Craziest Mule Deer Beds/Stalks

[UTodd]

This past weekend I did a solo backpack archery hunt. I watched a newly polished muley feed into the very top of a steep nasty chute on a perch bed with drop offs on either side of him. I made what I thought was a sweet stalk on him and was about even with his bed when I poked my head over the chute next to him. I saw only tracks in the soft dirt of his bed. A short time later I saw the twin 3 points that bedded below him at 58 yards but did not want either of them.
Post up some of the gnarliest spots that you have seen a muley buck bed and what you did to get in on them. Anybody ever run into rattlesnakes on a stalk?

 

[slcbohntr]

I was belly crawling up a hill trying to get in on a nice four point. I was within twenty yards of him when i looked to the side and seen a nice little great basin rattler stairing me down needless to say i jumped up and took off running. Crazy thing is the deer never even stood up even with all my noise. Who knows mabey they are in cahoots.
Good Luck and Great Memories

 

[OmegaMan]

That just made me shiver! I hate snakes!!!

 

[cjboz]

I saw Muley with a rotating water bed in Northern Nevada, Also I guess I have never seen a a mule deer stalk? Is that like a corn stalk or bean stalk?JK

A friend of ours bedded down a big buck in a ravine and could only see his horns from behind. The buck did not get up all afternoon and was afraid to loose him to the night. He finally devised a plan to shoot through the bucks horns and blow the bullet off the bank he was facing. He got ready shot through his horns and jacked another shell and hammered the buck as he was running right back to him. pretty good story I thought.

 

[wallhanger]

I'm hunting antelope this year. I'm so scared of snakes- I've been worrying about crawling up face-to-face with a buzztail. Think I'd look goofy with a blaze orange motorcycle helmet on?

I'm also interested to hear the craziest places you've seen bedded bucks.

Good topic-

-WH

 

[nickman]

In the Eastern Sierra, we have a REALLY deep gorge with several rock outcropings facing southeast.

Deer bed daily on these rocks. Bighorn sheep also are on them occasionally.....the ones the cats' haven't caught yet.

Rangefinders make the best distance about 600 yards and recovery would be impossible or nearly so, if anyone was dumb enough to try the shot.

It is nearly 500 yards to the rim of the gorge above these beds with about a 70 degree rock slope. A marble sized pebble, kicked loose above the deer, sounds like a bowling ball in a garbage can, rolling down the slope.

Wind blows down this gorge, 24-7, 30mph, even on an otherwise windless day.

You can stand on the opposite side of the gorge and these bucks barely bat an ear. On a good day, it looks like the bunkhouse at the YMCA.

 

[UTodd]

slcbohntr- that story creeps me out. I think I would have jumped ten feet in the air...then ran out of there.

cjboz- are you thinking it should be mule deer stocks? If so- I would buy some of those stocks- especially if you stock mule deer on the shelves of your mule deer store. Otherwise I will continue to stalk (a hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush; the act of following prey stealthily) muleys. That was pretty creative of your buddy to get that buck up and moving. I have heard of rocks and whistles- but bullets work too.

Wallhanger- good luck hunting in that body armor- I hear that you get used to the weight.

Nickman- that is what I am talking about. No way you are getting on those bucks without a helicopter.

Keep the stories coming guys. Anyone ever have competition (ie- lions, coyotes, wolves) on your stocks/stalks?

 

[cjboz]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-11-08 AT 10:30AM (MST)[p]I was meaning like "Jack and the bean stalk"

Actually I do have Mule Deer "Stocks" in AZ,NV,UT,CO and every spring for a couple months in NM. Funny I dont receive any dividends-"TAGS" The most recent stalk(if you want to call it that) I had on a whitey this past year. I had been hunting everyday since opening day in the evenings and rode my wheeler to a spot where I normally glass and do little spot and stalks through some draws.(I DO NOT HUNT FEEDERS AT ALL!!) It was cold and snowy. I had finally had enough and headed back to the house. I get 200 yards from the ranch house and there is a 23 inch wide 8 pt. staring at me. I get off and walk over to the tree and get a rest and check him out. He stands there a while longer and finally I decide to shoot him. Easiest hunt of my life. I was bummed that all the hours I had put into the whole season hoping to be sneaking through the brush, or bedding one down.ECT ended with the best buck by the house. This year I have been doing alot of scouting and have a high 160 class 13 pt picked out. I am excited that I have gotten to watch him all summer. Gos to show you feeders do not make big deer they are born I would rather be chasing muleys but this is as close as I can get until I draw a tag again.That is the saddest part about living in Texas. All the B.S. these idiots do with feeding programs and fencing.

 

[Saskman]

I was trying to photograph deer one evening and was slowly moving through the start of a large coulee. There is an old cattle shed that has been abanodoned for many years on the edge of this coulee. As I was slipping past the front of this shed a 170's class muley blew out through a hole in the side of the shed. I went in to have a look and he had several well worn beds in the back corner of the shed. I never would have thought to look in old buildings for deer. The craziest place I have ever heard of a buck bedding was a big old whitetail buck up here in Saskatchewan. In was in our Western Sportsman magazine yeras ago. A guy was trying to pattern this big old buck but would lose sight of him every morning out in the bald ass prairie. He couldn't figure out where the back was dissappearing to so went for a walk to see where it was going. The only thing he found was an old root cellar in the middle of no where. He set up with his camera watching this old root cellar and sure enough the big old buck emerged out of the door to the cellar that evening. He has photos of it coming out and there was a very well worn bed back in the cellar where the buck had been bedding during the hot summer days.

