Deer float trip pics

birdhunter · 11-13-2003, 10:44 AM

Below are a few picture from a float trip last Sunday. Took out my Dad and a good friend who both had late season Willamette tags. This was the result.

willametteriveroutlaw · 11-13-2003, 12:51 PM

Nice job ben..

Salmon Stryker · 11-13-2003, 12:57 PM

Very nice! How about some more details if you don't mind. Did you spot him from the boat? How far was the shot? Nice shot by the way. And what I really want to know; Is that a box of Dunkin Donuts in the tackle tray?

[ 11-13-2003, 01:59 PM: Message edited by: Salmon Stryker ]

nitrobass · 11-13-2003, 01:18 PM

Good looking blacktail! Nice and wide

TheRogue · 11-13-2003, 01:58 PM

B.H.

Sent you an e-mail.......

TR

Degner · 11-13-2003, 02:14 PM

nice buck

Fish Hunter · 11-13-2003, 02:16 PM

Cool photos! The camera operator must be very skilled!

Your Dad is deadly. And quick!

Tanner · 11-13-2003, 02:32 PM

Ben,
Great post and Nice healthy buck. Look at the color on those antlers,,, Beautiful!!!!!!!

KingFisher85 · 11-13-2003, 02:53 PM

Thats a nice buck. Like the color of his rack!

TheRogue · 11-13-2003, 03:28 PM

Looking at going out on Sunday out of the boat...this area has some potential...

What do you think??

TR

Hooker · 11-13-2003, 07:27 PM

The Rogue,

I like the arial view...where did you get it?

Birdhunter,

Nice buck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Salmon Stryker · 11-13-2003, 07:34 PM

That looks very promising Rogue. Good Luck. :smile:

24 on/ 48 off · 11-13-2003, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hooker:
The Rogue,

I like the arial view...where did you get it?

Birdhunter,

Nice buck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Terra server is the place to get these great shots.

--spud- :smile:

[ 11-13-2003, 08:45 PM: Message edited by: 24 on/ 48 off ]

Gun Rod Bow · 11-13-2003, 07:44 PM

Good Job. Nice blacktail.

It's nice to see a guy take his dad hunting

jokester · 11-13-2003, 11:06 PM

Nice buck and nice shot to boot...right behind the front shoulder! Congratulations

-jokester

Boedy · 11-13-2003, 11:11 PM

Niiiicce Buck!! what part of the willy where you in?

skein · 11-13-2003, 11:18 PM

That's a dandy Willamette buck - nice goin'. That's also a pretty tall rack for the valley. I've got a little forked horn hanging around my place and he's got tall antlers like this one. I hope he lives long enough to grow up like that one in your pic.

Congrats!

Skein

birdhunter · 11-14-2003, 08:12 AM

Here�s the story.

Met in the morning with my buddy Jay (Fishunter) and my Dad. This would be my third trip on the river in the past week and every trip I had seen bucks. That morning though, started out slow. Even fewer ducks flying and nothing within range. We saw ample deer sign, but as yet no deer. On one little backwater section I was rowing through some fairly slack water. Anyone who had rowed a drift boat knows how uncomfortable it is to row forward with the bow facing downstream. Seeing as how we hadn�t been seeing much anyways, I turned the boat around and rowed downstream. Now I was going much faster, but pretty much blind to what was behind my back. Well not 50 yards after turning the boat around, a flock of half a dozen wood ducks hidden by some brush, get up well within range. By the time I had turned the boat sideways and gotten out a shotgun, they were safe and I was ****ed. Not to have that happen again, I once again turned the boat around so that the bow was facing downstream.

