After chasing mule deer around for the most of last year and having nobody out of the 4 of us even getting a shot at one, I made it my goal to shoot a mule deer this year. We had a couple of great hunts this year where we saw some monsters out there, one in particular that we all wanted to get a shot at. Even though we put about 6 stalks on no one was able to get a shot. So this weekend I made plans to bring my trailer out there and camp out for the weekend so I could get more sleep before hunting, and so I could do a night hunt which we hadn't done yet. With it being a 2 hr drive each way, being able to get up at 6 instead of 4 to go hunting was nice. Saturday morning there were 4 of us that went out for the morning hunt. We had two of us that setup in the bottom of a coulee where we have seen the deer funneling, and the other two went in the bottom of a different valley and walked through there looking for deer. Despite my brother and another guy Andy putting a stalk on 2 different deer but still not shot. The last two hunts we have been on I have spotted deer bedding and sent my buddy after them since I already have my moose in the freezer so I was hoping for him to get something. After returning back to my trailer (parked beside my gf's uncles place), her uncle had mentioned that if we wanted to go north a mile that he could get us permission to go through this guys land to get access to some public land that he has seen some deer on, and this would give us a different place to hunt. That night me and Andy went over, parked at the top of the hill and walked along til we came to a nice place to spot. Just as we reached the top I could see a big 3 pointer getting ready to bed at the bottom of a valley on a little mound. We watched him bed and came up with a plan to get him, and since I gave Andy the last 2 stalks he told me to take this one. We didn't get out there til late so I had to make good time getting down there. I sprinted across a open field a ways back from the edge so nothing would see me than slowly made my way down a big ravine. I got to the bottom and was just starting to get close (150 yards or so) when I got stopped by a spiker who just appeared 30 yards infront of me. I froze and didn't move hoping he wouldn't bust me. After a good 30 sec stare down he slowly turned and walked away, and as he walked away I knelt down trying to stay low and hide til I could make my move. Just as I did that I heard a rock fall on the hill right behind me. I slowly turned and saw a buck standing 30 yards, and now staring at me cause I moved. Since I had my back to him, I slowly turned back, grabbed a arrow out of my quiver, knocked it and slowly turned around again and he was still staring at me. I drew my bow back and the deer started to bounce off. He went about 15 yards and stopped giving me a great slightly quartering away shot. I had my pins on him and took my shot. My Firenock lit up but went out half way to the deer and I lost my arrow. I saw him do the little jump kick with his back legs than he bolted after I heard my arrow hit. I walked over to where I shot him and couldn't find my arrow, I didn't look hard though as I didn't want to make much noise in the area. I than walked out into a clearing below trying to signal to my buddy that I just shot a deer. With the hill being probably 300' high and terrible climbing I really didn't want to go up there if I didn't have to. As I was trying to wave at him, I looked over and saw my deer laying there dead after he ran about 100 yards. I ended up having to climb up, get my buddy, get his packing board and split the deer in 2 and take two trips to get him out. It was one hell of a work out but well worth it. After gutting him we saw that my arrow went in right at his liver, cutting part of it, than taking out the edge of the heart and one lung. For a 45 yard shot I couldn't be happier with the results. I sure love my new bow. Sorry for the long story but this was a big goal of mine this year and a great experience. Here are the pics of the area and my deer. These pics show the big valleys/coulees that we overlooked and had to carry the deer up. Here is a pic of my new bow that i took on the morning hunt waiting for deer to come Now a pic of my deer. Enough I hope to make it official for team 19
I forgot to mention that we found my bow as we were packing him out. It fell out the other side of him just as he started jumping away.
great story great looking bow but wow what a brutal place to look at climbing wise but congrats on the buck and getting your goal
Congrats! Thats an awesome buck! Loved the story. I also know what I want my next bow to be. The predator pattern is the shiz nit. :D Edit: I notice you have "no-glovs" on your string. I'm assuming thats something you added on there? Do they do a good job quietening the bow down? Pretty slick...
Awesome story and a great looking deer! How doy ou like the bow? I am thinking of getting one this winter
Thanks everyone. I'm still smiling anytime I look at the pics. The one thing that made the climb out even worse was the cactus all over the top 1/3. They are just little guys that are tough to see at night. This deer is going to help out a few contests on here. He will score for team19, the West team and for the public land bash. After some debating I think I'm getting a shoulder mount done so I'll have to score him before I drop him off. Finch- those no gloves come on all strother bows. I haven't shot it without them so could t say how well they work. Backcountry- all I can say about this bow is WOW. When I first got it and had it all setup I shot about 15 arrows with it and was very impressed. I went back and shot my diamond Marquis and all of a sudden I could feel some noticable hand shock and vibration out of it. It also seemed loud which shocked me cause I always thought of that bow as being "dead in the hand". My brother shoots a destroyer 350 and my bow is hands down quieter and has less shock. I don't know about speed cause I have a dloop and am shooting it at 27.5" as he is 29". Also my arrows are 60 gr heavier. The draw is a bit rough but for a 353fps IBO bow it's to be expected. It's no worse, maybe even a little smoother than my bros D350. I also bought it slightly used bare bow for 550US off of AT. There are a few on there for the same price. It's a lot of bow for the price.
