Grizzley and I were out after mulies again this weekend. We had the rifles rather than bows, which makes things much easier. The amount of oil activity is absolutely crazy in this area, but if you’re willing to work hard it’s possible to get away from the chaos and find some deer. Another challenge was hunting after three hard winters in a row. The numbers were down again and it forced us to put on more miles to locate deer. Doesn’t matter though, its beautiful country and is just fun being there.
Awesome country.
It's a start.
Saturday a little after noon, Jason’s buck stood up to stretch and get a bit to eat. We noticed the white butt in the distance and moved in for a closer look. We decided he looked good, ranged him at 400 yards, and got set up for the shot. Jason made a great shot and the buck was down in 50 yards. This one was a ways back in some steep country so we boned him out and headed for the truck. Just to make things interesting, it started to rain as we were hiking back. I told myself it builds character and was cooling me down. Note to self – tell Grizzley (Jason) to shoot his animals closer to a road!!!
Jason's buck
We've got a ways to go!
We looked around more that evening, passed on some other bucks, and set up camp in the dark. The tipi with a stove pumping out heat can’t be topped for relaxing at night. I slept like a rock and was told I can snore at an impressive volume when I am really tired. I didn’t notice anything of the sort so I am fairly certain that wasn’t true.
Camp for the night.
The next morning we glassed, located some other bucks which I chose to pass, and put on a bunch of miles! We decided to move to another area where I have found some nice bucks in the past. As we were walking in I heard “Hey Busch stop”. Jason saw a deer and quickly informed me it was buck I should take a look at. He was a nice deer with a little cheater point and I decided he looked good. I will put in a shameless plug for Leupold here. Their CDS scope performed wonderfully again and is quickly becoming a favorite piece of equipment. We ranged my buck at 540 yards, dialed the turret accordingly, got a solid rest with the bipod, and dropped the hammer on this buck.
My buck.
Shot him from here.
It was well after dark by the time we got my buck boned and packed to the truck. I would mention here that I was courteous enough to shoot my deer much closer to the vehicle that Jason did. Unlike him, I try to make my hunting partners experience afield as pleasant as possible. Another interesting sidenote that is worth mentioning, is Jason loves to rip a$$ standing three feet upwind of me. He will constantly maneuver to get in just the right position. It must be his “new thing” as he has pulled this funny trick about 50 times this fall! I will be putting on a half day lecture at the college here in Bismarck over the winter titled Manners and Common Courtesy in the Field: What are they and Why are they Important. Jason WILL be attending. Feel free to join him if you have no respect for yourself, your hunting partners, and feel the need to eat 7-10 pounds of granola per day to “stay regular man”.
Strategically upwind no doubt
A final fun piece of information, on the way home I had an oilfield worker blow by me on the highway (in a no passing zone no less) and give me a sweet rock chip on the windshield of my week old truck. Awesome! Thanks buddy. About 45 minutes later I also got a speeding ticket for 70 in a 55. I thought the speed limit was 65, my bad. I was surprisingly still in a really good mood after these two incidents, until Jason launched into a discourse about how I have no respect for the law, break rules at will, and am a generally poor citizen setting a poor example for others.
I am taking applications for a new hunting partner as this one is getting real old, real fast!
Awesome country.
It's a start.
Saturday a little after noon, Jason’s buck stood up to stretch and get a bit to eat. We noticed the white butt in the distance and moved in for a closer look. We decided he looked good, ranged him at 400 yards, and got set up for the shot. Jason made a great shot and the buck was down in 50 yards. This one was a ways back in some steep country so we boned him out and headed for the truck. Just to make things interesting, it started to rain as we were hiking back. I told myself it builds character and was cooling me down. Note to self – tell Grizzley (Jason) to shoot his animals closer to a road!!!
Jason's buck
We've got a ways to go!
We looked around more that evening, passed on some other bucks, and set up camp in the dark. The tipi with a stove pumping out heat can’t be topped for relaxing at night. I slept like a rock and was told I can snore at an impressive volume when I am really tired. I didn’t notice anything of the sort so I am fairly certain that wasn’t true.
Camp for the night.
The next morning we glassed, located some other bucks which I chose to pass, and put on a bunch of miles! We decided to move to another area where I have found some nice bucks in the past. As we were walking in I heard “Hey Busch stop”. Jason saw a deer and quickly informed me it was buck I should take a look at. He was a nice deer with a little cheater point and I decided he looked good. I will put in a shameless plug for Leupold here. Their CDS scope performed wonderfully again and is quickly becoming a favorite piece of equipment. We ranged my buck at 540 yards, dialed the turret accordingly, got a solid rest with the bipod, and dropped the hammer on this buck.
My buck.
Shot him from here.
It was well after dark by the time we got my buck boned and packed to the truck. I would mention here that I was courteous enough to shoot my deer much closer to the vehicle that Jason did. Unlike him, I try to make my hunting partners experience afield as pleasant as possible. Another interesting sidenote that is worth mentioning, is Jason loves to rip a$$ standing three feet upwind of me. He will constantly maneuver to get in just the right position. It must be his “new thing” as he has pulled this funny trick about 50 times this fall! I will be putting on a half day lecture at the college here in Bismarck over the winter titled Manners and Common Courtesy in the Field: What are they and Why are they Important. Jason WILL be attending. Feel free to join him if you have no respect for yourself, your hunting partners, and feel the need to eat 7-10 pounds of granola per day to “stay regular man”.
Strategically upwind no doubt
A final fun piece of information, on the way home I had an oilfield worker blow by me on the highway (in a no passing zone no less) and give me a sweet rock chip on the windshield of my week old truck. Awesome! Thanks buddy. About 45 minutes later I also got a speeding ticket for 70 in a 55. I thought the speed limit was 65, my bad. I was surprisingly still in a really good mood after these two incidents, until Jason launched into a discourse about how I have no respect for the law, break rules at will, and am a generally poor citizen setting a poor example for others.
I am taking applications for a new hunting partner as this one is getting real old, real fast!
