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Category: Hunting

Published: Sunday, 09 November 2025 13:43

Written by Greg

Double Fours

Another year passed where I was unable to draw a general season deer tag in Utah. So once again, I anxiously looked forward to the upcoming Colorado deer hunt. With zero preference points accumulated, both my son and I successfully got a Colorado deer tag and couldn’t have been more excited for that upcoming hunt! Carson’s goal would be to bag a 4-point buck that also sported eye guards; a common feature but not always present on mule deer. There was another reason why he could be picky about the deer he would be targeting, and that was because we already had plenty of freezer meat due to earlier successes.

         Barely got pic of bear while scouting, bobcat crossed to quickly for pic

When we arrived in Colorado the weather was relatively mild for this time of year. Warm afternoon temps in the 60’s that barely dipped to below freezing by morning. We spent the first day scouting and saw plenty of other hunters doing the same, but the good news was that we did see several bucks.

We awoke at 3:05 a.m. on the first morning of the hunt. That gave us enough time to drive our side-by-side to the spot where we’d begin our hike to our individual glassing points, leaving us with another hour before first light. We thought it best to hunt separately given the number of hunters seen the previous day, so Carson ended up about one mile away from me.

           Very tall 3 point buck still in velvet                               Velvet buck came to within 100 yards

It turned out that my spot seemed to have more deer than the area where Carson was hunting. Later I found out that Carson did have one 3-point buck walk past at 135 yards, but that was about it. But for me on the other hand, I passed up two 4-points, four 3-points and a couple of 2-point bucks, lots of deer activity. How I wished Carson would’ve been by my side because he could have easily tagged out and so could have I. It may not be obvious as to why I did not shoot at a buck, but it was because I decided not to shoot until Carson had his deer; part of my own internal plan.

                       One of the 3x4 point bucks I could have shot

That first day came to a close and after discussing our deer encounters, or lack thereof, we formulated a new plan that would hopefully put Carson in a better position to see deer. That next morning we were up and at ‘em again at 3:00 a.m. Only 20 minutes after dawn, I saw my first deer, a 4-point buck! That buck ended up walking past me at 65 yards without ever detecting me. I grabbed my phone to take a picture, but it was still too dark for a pic; 6:36 a.m.

  Carson with 2 elk sheds and 2 deer sheds while scouting

I continued to see deer (both does and bucks) in the distance for the next 45 minutes until my next close encounter with a nice 3-point buck. As he passed by at 100 yards, all I could think about was Carson and how his hunt was going and wondered how many deer he had seen. After a while I looked at the time, it was now 8:00 a.m., the morning hunt would soon be over. I was so tempted to text Carson to suggest that he come hunt with me for the rest of the day, but I didn’t. Not that long afterwards a gunshot rang out from somewhere in the distance. And I couldn’t tell from which direction it came. Could that have been Carson who shot? Ten seconds later at 8:17 a.m. my phone rang and on the other end was a shaky voice that barely was able to squeak out “I just shot a buck!”

               Admiring hist first 4-point buck                                         4x4 with eye guards!

I gathered my gear as quickly as I could and headed toward Carson. As I approached, I could see Carson kneeling to the side of a deer. Once I got close enough I could clearly see that he had in fact shot him a 4-point buck with a nice set of eye guards! Incredible, he had accomplished the goal of shooting his first 4x4 mule deer buck with brow tines; I couldn’t have been happier!

                  A couple of happy hunters                                         Deer quartered and packing out

After packing out his animal in quarters, we headed back to where I had been hunting to spend the remainder of the day. And luckily for me, in the early afternoon, a nice 4x4 buck stepped out and without hesitation I took the 224 yard shot and filled my tag. Unbelievable, we had doubled on 4-point bucks, both within the same day!

Greg's 4-point...both of us used the ol' 6.5 Creedmoor                    Our side-by-side is loaded down