I grew up in Blackfoot Idaho and I've ended up going into the army as a
helicopter pilot I was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort
Campbell Kentucky and on one of my missions we had a hard landing I
injured my back it kind of put an end to my career I couldn't keep flying anymore
you expect life to be the same and life will never be the same coming back home
and getting back out doing the things that you used to do and enjoy makes all
the difference in the world you realize you can you can enjoy the freedoms that
that we went and fought for
Oh man see how this is under that big black tree you pick your spot deep breath in
then squeeze
let's get out there and saddle the horses up as we head to the high country
10,000 feet looking for a big trophy mule deer with a very special guest Nic
Transtrum of the United States Army
after about an hour and a half a steep horseback riding up to the top of the
ridge in the darkness of early morning it's now time to go out at a foot for
the last half a mile as the morning sun begins to peak over the eastern
ridgeline Nic and Tim hurry to get into position to glass for early morning
feeding bucks traveling back to their fall bedding area for the day
see I told you there's too damn many elk they get in the way of the deer hunting
screw everything up the frustrating part about that little draw as you know
that there's more than just that one in there but you can't see them
well let's slip up over this next little knob and glass for a couple of minutes
then we'll get on the horses and haul ass to that next point where we want to be
there's a little four points aren't they? I first seen they look like they're hard horned
already are they in velvet if I think the one on
the right the one on the left definitely is the one on the right I think he's
starting to rub it have you seen some pretty big bucks up in
this part yeah let's go find big deer and kill him
this year the bucks seem to have rubbed off their velvet about ten days early
causing them to be more nocturnal than normal for this time of year
I'm hoping this premature occurrence doesn't tank Nic's chances at an older
more mature buck deer he so obviously deserves that deer aint' real wide, but he's a shooter he's a cool deer heavy the
problem is that damn deer's only like twenty three inches wide
if you laid him out of another five inches he'd be a definite shooter he's hard
horned he's he's not a shooter he's I don't know twenty three inches wide tall
really really heavy good backs mediocre fronts
bad thing about this year this is as big as he's ever gonna get looking at him
he's probably five and a half year old deer
yeah so I grew up in Blackfoot Idaho and and I've ended up going into the army as
a helicopter pilot flew Blackhawk helicopters I was assigned to the 101st
Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell Kentucky and and I spent most of my time
there I was in about ten years as part of that unit
you know we deployed and deployed Iraq on one of my missions towards the end of
our deployment we had a hard landing I injured my back and it kind of put an
end to my career I couldn't keep flying anymore had to had to make a career
change because of that injury I moved back home here to Blackfoot and raising
my family got five little girls and the oldest ones 12 and someday she's gonna
be a hunter too and we've got twins they're a handful my youngest ones for
and they're they're great though they they bring me a lot of happiness and and
they're the best part of my life for sure
it's not really a secret that when guys come back from combat it's it's a hard
adjustment you know it's you expect life to be the same and life will never be
the same you know you can get on with life and that's that's what these guys
and these organizations and great people like yourself do coming back home and
getting back out doing the things that you used to do and enjoy makes all the
difference in the world you realize you can you can enjoy the freedoms that that
we weigh and you fought for so tomorrow's Patriot day yeah and it's
also your birthday hopefully tomorrow we can help bring a little bit of that
special back to your birthday there's nothing else I'd rather be doing on my
birthday from the bottom of my heart I can't thank you enough for for for your
service and for coming here and and and spending a week your birthday Patriot
day with us it's awesome and the world to me yeah it's awesome it's awesome I
really appreciate what you guys are doing
so far the deer seem to be few and far between this morning but we still have a
few basins left to glass out before the morning hunt is over
yeah he isn't' very big is he a frickin sagebrush is taller than he is his
shoulders are straight down see how much room he's got between around his belly
he's a hungry little turd probably a pretty good chance he might come right
down this trail Oh
buck, there's a buck over here
oh man that's a shooter
he's way too steep I got those sticks okay
you see the green bush see how listen he's under that big black tree where you hook
right there to the white that's his ass pick your spot don't look at the antlers
to see him yeah okay deep breath in squeeze
hit him again he's still up he's going behind the he's just
to the left of the bush hit him again no you dumped him that is
a good good deer man
he's rolling right there
well this hunt is concluded fellas hey guess what what my birthday
did you see the cheater no told me not to look at it
that's a good deer man all right go see that's good
oh man Wow 14 dude
god I gotta call dad yes I think this is so freakin cool
he saw it Tim he's a lot better than he ever could of the camp he was right
there with a us I could feel him on that red horse behind us all morning
hey if it makes you feel any better that's what I thought too man I miss my
dad he wasn't a big trophy hunter but I on today because he raised me doing you
know
30 and a quarter
30 inch deer 24 points that's a tank that bucks got everything everything you
could ever want droppers cheaters mass x extra eye guards 30 inches congratulations on
a monster deer Nic man this is hunt of a lifetime this been awesome we spotted
the buck up the hill you made a great one-shot kill I don't know about your
cameraman though he I needs to be fired or relocated somewhere but we got it all
on film was a great great hunt you're a wounded veteran we thank you for your
service to the country and we had a great time spending a few days here with
you in the high country of western Wyoming chasing big mule deer and like
to thank Tim and and Greg for helping and coming along and and finding the
buck and you know inviting us into this this area it's a really special place to
me and I know it is to most the other guys here on site it's a great place and
to come out with a buck like this it's just incredible
this part of the world has always been a very special place for both Tim and I as
we've grown up together in the Jackson Hole area of Wyoming we've hunted these
very wild and scenic ridge lines with our fathers and grandfathers for over 30
years now now Nic has his own connection to this
beautiful high country corner of the world
each fall new adventures to this very wild place will call to him and even
though he may not make it back every year the memories of this hunt will burn
in his mind for the remainder of a lifetime