swbuckmaster
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 5,004
Spot and Stalk Mule Deer Success!!
The majority of my bucks have come by hunting escape routs or just being in the right place at the right time. This year the hunting pressure was even higher than expected. I even had a few out of state hunter?s campout or walk through my hunting stand early in the morning every day for about a week. I was forced to hunt in a different location. At first I tried road hunting as I call it. I simply hike the trail and look for deer next to the trail to shoot at. I got close several times but the deer always seem to spot me around the 100 yard mark and would run off. I finally on the second week found a group of 7 bucks at 9:00 am. I watched them for a while knowing they would be the last deer I would see on that particular day. The largest was a 5x5 that would probably score 145? gross that was still in velvet, the deer I took which was a 24 ? inch wide 4x5, two more smaller eighteen to twenty inch 4 points, a tall three point and two spikes. I decided that I would make a play. I watched them bed at 10,150 feet in a tiny pocket of pines. I knew the wind would be blowing from the south, so if I crept in above them the only thing that would give my presence away would be my foot steps. The stalk took over 2 hours and I had to climb 1500 feet in elevation to get above them. Once I got to a point I could see the pocket of pines they were in I took my shoes off and crept on in. I couldn't see anything and thought they had left so I sat down. I then noticed the tips of my bucks rack moving only 22 yards away. I looked every where for the larger buck to no avail. I couldn't even see any of the other deer that was with this buck. At this point I had decided if I could get a shot I would take it. The only problem was all I could see was a flicker of a tail and the tips of his antlers. I new the wind would hold up for the rest of the afternoon so I sat and waited for about 30 minutes. I noticed the buck was getting restless so I got my bow ready. After another 5 minutes of ear twitching and tail flicking I noticed the sun would finally push this buck to a different bed. That is when my deer stood up. As he stood up I drew my bow back and he looked right at me. He had heard me pull my bow back. I knew it was only a matter of time before the deer would be off so I took the only shot I had. A severe quartering away shot. I would have to nick his hind quarters to penetrate his heart. All of my practice on the 3d range gave me the confidence I could make the shot. I released the arrow and it scored a perfect hit. My deer and his buddies all ran in different directions. To my surprise the tall three point had been less than 15 yards away the whole time. Anyway my buck ran less than 40 yards and fell over backwards. I couldn't believe it when the deer then slid out of sight and down the mountain. I thought he would be trashed. I gave it a few more minutes to listen for any sounds that the deer was still alive. I than went back to get my shoes and began blood trailing my deer. The only problem was there wasn?t any blood because of the angle the arrow had penetrated. So I tracked his tracks, hair, and bent over weeds. I then took out my binoculars and began looking for any sign of him. This is when I saw a foot pocking out of the grass. I knew he was finished so I quickly slid to him. I took several pictures with a tripod and a camera with a self timer. I won't ever go without one of these ever again. The pictures turned out awesome. I then gutted him and began to drag him when I slipped and he slid another 500 feet to the trail. I still can't believe how far this deer slid and didn't break anything off, nearly 1000 feet according to my map.
I had been calling my friends the whole time giving them updates as I went. They all sounded excited until I found him. They all knew the terrain and how far in my deer was. They as well as I knew the work had just started. Knowing it was a work day and they were all at work I didn't expect any help. I just went home and got my pack goats. My goats have never complained when packing any of my deer out. I think they rather enjoy it.
The majority of my bucks have come by hunting escape routs or just being in the right place at the right time. This year the hunting pressure was even higher than expected. I even had a few out of state hunter?s campout or walk through my hunting stand early in the morning every day for about a week. I was forced to hunt in a different location. At first I tried road hunting as I call it. I simply hike the trail and look for deer next to the trail to shoot at. I got close several times but the deer always seem to spot me around the 100 yard mark and would run off. I finally on the second week found a group of 7 bucks at 9:00 am. I watched them for a while knowing they would be the last deer I would see on that particular day. The largest was a 5x5 that would probably score 145? gross that was still in velvet, the deer I took which was a 24 ? inch wide 4x5, two more smaller eighteen to twenty inch 4 points, a tall three point and two spikes. I decided that I would make a play. I watched them bed at 10,150 feet in a tiny pocket of pines. I knew the wind would be blowing from the south, so if I crept in above them the only thing that would give my presence away would be my foot steps. The stalk took over 2 hours and I had to climb 1500 feet in elevation to get above them. Once I got to a point I could see the pocket of pines they were in I took my shoes off and crept on in. I couldn't see anything and thought they had left so I sat down. I then noticed the tips of my bucks rack moving only 22 yards away. I looked every where for the larger buck to no avail. I couldn't even see any of the other deer that was with this buck. At this point I had decided if I could get a shot I would take it. The only problem was all I could see was a flicker of a tail and the tips of his antlers. I new the wind would hold up for the rest of the afternoon so I sat and waited for about 30 minutes. I noticed the buck was getting restless so I got my bow ready. After another 5 minutes of ear twitching and tail flicking I noticed the sun would finally push this buck to a different bed. That is when my deer stood up. As he stood up I drew my bow back and he looked right at me. He had heard me pull my bow back. I knew it was only a matter of time before the deer would be off so I took the only shot I had. A severe quartering away shot. I would have to nick his hind quarters to penetrate his heart. All of my practice on the 3d range gave me the confidence I could make the shot. I released the arrow and it scored a perfect hit. My deer and his buddies all ran in different directions. To my surprise the tall three point had been less than 15 yards away the whole time. Anyway my buck ran less than 40 yards and fell over backwards. I couldn't believe it when the deer then slid out of sight and down the mountain. I thought he would be trashed. I gave it a few more minutes to listen for any sounds that the deer was still alive. I than went back to get my shoes and began blood trailing my deer. The only problem was there wasn?t any blood because of the angle the arrow had penetrated. So I tracked his tracks, hair, and bent over weeds. I then took out my binoculars and began looking for any sign of him. This is when I saw a foot pocking out of the grass. I knew he was finished so I quickly slid to him. I took several pictures with a tripod and a camera with a self timer. I won't ever go without one of these ever again. The pictures turned out awesome. I then gutted him and began to drag him when I slipped and he slid another 500 feet to the trail. I still can't believe how far this deer slid and didn't break anything off, nearly 1000 feet according to my map.
I had been calling my friends the whole time giving them updates as I went. They all sounded excited until I found him. They all knew the terrain and how far in my deer was. They as well as I knew the work had just started. Knowing it was a work day and they were all at work I didn't expect any help. I just went home and got my pack goats. My goats have never complained when packing any of my deer out. I think they rather enjoy it.
