It was uncomfortably warm as we drove north out of Fairfield, Idaho. Brady had drawn a Unit 44 deer tag and we had high hopes for a great hunt.

I had never been in that country and was excited to see it. It was beautiful, with open sagebrush flats, timbered ridges and aspen-choked draws. The leaves were just turning and added a splash of yellow to the brown landscape.

After we made camp, we drove some of the roads to get familiar with the area. That evening we found a good knob to sit on and glass the mountains. It was fun to hear the elk bugling, but as night fell, so did our hopes. We had not seen a single deer.

After a good night’s sleep, we were at a new vantage point as it started to get light the next morning. With the sunrise we started to spot some deer. That cheered us up, but all we could turn up where does and small bucks. By the time the deer started to bed down for the day, we had seen 14 bucks, but nothing bigger than a three-point.

We decided to climb higher on the mountain, but still couldn’t find the type of buck we were after. We held a powwow and decided that Brady would stay put while Tuck and I circled around the mountain to see what we could see.

We sat down on the west side of a pile of rocks to glass the draw below us and Tuck immediately spotted a three-point bedded in the shade. As the afternoon wore on, he got up and started feeding out of sight on the west side of the rocks.

Tuck decided he wanted another look at the buck and peeked up over the rocks. He quickly dropped back down and motioned for me to come look. A nice, heavy four-point had joined the smaller buck. Our excitement turned to tears when he turned his head to reveal that his driver’s side was completely broken off.

As we sat discussing the bucks, they were joined by another four-point buck. At this point in the game, I decided I had better call Brady. From our perch in the rocks, we saw him coming over the ridge.

With some frantic gesturing Tuck was able to get his attention and direct him to the bucks. Brady crept within 170 yards undetected. His adrenaline-filled first shot was a miss, but he managed to connect on his second, and the buck was down.

After the congratulations and pictures, we dragged the buck into the shade to quarter him up for the pack out. Luckily it was all downhill and we made it to the four-wheelers just as the sun dropped behind the mountain.

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