king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Best of 2007 Feb-March 2008 - Index

Three Creeks Lake. During my
scouting trip, I saw a real nice 3x4
buck when I was driving. He was
bedded down about ten yards off
the road. I got out to take a picture
and he took off. I thought, “What
the heck, I’ll follow him.” He led
me to a thicket that opened up into
a small meadow that was about
thirty yards across both ways. The
deer trails and sign were thick.
There were a lot of beds in the
meadow and along the walls of the
thicket. I fi gured that this would
be decent spot to set up a stand.
So, that weekend I set
my Gorilla Kong tree stand up in
a tree that was just on the wall of
the thicket. I went hunting for a
week up on Walker Mountain
and didn’t see much to shoot. I
came home from that hunt emptyhanded.
One evening, after work,
my mom, my fi ancée and I decided
to go hunt in the meadow where I
had put my tree stand. We cruised
up there and they dropped me off
on the road. I walked up to my
stand while my mom and fi ancée
drove around hoping to fi nd some
deer. I climbed up into my stand
and hadn’t been there more than
thirty minutes when I saw a big
rack coming through the trees at
about seventy yards away. I could
have sworn that my heart stopped.
My fi rst thought was that it was an
elk! I waited for what seemed like
an eternity until the buck fi nally
gave me a good shot opportunity
at thirty yards. I was shaking so
bad that I could barely pull back
my Fred Bear Instinct bow. The
shot was good and the buck only
ran twenty yards. I gave him about
fi fteen minutes before climbing
down and claiming him.
I thank God and all of
our soldiers for an opportunity at
this magnifi cent trophy mule deer,
without them none of this would
be possible. My archery Oregon
buck has been offi cially scored at
207 gross and 194 7/8 net typical
Pope & Young.
Hunter: Nick Mickelson • Location: Upper Deschutes, OR • Area: Public land
• Guide: Self • Date: September 4, 2007 • Time: 7:00 pm • Days scouted: 4 •
Days hunted: 1 • Weather: Hot • Temperature: 75 o f • Moon: 63% waning gibbous
• Terrain: Thick Manzanita • Bow: Bear Instinct • Draw Weight: 76 lbs • Site/
Rest: Cobra • Quiver: BowTech • Broadheads: 100 grain Montec G5 stainless •
Stabilizer: Tru Glo • Silencers: Limbsaver • Binoculars: Rugged Exposure 10x50
• Boots: Danner • Pack: Fieldline
February/March
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