Last Day Whitey..Awesome..Irate.!!.Happy Ending

[Springer]

Just like the Hunt I posted a week ago , this was similiar beginning….
My Oldest Son is a very busy Dad and very busy Stone Mason with not much time left for himself but I managed to get him out for some last day hunting..

This was great some Father son time together and chasing Whiteys !! Does it get any better ! From the start of the day we saw Does and some Elk, we walked some bush and we drove a bit from land we had permission on.
We chased a few Bucks around through the day but never were able to close the distance..

My plan was to spend the last couple hours of Daylight in the same spot Bones shot his the Friday before..at 3:30 we parked the truck and put our layers on and threw the extras in the little Black toboggan because i felt pretty confident about this evening. With it all loaded and about a -3 temp we started our 3/4 mile hike through the knee deep snow. Halfway there we figured it was far enough to pull the toboggan and we could always come and get it if we got something…..ah should have taken it the whole way but it was kind of noisy pulling it through the snow.

Trying not to get to sweated up we trudged through the deep snow , as we got to the edge of the bush along the field where Bones shot his , 8 Whitetail Does took off heading for the Big Bush..Oh well their hungry and not the only deer that live here so we went about 30 yds further on a good vantage point and tucked in behind a round bale and some bush..just after 4:00 or so we were set-up a tree to rest our rifles against , the Montana Doe decoy set-up 60 yds out front for reassurance should a Buck stick his nose out and come for a look.. We used the rangefinder at various bales in the field to get a feel for distance should the opportunity present itself..
Not long after we see 2 Does on the sky line , then 2 more. This is promising and i said a little prayer to the hunting Gods to give Aaron an Opportunity at a Buck since its his third year from shooting an Deer.
Shortly after this another Doe comes across the hillside much lower on a well worn path to eat the delicious centres out of the Round hay bales….
About 10 minutes later Aaron says , Dad here comes a Buck !!

AWESOME !! his nose to the ground he follows the same trail as the Doe then holds up at the first fence line Aaron says should I shoot ,, not yet he may come closer. He was eyeing up our decoy and the Doe above him in the field back and forth then he stops and starts uphill away from us , is said OK as soon as he stops shoot him..tick tick tick…Boom the 300 WSM barks and the 4 point drops on the spot !!! NO Way!! a 320 yd shot and he's down, high fives and hugs we are on cloud 9 !! what a perfect way to end the day !!

We gathered our belongings into our packs unload the rifles , pick up our decoy and pace the distance , I look at my phone and its 4:35 ( Gotta remember for stories sake). We cross both fences that are 20 or so feet apart detour rifles and packs down then Aaron pulls his head out of the snow !! You should have seen the smiles and more high fives and more thank you Dad for taking me hunting..What a great day it has been. We have a few drinks of water, Aaron sparks up a cigar and we savour the Moment..
With it being almost dark now I snap some photos on Aarons I-phone then on my camera.
We don our headlamps for the field dressing and Aaron says turn your light off and look at the stars! Its a warm evening, beautiful stary night and we have a Buck down on the last day, it could not possibly end any better…
We field dress the Buck and notice the shot hit him square in the shoulder and exited out the back of his Head ??? Hmm crazy how the 165 grn took that path.



Realizing how far back the sled is we opt to drag him through the knee deep snow, pulling until exhausted , rest then do it again, Its tough slugging but were still pumped and keep reliving the moment.We get through the bush line and back out to the next field.. as we are having drink of water we see a truck pull up in the distance , turn his Christmas lights on , then scan the field with his spotlight….Looks like the Fish cops i say to Aaron , sure hope he comes out give us a hand and we chuckle…….
Our breaks are getting more frequent and us more tired so i opt to go find the toboggan in the pitch dark with my headlamp guiding me..eventually i am back to Aaron and his Buck so we load him in the Tobaggan and off we go trying to keep him in it but he is just a little to big and parts keep coming out so i tie his front feet to his antlers , and hold his back legs forward and we push on across the bog and through another fence….gee where is that Fish cop shouldn't he be coming to help..haha ..Finally we hit the lease road and it is soooo much easier to pull now and the truck is only 1/4 mile away. as we approached the closed gate where the truck was on comes the bright flashlight into our eyes !!! and a Voice " PUT down your Firearms and walk away from them… with the bolts left open we place them down on our packs and go Great the Barage of questions from the Rookie RCMP !!!

