Recently got introduced to this site and it is an awesome place to come to check out all things hunting. Seems like a very helpful crowd of hunters that are willing to help each other out. Just to break it in I will tell my brief story of my second archery mule deer that I got this year.
We had a tough winter last year, as well as an awful drought this summer. The deer in North Dakota fared decently well considering but you could see the numbers were down as well as the amount/size of the big bucks seemed to be down while scouting all summer as well. I had seen a few decent bucks throughout the summer but nothing out of this world. Most of the bigger ones I had seen were in this bowl to the east of where I sat but the wind was usually wrong to go in there. First part of September I was still out every chance I could and just trying to turn up a good buck. Nothing beats a sunrise in the heart of North Dakota's badlands as far as what I have seen. Throughout that month I had some close encounters but never did get it done.
Fast forward to October 1st. The wind was blowing pretty good and it was in the perfect direction to go into the bowl I had been wanting to check out. I set up before first light and waited for first light. I glassed up a few does right at first light and then a few minutes before sunrise I glassed up two bucks and one of them I told myself I would be absolutely pumped to kill if I get the chance.
I watched them disappear and reappear several times over the next hour, just waiting for them to bed down. At one point they dipped low into a little saddle and I could never find them again. At that point I decided I was going to do a huge loop around and see if I could get to a closer vantage point, find them and make my move from there. But as I was just about to be out of sight of where I last seen the deer I sat down one last time to glass and there they were. It worked out perfect that I just watched them bed down. It was in a spot where I had what looked like 200 yards of open country to get across to somehow get a shot on these deer. But at that point I decided to just make the big loop around and see what it looks like when I get down there. I took a picture on my phone and took off. With the way the wind swirls in the badlands, I ended up going down a different draw than what I had originally anticipated. Once I got within 300 yards I dropped my pack and took off my boots for the last leg. I slowly crawled around the corner, making sure to stay low as not to skyline myself. I made it along the somewhat flat open space I had to get across to get a shot, glassing every few yards while I was crawling. Like they often do, they had moved beds so I was unable to find them where they should have been. Luckily, I glassed through a Juniper tree and found the two bucks bedded on the bank of the steep cut/river wash. With each wind gust I moved closer and closer until I got to where I couldn't get any closer. They were still bedded but the bigger buck was perfectly broadside to me. With my heart pumping through the roof and all of my senses completely going into overdrive, I shot at the buck. Right away I knew it was a hit but I wasn't entirely sure where exactly. I whipped up my binocs and could see it was perfect left to right. The entrance wound was a little low which had me concerned as he was bedded a little below me. He hobbled around the corner and out of sight.
At this point I called a few of my friends who made the drive out to see if we could find this buck. Once they finally got there we went around the corner after the deer and found him bedded maybe 150 yards around the corner. He seen us and slowly hobbled another 200 yards up the draw. Finally we found him bedded in some thick cover that he had walked into. I am guessing he would have died as we were then able to walk up to 10 yards away from him (had to get that close as the cover was so thick). I walked back and forth trying to find a hole in the cover just to put this deer out of his misery. I finally found a small little hole and shot at him. It glanced off a branch and missed him. He got up and hobbled another few yards where I was then able to put the finishing arrow into him. He expired right there.
It is somewhat tough to tell the story of not ending him immediately but that is the harsh reality of hunting sometimes. I was so pumped to get some meat for my wife and I and to harvest another one of these beautiful North Dakota mulies.
We had a tough winter last year, as well as an awful drought this summer. The deer in North Dakota fared decently well considering but you could see the numbers were down as well as the amount/size of the big bucks seemed to be down while scouting all summer as well. I had seen a few decent bucks throughout the summer but nothing out of this world. Most of the bigger ones I had seen were in this bowl to the east of where I sat but the wind was usually wrong to go in there. First part of September I was still out every chance I could and just trying to turn up a good buck. Nothing beats a sunrise in the heart of North Dakota's badlands as far as what I have seen. Throughout that month I had some close encounters but never did get it done.
Fast forward to October 1st. The wind was blowing pretty good and it was in the perfect direction to go into the bowl I had been wanting to check out. I set up before first light and waited for first light. I glassed up a few does right at first light and then a few minutes before sunrise I glassed up two bucks and one of them I told myself I would be absolutely pumped to kill if I get the chance.
I watched them disappear and reappear several times over the next hour, just waiting for them to bed down. At one point they dipped low into a little saddle and I could never find them again. At that point I decided I was going to do a huge loop around and see if I could get to a closer vantage point, find them and make my move from there. But as I was just about to be out of sight of where I last seen the deer I sat down one last time to glass and there they were. It worked out perfect that I just watched them bed down. It was in a spot where I had what looked like 200 yards of open country to get across to somehow get a shot on these deer. But at that point I decided to just make the big loop around and see what it looks like when I get down there. I took a picture on my phone and took off. With the way the wind swirls in the badlands, I ended up going down a different draw than what I had originally anticipated. Once I got within 300 yards I dropped my pack and took off my boots for the last leg. I slowly crawled around the corner, making sure to stay low as not to skyline myself. I made it along the somewhat flat open space I had to get across to get a shot, glassing every few yards while I was crawling. Like they often do, they had moved beds so I was unable to find them where they should have been. Luckily, I glassed through a Juniper tree and found the two bucks bedded on the bank of the steep cut/river wash. With each wind gust I moved closer and closer until I got to where I couldn't get any closer. They were still bedded but the bigger buck was perfectly broadside to me. With my heart pumping through the roof and all of my senses completely going into overdrive, I shot at the buck. Right away I knew it was a hit but I wasn't entirely sure where exactly. I whipped up my binocs and could see it was perfect left to right. The entrance wound was a little low which had me concerned as he was bedded a little below me. He hobbled around the corner and out of sight.
At this point I called a few of my friends who made the drive out to see if we could find this buck. Once they finally got there we went around the corner after the deer and found him bedded maybe 150 yards around the corner. He seen us and slowly hobbled another 200 yards up the draw. Finally we found him bedded in some thick cover that he had walked into. I am guessing he would have died as we were then able to walk up to 10 yards away from him (had to get that close as the cover was so thick). I walked back and forth trying to find a hole in the cover just to put this deer out of his misery. I finally found a small little hole and shot at him. It glanced off a branch and missed him. He got up and hobbled another few yards where I was then able to put the finishing arrow into him. He expired right there.
It is somewhat tough to tell the story of not ending him immediately but that is the harsh reality of hunting sometimes. I was so pumped to get some meat for my wife and I and to harvest another one of these beautiful North Dakota mulies.
