Jerry & Dave's Deer Hunt 2006

His and her's Airstreams. I just finished packing mine for a deer hunting trip with Dave Lee.

Starting out cruising up Coors to meet Dave.

With a map like this, who could miss?

Actually, it is not a map, but a satellite image. That is why there are no road numbers.
The advantage is forested and clear areas are shown along with dirt roads too minor to appear on normal maps.

The push pin marks our campsite.

The dirt roads were deeply rutted from an earlier rain but had dried out and were quite manageable with the Airstream. Fortunately, there was no snow or rain in the forecast otherwise getting out could have been a problem.

A cozy camp is all set up. We even had TV reception!

Hunting terrain is gently rolling hills with pine and sage. Elevation is about 7,200'.

Mountains in the background are in Colorado.

Dave rating one of Carol's pre-packaged dinners. I had intended to take the photo before we had eaten all the food but our appetites won out.

After dinner we would watch some of the DVD movies that Dave had brought along. This was the most comfortable hunt camp I ever had.

The area we were hunting was an active oil and gas field. Pump is above and heater to separate the oil from the water is in picture at the right. Many of the wells are on the Jicarilla Apache Indian reservation making them one of the wealthiest tribes in the country.

Note the solar panel and antenna for radio telemetry of production data.

Deer were plentiful in the rancher's fields but they were charging $5,000 for all inclusive hunts.

Deer on the public lands were much more scarce and harder to spot.

If you cannot find the two does in this picture, roll your cursor over it for a close up view.

Roll cursor over image for a close up view

This doe by the road side is a bit easier to see. If you cannot find her, roll your cursor over the image.

These deer are much easier to see. Do you count six of them? (Hint, one of them is staring right at you from the left.)

Dave and I hunted two days from early morning to sundown without ever seeing a legal buck on public land.
Finally, on the morning of the third day I had super luck getting not only a nice buck for myself but one for Dave as well.

A 3x4 point buck taken with a one shot at 115 yards shortly after sun up.

Dragging this guy through the thick sage to the road was quite a chore. I am glad Dave was there to help.

Dave with deer #2. This one had 5x6 points and may have been a year older than the first deer.

After much huffing and puffing on my part, (Dave is in better shape), we got them in the truck.