[Iceberg]

Awesome deer! Love hearing stories like that where it all comes together to make the perfect hunt.

[gonefishin]

Great story and congrats, Phil!

[alpineguy]

Awesome....way to go!!
Nice way to end the season......all I did was feed the horses and work on the new house LOL!!

[Alberta Bigbore]

Congratulations!!

[Springer]

IRATE !!!!!

Rookie Cop -What do you think your doing hunting with your headlamps on !!
Ahh officer its a little dark out there don't you think , and we needed to find our way back to the truck.
He looks at the tagged and field dressed Deer.

Rookie Cop - Who shot the Deer,
Aaron says i did, pretty nice Deer hey…Hmphh says the cop

Rookie Cop - I want to see your licences and identification now !!
We pull out our licences ,PAL's , Drivers licence

Rookie Cop - Wheres your tag then Aaron..

Ah its on the Deers leg , Remember!! Hmphh

Rookie Cop - You shot this Deer at 6:30 didn't You !!
Nope it was shot at 4:35 .

Rookie Cop - Well i am here on a complaint that a shot was fired at 6:30 !!
Well we never heard anything and haven't been looking at our watches ,sorry can't help you.

The Grilling and accusations continue….I say can we put our sweaty clothes and ,packs and rifles away in the truck. Yes go ahead….want to check my firearms or anything first Officer , ah yes , ok thats good put them away but your staying here until the Conversation Officer gets here !! Ok no problem ,we have done everything legal but i am a little tired of the accusations .
Who's land are you on !! I tell him who they are , then say do you want help with the spelling, he's not writing anything down.
I try to make light of the situation and make small talk and he eases off a bit.
Its getting kinda cold standing outside so we put on dry jackets and toque and Mitts and wait some more…next a Highway patrol cop shows up ,this guy is not to bad big smile, happy go lucky and dosnt know the difference between a deer or a dog all he knows when we ask him what he thinks, agh its a Critter thats all i know…more waiting …..Finally headlights come down the road. Yes its the Fishcop ,soon we can straighten this out and get home to celebrate ..

Conversation officer : and it starts with the accusations that we shot at 6:30, No not us , did you hear a Shot? No we didn't, do you have permission here !! yes both landowners, Did they phone you?? do you know who they are , thats none of concern..OK

Aaron come with me he orders him so they hop into the green and white truck , the video camera starts recording and they grilling starts .. about 20 minutes pass and they come back to my truck and he questions me and he says our stories don't jive, oh i say what dosnt Jive. You say the shot was at 4:35 , yes it was , I can make it easier on you if you fess up and you can change your story and make it easier for everyone, Nope i don't want to change my story and neither does Aaron because thats the way it happened!

Did you take photos, absolutely, Aarons i phone is dead so i show him the one on mine , but it does not show the time, Well i have more on my Camera will that help, yes get it for me says the Rookie Conversation officer..
He flips through the photos and the are saying 6:34 to 6:38 and then a couple more halfway back…

heres proof look at the times , well i haven't been documenting everything since we started the trek back but we shot at 4:35…

More questions from the Rookie Cop now, you told me you walked 2 miles, no i didn't i said 3/4 of a mile.
Rookie cop , well why didn't you drive in on the lease road closer to the Deer, because i respect the landowner and chose to walk in and less chance of spooking the deer. Well why didn't you walk in from the other direction , agh because they would see me skyline ourselves walking over the hill…
Do you have permission here , i told you yes and who owns the land, want me to call them for you ?? We know who it is just answer the questions..
The accusations continue and they keep getting us to change our story.

