Speer Family

I have always had a deep passion for the outdoors, hunting and fishing. I did not get the chance to do much of it as a kid. I am lucky enough to be a member of a family who has the same passion as I do. I have hunted deer the past couple of years but have come up short each time. I knew my persistence and patience would eventually pay off. I had a feeling this was going to be the year for Angie's brother Ron and I. What do you know, we filled 100% of our tags this year. It is only two but we feel it is a great a accomplishment.

After Ron got his deer on opening day we hunting hard for 3 and could not find any bucks. After some trouble with Ron's vehicle I hit the hills with my friend Clay. I had 3 days to harvest my first deer. We hunted one spot till about 9:30am and then moved to another location. At about 10am we start glassing this hillside but I think both of us really didn't want to find a deer on this hill. It was steep and brushy down and up both sides. To my surprise I find this deer moving down the hill to find some new shade. We both get our gear and head up the road to another vantage point. The buck is held up in this juniper and is not in any hurry. We sit and wait for this buck to reveal himself for the next 6 hours. Finally, he decides to step out into the open at 4pm. He was beautiful, the biggest buck I have ever seen not on TV or on coueswhitetail.com. Talk about some buck fever. We range him at 363 yards. I shoot a couple times and can't hit him. I am too shaky. Clay says to calm down you are not going to hit anything making circles in the air with the gun looking for this beast in the scope. The deer never really flees and the hillside comes alive with 4 other deer coming out to see what was going on. I think I shot at him 5 more time hitting him twice. He lays down but he doesn't seem to be hurt to bad. I take one last shot and you can hear it hit solid and he gets up and goes down hard. We think he is dead but it is to late to climb down the canyon and up the other side to get him. We decide we have to leave him and come back to get him the next morning. All night I can't stop thinking about what happened and how tough it is going to be to get him out. Clay had arranged for some help to come out and assist with the haul. We arrive to the spot and find the buck right away but he is still alive. Instead of attempting another long shot at this buck I decided to put a stalk on him to close the distance. My new friend Amanda and I head out while Clay and Ron stay back to spot for us. After a hour of hiking over to him I sneak in to 10 yards from this deer and finish the job. I could hear Clay and Ron cheer from across the canyon and it was an exciting moment for me and everyone involved. After a short photo shoot we got to work. Amanda and I spent about 2 hours skinning, boning(taking the meat off), and capping my buck. We got him all packed up and headed back. I can't thank Amanda, Clay, Bill, Ron, and CJ enough for their help and support. Oh yeah and Julie!

Here he is! My first deer! He scored 107 gross.