extra sleep, and a nice breakfast. We didn’t find the hidden cave or see the wide and tall Muley again. And, sometimes, it’s just a long walk back.