Conversation Officer - I have no choice but to confiscate your deer and camera and write you up a court appearance ticket !!!!! I am Bloody IRATE , This is Friggin Crap we have done nothing wrong !! explain yourself in Court fella.. Aaron is almost in tears , I am not a Poacher why are you doing this ??
The deer gets loaded up and Aaron is handed a ticket.
I can't believe this is happening, i am furious Aaron is ****ed off . I ask for the Conversation officers card. Bryan Poll …OK i guess we will see you in court, but what about the deer. Well it will be frozen until Courts over and the investigation is over,,well that should be fun to deal with 4-6 months later with the hide on. Thanks for ruining a Perfectly great day , and we head for home …..It's a quiet ride but i am thinking about the times , Aaron is also sure that he sent a pic and message home about 4:45 to his Wife but his phone is dead…..Hmm it got me thinking is the time on my camera wrong possibly ??……..I start doubting myself but remember looking at the time after the shot….Something doesnt jive alright….

[NayNay]

Congrats on the deer but sorry you had to go through that bull ****....

[Springer]

HAPPY ENDING !!
We get back home and Aaron plugs in his phone and calls his wife and has her send the photo back which includes the time !!! 4:45 !! Yes heres proof those ##!&&%$##
Aaron uses the convenient card and his e-mail then sends it to the C.O.

This is the time the Rookie CO must have taken this photo and realizes that my camera time is way off..


Aarons phone rings, its the C.O. Is Aaron there, no he is hanging up his wet gear, well you tell him i will be bringing his Deer back in an hour !!!
he shows up and tells us that my camera time is off !!
Oh so were not the criminals you made us out to be !!
C.O. - well i take my job serious and i have to investigate the complaints.

Well you may want to investigate who made the call and if it was even remotely close to where we parked because there was no shot at 6:30 and the Rookie Cop saw my truck there and instead of checking with the landowner that made the call he happened upon my vehicle..

No Sorry guys it was our mistake nothing. we were harassed, bullied , asked to change our statement and labeled as Poachers !!!

How can you hold any respect for these guys when they treat law abiding hunters like this !! I am disgusted and the C.O should be reprimanded for how we were treated. They also should have all their facts straight before handing out tickets..We deserve a written apology on this !



The Happy END was Aarons Buck was hanging in the garage we skinned him and shared a couple Rum & Cokes !!

Springer..

[pottymouth]

Congrats on the buck boys!

That's brutal, what you had to go through. Write a letter, and ask for that written apology. Nothing teaches guys better, than an official complaint in writing. That will stay with his record, when he asks for that promotion.

[saskwhitey]

That's total B.S! Sorry you guys had to go through that. Congrats on your deer!

[blackmamba]

that's awesome springer .. congrats to you and your son .. too bad about the fish cop tho .. I would just file a written complaint and see what kinda of response you get back .. its unfortunate that fish n chips can only justify what they do by issuing tickets instead actually doing there job ..

[hillbillyreefer]

Great story, now it's time for a teaching moment. File written complaints.

[buddybuckhunter]

Great story springer, glad it all worked out for you and aaron.

[Cowtown guy]

Originally Posted by pottymouth

Congrats on the buck boys!

That's brutal, what you had to go through. Write a letter, and ask for that written apology. Nothing teaches guys better, than an official complaint in writing. That will stay with his record, when he asks for that promotion.

I agree. Absolutely! Push this as far as you possibly can.

And keep us posted please.

[Coldone]

Would have to agree with the others... Written formal complaint.. Ask for an apology and ask if the court date is still a go.. As you'd like to see him take his job seriously in front of a judge..

Even when you do your part as an honest hunter.. You're still labelled by some of these clowns as a Poacher...

On a side note.. Awesome story, great buck! Congrats on the memory made!!

[Lefty-Canuck]

Great story....also feels awesome that you are deemed guilty till proven innocent....NOT

The best thing they could have done is say sorry along with a hand shake....instead of the "just doing our job" BS. I bet next time they send you a survey or you see one stuck in the ditch you might think twice about lending a hand...a bad taste is a bad taste.

