A hunting trip into the alpine country at Mt. Adams left us empty handed!
I love to be in the woods or on the water, so when my wife Crystal and daughter Grace and I moved from Juneau Alaska back to Vancouver Washington, I felt lost for the outdoors. People tell me all the time that the Northwest is full of opportunity for adventure and I smile and nod. Those people never lived in the playground that I lived in. I have heard it said that when young people experience Alaska it ruins them for the rest of their lives, and I agree. At some point we will return to the last frontier, but for now I am committed to not be complacent and enjoy the amazing beauty that the Northwest has to offer. If you haven’t been to Alaska to experience adventure, wait until you are old and grey so you don’t have a huge desire to pack your whole life and move tomorrow. This is my story of trying to find the ghost of the woods in Washington. Known by hunters all over the world as one of the most elusive large game animals, the black tail deer leaves many tags unfilled every year.
The adventure began with my friend Seve and I doing some scouting past Carson Washington up in the hills at alpine elevation. Seve and his wife Lauren moved here from Juneau Alaska as well and Seve and I worked together at the local Ford dealership in sales. The couple days we were camped out pre-season it was pouring rain and we didn’t see any animals, but lots of fresh sign. Seve drove up there one more time prior to our much anticipated hunting trip and he found an even better area with lots of sign and good places to tent camp. The stage was set all we needed to do was do the best we could to find the ghost.
We left on Sunday night after our work shifts ended. We stopped at the local gas station for some fire wood and snacks and we both vowed to remember this trip. Seve and I would talk for hours about missing Alaska and how the city was creating a feeling of being caged. Leaving to drive to the mountains left us both feeling like we were home again. We arrived at night and set up camp in the dark and built an epic fire. We both enjoyed the fire so much, and the whiskey, that we stayed up late and it was hard waking up early. We woke up and were off, but we had misjudged the time and missed our window of darkness. When we got to the meadow it was already light and we both felt like we ruined our chance of seeing movement. Through the course of the couple days of hunting it seemed like whether we were hunting the woods, meadows, or alpine clearings, we were minuets too late. The entire area was filled with fresh sign and we didn’t see a single deer. After hours of sitting in the woods on the final morning of hunting I was convinced that a tree near me was a deer. The tree branches and bushes around it made me think it was huge; needless to say it was wishful thinking. The next morning I was processing through the trip while Seve was on a plane to Juneau to hunt on a remote island near Gustavus. I wasn’t sure if I was going to have another opportunity this season as I have family obligations and a short deer season.
I was talking with coworkers about the hunting trip and my friend and sales manager Kevin Kotrous, started telling me about the multiple deer he was seeing on his property in the La Center area. He leases out acreage to a vineyard so the deer were coming in eating the grape vines. I started asking immediately to come hunt his property but was promptly denied because the deer were becoming more like pets to Kevin’s family. They were also concerned about me using a rifle and when we looked into the law it turns out that GMU 564 is a no rim fire or center fire zone. I used some salesmanship and let Kevin know I would be using my 20 gauge shotgun with deer slugs. I also had to promise not to shoot any smaller bucks, and to split the meat. I agreed to all the terms. Kevin pulled his property up on Google maps and showed me where the deer were coming from and where I should set up in the morning. I knew that I would have a great opportunity so I maximized it by purchasing some deodorizer spray from Dead Down Wind and I was set.
I was up at 3:00am and to Kevin’s property by 4:00am. I soaked myself in the spray from head to boots, and I also applied some camouflage face paint. I walked through the dark rows of vines to the spot that Kevin had showed me on the map, but I was concerned that since it was dark I may not pick the right spot. I found an indentation in some blackberry bushes and I sat down. It was lightly raining and the sun was not going to come up until 7:00am, I was in for a long wait. I would adjust positions carefully when my legs would lose all feeling. The entire time I was sitting very aware of my noise and breathing. I eventually found that sitting cress cross was more comfortable as I was haven to lean slightly forward because the blackberry bushes were very loud when they would stick to my coat and not pleasant. The other part of this equation is that I only had a small zone I could fire into because Kevin’s house was directly in front of my position across the field. I was also nervous about using my dad’s childhood 20 gauge shotgun as it only has two beads to aim with and I didn’t have an opportunity to sight it in. I was in and out of sleep when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I was startled to see two does within about 10 feet of where I sat. My heart was racing and the deer were just staring at me. I remembered what my friend Frank Biggs (the great Bwana Bubba) told me and I closed my eyes. It felt like minuets but it was really only a few seconds I opened them and the deer were eating grape vines no more than 15 yards in front of me. The deer had not been able to determine what I was and they deemed me no threat. I counted three more does that came by me the same way and each time I closed my eyes and put my head down and the deer just continued on eating as if I was not even there. I had been in the blackberry bush over two hours and my body hurt but I was rushing with adrenaline I had never been this close to Blacktail deer. I was startled by a loud snorting sound coming from behind me and I became very alert. I was peering through the edge of the blackberry bushes when I saw a beautiful sight, at no more than six feet from where I sat a nice sized two by two buck staring at me. This buck was more intent on me than the does and I shut my eyes and put my head down. My heart was going so fast and I felt my left hand shaking. The buck was in line with Kevin’s house so I couldn’t even put my gun up to my shoulder until the buck was in a better position; I felt it may not happen. I kept my eyes low looking at his hooves and he began to eat the leaves off the grape vines. A few minutes went by and this buck walked back toward me and away from the house. I raised my dad’s trusty shotgun and the buck froze in his tracks. The impossible had happened I had a beautiful shooter buck at less than 15 yards broadside. I aimed my two beads behind his front shoulder and I fired. I saw blood spray out as the buck turned to run into the woods, I had a clean shot.
A short after the harvest video! PRESS HERE The deer where still coming around after the hunt!
I stood up very shaky and full of adrenaline and I heard Kevin’s voice from his bedroom window, “did you get him”? I didn’t realize it but Kevin was in his room with binoculars watching all the does file through and right when he had started getting ready for work he had heard the gun shot. He walked me down a hot cup of coffee which I was extremely happy for. We followed the blood trail into the woods until I couldn’t find any more. Kevin was out ahead of me walking through the woods drinking his hot coffee like a captain surveying the battle field and then he found the buck. Kevin had me pose for the picture with my first black tail buck and it was a proud moment. Kevin then turned and said,” I am off to work, have fun”. That was when the real work began.
The moral of this story is that going after deer of any kind in the mountains is a magical experience, if you find them. I learned that by gaining access to private property I was able to see more and tag out for the year. I was still able to drop the meat by the butchers and get to work only an hour late. Frank Biggs then helped me dress out the scull. I am appreciative to my friends at work and to Kevin for letting me hunt his property.
