It all started with this sweet little babe. We have done a few rifle hunts, all unsuccessful (except the pop up spike buck on an elk hunt) & we weren't going to do a rifle hunt this year. Between having the baby, not having a ton of time off work, wanting to be with Saige, and archery elk, we just didn't want to throw in something else. We have the licenses because of elk so Jeff thought, "what the hell? I'll throw in a Hail Mary for a rut hunt that we probably won't draw." Sure enough, we drew it!

We've been looking for the kind of deer hunt that our friends talk about. The kind with rutting bucks chasing does; small bucks you pass up all day only to take one the last day of the hunt if you don't the big ones; with snow & lots to watch while glassing. When Jeff put us in for this hunt, this is what he was thinking. He quickly learned that this unit has a history of real trophy bucks so we started taking it seriously, planning a real hunt.

We took Saigey Baby for a scouting weekend this summer to learn the roads & terrain so we weren't going into our opening day blind. We learned that 2 days wasn't enough to learn it all but we had a great idea of what the unit was. We tried to learn about rutting mule deer but most of the advice we got was conflicting or "look everywhere". We shot our guns a lot & felt better than ever before.

Fast forward to opening day, Jeff's mama was graciously watching Saige as we left to go on another adventure. With our sights set on trophy bucks, we knew it wouldn't be a quick hunt & we'd wait at least a few days to shoot anything to get a grip on what the season would hold. We "found the does" anticipating the bucks would be in tow as we should be in a full rut mode. We found does on does on does and very few bucks. The bucks we did see were small. We held off making any moves as we continued to scour the unit. We went as high as the snow would allow & as low as the desert. We lost a plethora of things by day 4: Jeff's gloves, both caps to the spotter, my windage knob of my scope, & Jeff's phone. Still, no big bucks. My tag was burning a hole in my pocket as we got halfway through our hunt & still had not seen the bucks we were looking for & hardly any rutting action. This being only our second rifle deer hunt, we didn't have much experience of what it "should be" but it wasn't matching up with our expectations.

We lowered our expectations & I let my sweet girl sing at an okay 4x4. This was my first dose of too much confidence in a rifle. I have only ever had 2 potential shots with my rifle & both were random, drive by, off the road, get out & shoot. The first time it happened I couldn't believe it was thing. This was road hunting?! I was so unprepared I couldn't even process enough to open the door as the driver was hollering at me to get out.

This trip, we jumped a 4x4 walking to a glossing spot & he was the nicest buck we'd seen so I got ready to take my shot. By "got ready" I mean, I frantically got down as Jeff set up my shooting sticks while I said "I don't have ear plugs & how far is he". I watched his 2 does walk cautiously past my shooting window & I told Jeff "I'm going to shoot" as he stepped into my window. Jeff made a noise, he stopped, I shot, they ran, I put my gun down & held my ears. Jeff said "you need to shoot again!" and... I couldn't. I was so frazzled & once again, flabbergasted that this is what was happening. I decided right there that this wasn't the kind of hunting I wanted. Nothing against it, but I'm not the "think quickly on your feet" kind of person. I'm calculated. I'm an analyst. I'm the most prepared person I know. I've made plenty of quick decisions archery hunting & taken shots that had zero room to second guess myself however, I'm not sure if it's that I'm more experienced with my bow or that although the shot was quick, I had much more confidence in what was happening. That buck got away but we saw him again the next evening. We glassed up, made a half mile hike to him, & I had a short period of time to make my shot. I'll spare the details, but he was down immediately & as I jacked another round, we both said he was good & we felt a moment of relief.

I learned my next lesson: always take another shot until it's done moving.

He got up & hopped away before I could get back to take another shot.

We were extremely confused & my heart sank. I'm still trying to figure out if I even like rifle hunting or if I just need to determine my boundaries but it wasn't going well. Due to fresh snow (thank goodness), we tracked his footprints with very little blood, until dark.

We went back the next morning tracking his prints with only a random drop of blood for 6 miles around a basin to go through openings, heavy timber, more openings, & we never saw him again. We heard some others may have seen the same buck but this is a situation I expect with archery, not with rifle. I know too many people that say they quit archery hunting because "you don't lose animals with a rifle". I also know some that will be open about the losses they've seen. This situation has a lot of negative emotions attached to it & makes you question yourself. It happens, it's unfortunate, and you find every sign to tell yourself that animal is fine. Still, there I was trying to figure out my boundaries & comfort levels in the middle of a hunt. "Isn't there a playbook for this stuff?! I guess I had learnings curves with archery & still do, I just expect rifle to be different the way people talk about it. The truth is, it isn't different & should be treated with the same mindset. I wanted that buck for many reasons, mostly because I had already hit him & that wasn't fair. We moved forward & continued our hunt all the while, wishing I'd get one more opportunity at that buck. He wasn't huge, but like I said, I now had an attachment to him.

We spent a couple more days on the hunt for a big guy as we finally started to see the cold temps & rut kick in but never saw a single big, trophy buck like we were after. A few more opportunities at smaller bucks but I knew my comfort level & if the shot setup wasn't perfect, it wasn't meant to be.

I waited and the perfect opportunity fell into my lap on the second to last night with a decent 3x3. This harvest was what I envisioned it would be & I was grateful for this buck. I silently let a few tears roll as I thanked God for this opportunity, for this hunt, & for what I've learned.

As we got closer to the end of the hunt, we were still hoping to put Jeff's tag on the big buck we'd set our sights on. We never did find it & on our last evening with just a few minutes of daylight left, we spotted this 2x3 and Jeff decided to let his ol' girl sing. This is the first time he's shot the 338 RUM at an animal and he's kind of been dreading it for the 4 years he's had it. She packs a mean punch & isn't the most fun to shoot but he also was beginning to think she was bad luck because he'd never been able to pull the trigger on a hunt.

As the buck crested the top of a hill into the sunset, Jeff got himself into his comfort zone and dropped this buck on the spot. Jeff's first buck & first rifle harvest.

We finished our hunt and celebrated reminding ourselves that although there are rumors of huge bucks here, the initial thought behind this draw was just a fun rifle hunt in the rut where we watch a bunch of deer & come home with meat. It was a little less than what we expected, but in reality, it was what we set out for. We had a great time. We laughed until it hurt, we filled our cups, we collaborated on the hunt, we slowed down our life, we brought home a bunch of delicious, organic meat that will never leave our sight, & we brought home memories that we'll cherish forever.

I'm so grateful for this life we get to live & for the things that hunting gives us far beyond meat to nourish our bodies.

-Bryanna E. Zimmerman