Glad it all worked out for the best!

LC

[sjemac]

Take it to the minister. I did. The officer in my incident was reeducated.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=191190

Too many experiences like yours and mine are surfacing. I will never cooperate with the conservation officers again. They are using the RCMP as tools by which to attempt to secure easy convictions.

Get your arses out on the field and do the hard work like you're supposed to do.

Until then, don't talk to me-- because I ain't talking to you.

[Scott N]

Originally Posted by hillbillyreefer

Great story, now it's time for a teaching moment. File written complaints.

Yes, I agree. Rookie LEOs need to learn the job somehow.

[waterninja]

thats a great looking buck. congrats.

[Springer]

Thanks for the support and the Congrats Fella's.
Looking for some info on who or how to contact the CO's superior on this one.
It's not over yet.

[bruceba]

Sounds like a very interesting day for sure. Nice buck and story line. IMHO the CO did act according to the evidence at hand when he arrived. He doesn't know you from Jack and the proof you gave was not very accurate. He was in fact doing his job which I support 100% opposed to everyone complaining that they do squat.

[Donny Bear]

Wow! Congrats to you and Aaron and shame on the CO's brutal! But nice Buck and good outcome thanks for sharing.

[ceedub]

That is exactly why I have no respect for CO's. The last few I've run into show exactly that same type of ignorance. What a way to ruin a great day in the field with your son. Congrats on the buck and for doing it all the right way.

-Craig

[alpineguy]

Glad it worked out for you guys!
It definitely makes you lose faith in the whole profession. I just finished dealing with 2 city cops who choose to hang out and support a guy who has gone to trial on a very serious charge.
I won't day anymore about it but its embarrassing to their entire profession IMO.

[fallen1817]

I'm sure you could get somewhere with this URL.

http://www.albertaregulations.ca/hun...inquiries.html

It lists Red Deer (Your location on here) as

403-340-5142

I hope it works out for you!

[SugarCreek]

Nicely done Phil and Aaron......congrats......Marco

[Springer]

Originally Posted by bruceba

Sounds like a very interesting day for sure. Nice buck and story line. IMHO the CO did act according to the evidence at hand when he arrived. He doesn't know you from Jack and the proof you gave was not very accurate. He was in fact doing his job which I support 100% opposed to everyone complaining that they do squat.

bruceba ,What evidence, there was no shots fired in the vicinity where we were !! Thats the problem, Rookie Cop was driving around looking for someone hunting and found my Truck. He could not or would not tell what neighbour called and i had permission from all 3 in the area and know their names
The landowner heard our shot from his farm as he was doing chores and texted me shortly afterward to see if we got anything. After quizzing him about hearing another shot he said no just the one at 4:35!!
Rookie Cop wasnt even in the right area, but had to play power trip along with the C.O and when they gathered forces it only escalated on their part.

[nube]

Good story Springer and glad it worked out. I have nothing good to say about fish cops either. I have met a few decent ones around that do their jobs well but for the most part a lot of them shouldn't be in that line of work. I had a rookie last year asking his coworker once while checking my ducks if one of them was a pintail lol

[Juggernaut]

I give you guys a TON of credit for handling that as well as you did.

I can almost certainly guarantee I would have been much less polite to that clown, and I can definitely guarantee that I would have been on the phone to my highly overpriced, yet VERY successful lawyer.

A lesson to us all... as sad as it may be.... We should always take pictures to avoid unjustified harassment.


On the bright side...

You have definitely been given a memory that will last forever!

[Lefty-Canuck]

Good advice about taking pictures....when I tagged my mule deer this year it was cold and humid out....so I was concerned the tag would not stick so I took pics of the mule deer on the back of my truck with the tag in it in case it came off on the way home. Then I took a screen capture of that to show the time....just in case.

Thankfully it didn't come off and I wasn't stopped either.



LC