Saskman

 

[UTodd]

To do list:

Start scouting
1. Near houses
2. Old buildings
3. Old cellars

What's next? Chicken coops?

 

[cjboz]

Chicken coops are where you look for Bessie

 

[DallanC]

I believe it. Years ago we used to have a huge 6x6 that lived inside an old guys barn. You could drive down the street and glance in at him laying there.


-DallanC

 

[archerymuleyslayer]

>I believe it. Years ago we
>used to have a huge
>6x6 that lived inside an
>old guys barn. You could
>drive down the street and
>glance in at him laying
>there.
>
>
>-DallanC



WTF? When did deer learn to start reading the hunting reg's?? This is BS, now they know that we can't shoot within X amount of yardage from buildings..great, I swear this has to be PETA's fault...sounds like they one up'd us boys...pretty soon the deer are going to be hunting us ;-)

 

[blazingsaddle]

I stalked a buck a few years ago, the wind switched on me and he bolted as I was drawn back on him. He was one of the coolest bucks I have ever seen, only 17-18 wide- straight 4x4, tall as hell, mass, deep deep forks, long mains- would have scored an easy 180.
There was a fresh 4 inches of snow, so I gave him about an hour, then started to track him.
He stayed just ahead of me, all the while he j hooked me 3-4 times on his back trail, but he did it on the up hill side, not the down wind side. Keeping on his tracks with glimpses of him ahead, I tracked him to a tree, where he circled the tree at least twice and then jumped away from the tree, 10 feet or so, and continued walking down the basin. It took me a while to figure that one out, but I got back on his tracks, following them to another tree, where he did the same. This tree had mulitple other deer tracks around it. needless to say I lost his track in that mess.
One smart bugger. Wished I could have put an arrow in him. I wouldn't believe it myself if I had not of been there.

 

[eelgrass]

I was hunting with my buddy back about 1975. We split up at first light and agreed to meet at Bear Rock at 10:00AM. I arrived first and started glassing across the canyon while waiting for him. I spotted a real nice blacktail buck bedded right out in the open. When Rich finally showed up I pointed out the buck. We both figured he was probably 500-600 yards away, straight across the canyon. We were trying to figure out the best approach, or even if it was worth the effort, when the buck got nervous and stood up, watching us the full time. There was a clump of brush about 20' square and maybe 6' high close to him. He walked over to it and in one big jump disappeared. The clump of brush was surrounded entirely by prarie. We watched for about 1/2 hour but he never came out, so we figured he was bedded in there, but figured he could see us.

Then Rich came up with this crazy idea! We would head down the hill and try to cut down on the distance. It got us a little closer, but not much, just a steeper angle. He told me to lob a bullet into the brush to flush him out, and when he came out he would bust him! So, I figured what the heck. Once Rich got a good rest I shot, but nothing happened. So I shot again. Still nothing happened. The third shot did the trick. The buck came out on a dead run. He ran about 50 yards and was almost to the timber when Rich shot and the buck came over backwards and cartwheeled clear to the bottom, stone dead! A beautiful heavy 3X3!

1975 was back before ethics police were even thought of!

Eel

 

[mod700]

Had a buddy a few years back in ore. putt'n the sneak on some beded muleys.He was crouched down easing up this game trail looking across and up the draw at the tops of there racks.He was getting close when all of a sudden this big old badger comes down the bank onto the trail, just a few feet out in front of him, and starts head'n his way.He drop to one knee and starts waveing his hand to get its attention,the badger is looking down and continues his head on course,my buddy is frantic not wanting to blow the deer out.The badger finally looks up..now according to my buddy this thing sweels up, snarls and starts a "charge"...he stand up, comes to draw and panic fires his bow..miss..the badger turns and goes over the bank..he looks up to see the bucks going over the top.

 

[Dub]

UTOD, here you go, my dad is driving up the street one day in the middle of town and a buck crosses the road in front of him. It's headig diagnally to the next street over so he guns his truck over there and cuts it off. The buck doubles back and runs into...you guessed it, an open chicken coop. Dad thinks it would be funny to lock it in so he gets out and heads down to the chicken coop, and when he's about 20 yeards away, it comes busting out, bounds the fence and was gone..... Story number two that I'm gonig to catch hell for, but it's the absolute truth. I'm out Thanksgiving morning coyote hunting, and I see some deer trailing up a little hill. I look through my bionos and there's a nice 4 x 4 in the heard with a bunch of doe's. They're trailing up the hill single file and I'm moving along checking out each deer. When I get the the front of the line and there's a coyote, and the first doe is about 20 yards behind him. All of the deer are trailing the coyote up the hill single file. I would not have believed it if I didn't see it. (Had only been drinking Diet Mt. Dew)

Dub

 

