Old-timers who hunted the Kaibab after the herd rebounded in the late 1940s and early 1950s fondly refer to those times as the "glory years." They tell tales of hundreds of deer migrating in single file down narrow trails on the west and east sides of the plateau.

The day before the season opened, Remmert flew into Las Vegas, rented a car and drove to Adams' camp. There he met his main guide, 23-year-old George Garcia, who had taken part in an apprentice-training program that Adams conducts each year. To provide another pair of eyes for glassing, Albert Jurado would accompany Remmert and Garcia.

"Unfortunately, my first day of hunting the Kaibab was pretty uneventful because of the weather. Just as we started glassing from a high point, a rainstorm moved in to the area," Remmert said. "To avoid getting drenched, we took cover under a big ponderosa pine and hoped the storm would quickly pass. As we huddled under the pine boughs, a herd of deer, including several small bucks, passed less than 20 yards from us. Besides that bunch, we didn't see many deer that day because the rain never quit. In fact, it rained through the night."

The second day treated the Michigan hunter better.

"The rain had finally stopped, so we left camp well before daylight and arrived where we wanted to be just as it was getting light. George and Albert set up their 15-power binoculars on tripods and within minutes glassed several deer. The lighter it got, the more deer they saw. The deer were everywhere -- I mean everywhere. Although most of them were does, the guides did spot several mediocre bucks. But since it was only the second day of the 10-day season, we opted to wait for something better.

"Later that morning, George located two shooter bucks, but they were at least two miles away in some rugged country. One was a good 4x4 and the other was a big 3x3. Both of them were raking trees with their antlers, so George knew the rut was close to starting or already started. They eventually walked off into the trees.

"At that point, we discussed coming back there that night to search for those same bucks from a closer vantage point. We knew it would be tough going, though, because there was no nearby road access.

"In the meantime, we headed to another spot that George wanted to check out. And on the way in, we spotted a group of six does with a really nice buck. Although the buck was a long way off, we decided to go after him. So we parked the truck and began hiking over several ridges. We eventually got within a few hundred yards of the deer. But the does sensed something was wrong and slowly started moving away.

"We followed them over two more ridges, and by this time I was huffin' and puffin'. I could hardly breathe, and my rifle seemed to weigh about 25 pounds. I was just about ready to quit when George said, 'Stop. There he is. He's a real nice buck.' Then George made a few grunts to try and stop the buck while I got my rifle up." Remmert said.