Opening day in D-14

October 14, 2017 was opening day in D-14. With all the time off I had in September I was not sure if I could get off on Friday the 13th. With luck being on my side I was able to get Friday off. Rudy and I met up at my house at 9:00am to load the truck and head up the hill. After loading up, a few pit stops for ice and gas we where on the road before 11:00am. The drive was easy and made great time in under 2 hours to deer camp. We pulled in and opened up the cabin to let in the fresh mountain air as we unload the truck. The temperature was a perfect 62 degrees at 1pm. Cracked open a man soda and finished with all the cabin opening procedures, moving mouse traps and checking for dead mice before letting my dog run free. With no issues Mako was off and running all over the yard. Once the rest of our group arrived (my fiance and kid) we headed out to a early dinner at Firerock Burgers and Brews. The food is great and there is a great selection of craft beer to enjoy.  We finished the night stopping by the store picking up the last needed supplies. Back at deer camp for the night we played cards and told stories before heading off to bed.

I was up before my alarm at 4:30am and decided to just get up and get ready. Rudy was right behind me and we were out the door by 4:55am. We made the way to the trail head and did not pass to many hunters. It was only 15 degrees out so that might of had something to do with it. We sat in the truck for about 15 minutes to let the dust settle and discuss the morning plan. As we where getting our packs and gear on we were passed by 2 other hunters. They were heading up the same trail as we planned to hike in on.

With the hunters hiking in the way we wanted to go we quickly changed plans and headed up another canyon. About a half mile in I spotted a 2 deer on a hillside about 500 yards away. Rudy was able to confirm it was a legal buck using the Vortex Diamondback 10x42. The second was a doe. With the position of the buck sky lining himself on the hill neither of us felt safe taking the long shot with not knowing what or who was on the other side of the hill in case of a miss. We made a game plan to skirt the hill side and cut him off. We made a good move staying low with the wind in our favor. Until Rudy realized he had left his clip in the truck, Ooops! Off to the truck he went with the plan of meeting up later deep in the canyon. With the sound of road hunters in the distance. I found a great spot to set up and with a great vantage point and shooting lanes. After sitting for about 45 minutes I could see Rudy coming up the valley. Since the sun was coming up I needed to shed some layers. I whistled and gave a wave so he could see me. The plan was made to follow the canyon up to a old logging road and take that around the back side of the mountain. We hiked and glassed, hiked and glassed all the way back to the truck. At the truck we heard the first 2 shots of the morning about 9:30am.

We decided to make a move to another area I had seen great deer sign in during archery season. We hiked into a canyon and then up to a ridge hoping for a good spot to glass. As we hiked the hill seemed to roll on forever. We finally found a canyon but the trees were to dense to glass. We dropped into the canyon and found 2 metal fenders or part of some equipment from years past.  We ended up seeing a camp in the distance so we headed back to the truck.

Rudy and I checked one last spot, Rudy spotted 2 does and we were hoping for a buck to be following. We were never able to locate another buck and with it getting late we decided it was time to head back to the cabin and get cleaned up for Oktoberfest.

We had a good evening at Oktoberfest taking in the fresh mountain air and enjoying a few cold beers. Ended the night by grilling up a tri-tip, veggies and watching the Dodger Game. All and all a great weekend. Spotted 1 legal buck and 3 does. There are still deer out there just waiting to get back out there.