3-year quest comes to an end on a Mountain Monarch

2020: I decided to start hunting public land and put some cameras out and he was the first deer I got pictures of. He was a main frame 7 point and in my opinion 4.5 years old. I hunted him Harv but could never catch up to him all year.

2021: I once again placed cameras in the same place and immediately got pictures of him and recognized his massive frame. This year he had dropped a point and was close to a 130 inch 6 point. He was not as consistent this year as the year before. Very few pictures of him and after the beginning of November he disappeared completely.

2022: Not knowing whether he was dead or alive I decided to try and get some private ground close to where he was at on public. Once again he showed right up in early august and I immediately recognized him. He had blew up into a huge 8 point with the biggest frame I’d ever seen before on a deer in the mountains. In early October he started daylighting and I knew it was time to hunt him.

On October 8th I actually shot this deer and hit him in the shoulder. With the minimal arrow penetration I knew there was a good chance for survival.

He disappeared for 40 days and on November 18th he showed back up and to my surprise he was just fine. I hunted him the 19th and he didn’t show. Decided not to hunt 20th because of the high wind gusts and sure enough he came out.

Gun season started on the 21st so I knew I needed to get him on the ground as soon as possible. He went missing off the camera again but I knew he was probably just rutting. I knew I was in his core area but his rut range was a lot wider.

On December 4th at 5:30pm my Tactacam went off and there he was. I couldn’t believe how much weight he had lost. I knew this would be my opportunity to hunt him.

The next day I got in there early and set up down below where I normally do. I took my TETHRD Phantom saddle and Hawk Helium sticks in and did a hang and hunt down below where he was coming in. I just had got setup and looked at my phone and it was 2:11pm. 5 minutes later I heard a deer coming around the right side of the ridge. It got about 60 yards away and lifted its head and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was him. He started circling below the food and got within about 40 yards and I stopped him and the Remington 270 let him have it. He ran 20 yards towards me and piled up beside a pine tree. I looked at my phone and it was 2:18pm.

I was so shook. 3 years of chasing this deer just came to an end all within a matter of 7 minutes.

In my opinion a mature mountain Whitetail is one of the hardest animals to hunt and successfully harvest. I couldn’t be more blessed to have had the opportunity to harvest this deer. A memory I’ll cherish forever.

–sjbishop12

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