By Pete Savini
Editor’s Note: Pete Savini is 13-year-old. His parents are Rod and Tina Savini of Reno and his grandparents are Sal and Catali Quilici of Dayton. Pete writes about the first buck he was able to get while deer hunting in October 2012. This is his report.
On October 24, 2012 we headed out for my brother and mine’s deer hunt. We both had junior tags for the same area (my first deer tag). It was cold and snowy as we headed out. We got to our camping spot around 1:00 p.m. and got set up. Once camp was set up we headed out for the evening hunt.
We went to check a spot and found a couple small bucks. My Grandpa Sal wanted me to go after one of them, a nice forked horn. He said that would be a nice buck for a first buck. It was just the first day and I was looking for something bigger so we left them alone. At 6:30 p.m. as we were heading back to camp, the thermometer in the truck said it was 32 degrees. So we were in for a COLD night.
The next morning we decided to go up higher and see what we could find. We saw several does and a small buck right off, so we continued on. My mom and brother were on the quad in front of me and my dad and then my uncle and grandpa were in the Ranger behind us. As we came around the curve my mom and brother were stopped in the road motioning for us to hurry up. When we got up to them they told us that there were 12 does and a nice 4×3 on the other side of the mahoganies. It was 8:00 a.m. We all stood there glassing and watching to see which way they were going to move out.
They were just milling around, so my uncle and I started down the hill to come around the mahogany to see if I could get a shot. As we headed down hill they ran across the road up the hillside into some other mahoganies. My uncle, grandpa and I got in the Ranger and drove down the road a little ways to get to a point where we could climb the hill and get around them.
My grandpa stayed in the Ranger and my brother, mom and dad stayed back where we originally saw them and were watching through binoculars. My uncle and I climbed up the hill and when we got up on top part of the does went over the top and the buck and other does went back down the hill and crossed the road right in front of my grandpa sitting in the ranger.
So my uncle and I hurried down the hill, got in the ranger and drove back past where we first saw the buck. We hiked over the edge of the draw and glassed only to see them crossing the road back up the hill we were just on. (Keeping track – so far he has crossed the road three times!) So back down the road we go in the ranger. Again my uncle and I hike up the hill to get ahead of them. We get up on top and nothing. I am positioned perfectly for a shot when he comes over the top.
We sit and sit, waiting and nothing is showing up. My uncle and I are thinking that they must have bedded down in the mahogany. My brother and dad drive down the road and glass the mahogany to see if they can see them. They do not see anything, so they head back up the road to where my grandpa and mom are. While my uncle and I are sitting in position on the backside of the hill, the four of them continue glassing and looking for them bedded in the mahogany.
Finally, my brother spots them bedded down in the mahogany. They are only a couple hundred yards from them. The deer finally get up and head over the hill and they come by my uncle and me at about 50 yards. He would not stop and give me a shot, so we watched them go over a saddle and decided we would work our way around and glass the bowl from another angle and see if we could spot them. It is cloudy, windy and very cold. We go check another area to see if we can spot a buck for my brother.
We did not find anything either one of us wanted to shoot. We all decide it is time for lunch. We stop in a draw where there is a grassy area and willows to protect us from the wind. It was nice and warm down there. We eat lunch and take a little nap.
I begin to get antsy, so we decide to get to a place where we can glass the bowl that we last saw the buck and does go into. We hike across the the hillside so that we are directly across the canyon from the bowl. We are sitting and glassing when all of a sudden my brother said there they are. All 12 does and the buck are trotting across the hillside, opposite us, heading down hill towards the creek where we had just eaten lunch and took a catnap.
So we all hurry back across to the quads and ranger and drive back down the road to see where they are. As we are glassing, my mom spots them about 50 yards above from where we had been catnapping. My uncle, brother and I head down the road after him. He beds down under a mahogany while the does are up feeding. It is about 2:00 p.m.
After about an hour he finally gets up and walks down towards the does. I set up and take the shot – the shot is high. He and the does run across the road and stop in the mahogany about 300 yards away. My uncle says lets go up the road and see if we can come down and get around them. As we hike down towards them we can see them just feeding in the mahogany. As we get closer they run back across the road to where I had just taken the shot at him. (This is 5 times he has crossed the road all within 100 yards of each crossing.)
We decide to hike back up the hill and see what they do. Meanwhile, my dad, mom and grandpa drive down and meet up with us. The buck and does do not move. By now it is about 4:00 p.m. and the hillside they are on is shaded. We wait and watch them for about a half an hour and then decide if we are going to make a move, now is the time.
So my uncle and I hike across the hillside to get close enough for a shot. When we get to 160 yards of him, I set up and take the shot. This time it was not high and down he went!! My uncle says to me “Nice shot!” My brother was hollering and pumping his arms in the air. I could not believe it – I just shot my first buck – a nice 4×3. I could not have been any happier.
I would like to thank, my dad, mom, brother, uncle and grandpa, for making this hunt so special. It was the best hunt ever and I will never forget it.