Not more than a few minutes later, we round the corner and there, on the one small patch of open bank along this entire section, is a doe. As she is walking downriver, my Dad has his rifle out already and rolls one shell in. Jay starts to get his rifle out of his case, but before he can, out steps the buck. Hot on the tail of the doe, the buck has no idea we are there, drifting not more than 25 feet from him. My dad raises his rifle, put it behind the shoulder and fires once. The buck instantly turns to run up the bank, but falls backwards into the water. Our congratulations quickly turn into hustling as the buck slips into deeper and murkier water. By the time we reach it, only a few seconds after falling in, only one antler is visible. Jay makes a great grab and a magnificent save. He holds on to it while I take the boat down to a gravel bar to gut the deer. Hard to tell from the pic, but he's a 3x4. Granted it was really really close, but it was also a prefect shot. The heart was pulp and no meat was ruined. The little bath our buck took also did a great job of draining him and keeping the mess in the boat to a minimum. So into the back he went and we continued down. Jay passed on one littler buck a bit further down, so we finished without filling his tag. Gonna work on fixing that soon. No ducks this time, but you can�t beat that deer. It�s a trophy blacktail in my book.

The thing that gets me is that if the wood ducks hadn�t flushed, I would have been facing the wrong way when we came upon the deer and we might not have been able to get that buck. Additionally, if we had been facing the right way when the ducks flushed, our shots may have scared the deer and certainly the time it took to pick up any downed birds would have meant we would have missed that window in which the deer were walking through that one open patch. 30 seconds sooner or later and it wouldn�t have happened. It just strikes me how perfectly that had to work out for it to end how it did.

Anyways, that�s the story. Just about the end of the deer rifle seasons for us. And yes those are delicious Dunkin Doughnuts aka boat fuel.

TheRogue · 11-14-2003, 09:19 AM

actually, I have access to better imagery than Terraserver

But, Terraserver does it's function.

TR

Salmon Stryker · 11-14-2003, 09:58 AM

Thanks for the story birdhunter and congrats!

Rueben4life · 11-14-2003, 03:11 PM

Birdhunter-

Talk about timing and all with the buck. I was actually apart of a duck/buck(by chance) as well. A buddy and I were targeting fowl on a local river and he is shooter(front position) and we jump a couple of woodies. downs 1 and cripples the other. I turn the canoe around and 10-15 yds away from us laying down the entire time even after shooting is a decent 2x3! Buddy throws in 2 3/4" 4 and shoots him in the neck. Fold, doesn't break the neck. Could hardly tell the buck was shot and he didn't even know what hit him! Gut in canoe and we finsihed with 3 more mallard.

Congrats on the float.
Brett

Sturgeon Tom · 11-14-2003, 04:14 PM

Neet story and great save on getting it out of the water. Thats a nice buck. :grin:
st

Fish Hunter · 11-14-2003, 09:05 PM

Great write up. Thanks again Ben for having me along. I got a charge out of "landing" that buck. As I grabbed the rack I wondered how much of a rodeo it might be. It would have been much tougher if the buck wasn't hit so well.

Reef Diver · 11-14-2003, 11:52 PM

Good Story! You put inn your time and it payed off.
Congrats! [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Birdnest · 11-16-2003, 09:48 AM

Birdhunter,

Really enjoyed the story/pics. Thanks for sharing.

Joe

Old MAn River · 11-16-2003, 10:25 AM

Nice buck

Fish Hawg · 11-16-2003, 05:58 PM

Wow What a buck,

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Mikeymoto · 11-16-2003, 08:50 PM

TR, what other sites are better than terraserver?The prob with terra is a lot of the photos are pretty old. Anyway if you have any info to share pass it along. Thanks, MM

Grip It-N-Rip It · 11-19-2003, 04:38 PM

nice buck and even better shot palcement. Cogradualations

elkaholic · 11-19-2003, 07:18 PM

Congrats birdhunter, it's great when a plan works out.

WildHawg · 11-20-2003, 05:01 PM

That's one fine River Buck. Brings back memories of the Upper Willamette and Lower Mckenzie when I was your age. Used to love to float and hunt islands, sloughs and the Greenway for ducks and bucks. Wish I'd taken more pics.
If ya need a partner for ducks or bucks--let me know!