[ICMDEER]

I've had some wierd ones here in SE Wyoming, too. I have seen bucks bed in old barns and even old homestead buildings. One of the wierdest times happened when I was sitting on a high steep knob at daylight. Was looking to the west, sun at my back. Three mature bucks were headed out across the open prairie, not a tree for 3 miles in any direction. They were 2-3 miles from me. I watched them walking and all of a sudden they just disappeared. I told the hunters with me that it looked like they were swallowed up by the earth. We had to drive back to a county road and around to get to the spot where they disappeared. We walked for about 3 hours and did not see them. When we were almost back to the truck, and the hunters were worn down and had given up, the bucks stood up about 75 yards from us. One guy emptied his rifle and never touched a hair and the other guy shot twice. The bucks had been laying in a 50 yard stretch of an eroded cow trail, washed out maybe 3 feet deep and 3 feet wide. It was just deep enough to provide shade and cover and you could not see them from anywhere.

 

[UTodd]

Crafty, crafty, crafty. These stories are cool. Blazingsaddle- I can't believe that muley jumped from his trail. That is very clever.

Eelgrass- we'll just call that the 3,000 fps deer drive.

mod700- your badger story is very similar to one that happened to me. I have told it to my hunting buddies many times. I was 17 and hunting down near Ferron Reservoir with a big group. We hunted using deer drives with 8-10 guys pushing and 8-10 guys on point. You would see all kinds of animals come through the drive and never really knew what would come running down the trail towards you. It was my turn to be on point and I was starting to see animals coming through. First a doe and fawn came through on a trail below me. Then I could hear something coming on the trail I was on. I looked to where the sound was coming- just in time to see a big ol badger rumbling down the trail. He was coming fast with his head down. I was trying to get his attention at the same time that I noticed that I had chosen to stand behind his HOLE. He wasn't gonna stop till he hit the hole. I drew my bow in self defense. He caught my motion and instead of retreating, he showed me his teeth and let out a mini grizzly growl and that was enough for me. I let the arrow go and it went completely through him. The arrow seemed to make him mad and he growled more and came running towards me and died about 3 steps from me. One of the wildest half minutes I have ever experienced in the woods.

Dub- get to work on a moving 'pied piper' coyote decoy.

ICMDEER- 75 yards and not one of the three bucks were killed? That reminds me of another story that I am too embarrassed to tell.

 

[Roy]

Up in the high Uinta mountains one summer I watched a buck bed in the middle of a cobble rock finger at about 12K feet between two huge boulders. His escape route was about 20 yards up the rocks and then straight across a shale dugway on about a 70 degree slope that a human couldn't cross on foot and then over the top of the peak down into some heavy thick black timber on the other side. He would actually cross from the south slope to the north slope daily. You would have had to rock hop to get to him as the holes between the rocks were at least 12 feet deep in places. No way you could have got within 200 yards of him without him knowing it. We first noticed him feeding at the edge of the tree line in some tall grass. We thought he would head for the timber but instead hit the rocks. I had never seen an animal so agile in rocks that dangerous. He just floated over them, got between the two boulders and disappeared. Another day we walked over to his hole and could see that he had a great view of the whole valley below him and was pretty much undetected. My buddy tried to follow his escape route but nearly ending up sliding about 700 feet down the shale dugway. We saw him another day go over the top to the other side and couldn't believe he was up there. He wasn't a huge buck but man was he smart!


UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

 

[RACKMASTER]

I saw a doe and 2 fawns bedded in obcideon(sp?..black glass!) for last 2 years ..she must have been going there for years..if you fell down in that stuff you will be bleeding....
I have a picture of a nice 3x4 laying next to a sigh that was across the road that says no shooting beyond this sign ..(under that it said )............
"Long Bell State Game Refuge!" I even got the warden's truck in back ground up on the hill.. (buck was on other side)deer season was open! If I can find I'll post!
rm

 

[Roy]

I have seen that too! I once saw a huge 6X5 bull elk walk right up to a "No Hunting / No Trespassing" sign on a phosphate mining operation that had an armed security guard patrolling the fence. We were bugling like crazy trying to get him to jump the fence, he bugled back, raked his antlers on the sign on the fence then turned and walked away. Ignorant thing to rub it in our faces like that!

BTW Rack - it is spelled O-B-S-I-D-I-A-N.


UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

 

[UTodd]

The biggest deer I have ever seen in person was 20 yards on the other side of the fence inside Bryce Canyon NP. We first spotted him about 300 yards on the public side and he made quick work of those 300 yards. As soon as he got across that fence he was a different deer. He became real photogenic and stood there looking at us long enough that we studied every square inch of his rack. He was killed later that year when he crossed to the Pauns and was 203".

 

[supersider34]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-12-08 AT 03:25PM (MST)[p]This is one of many wild things that have happened.

Years ago we used to get many stalks in a day and see numerous bucks. Well the one I ended up killing the next year I saw running a fence line with his nose to the ground. He was hard core on a scent trail and they where rutting hard that year. I bee lined it down past this buck and got around him. Got out of truck sprayed some (doe in heat) I bought from walmart all over my feet.I then grabbed bow and took off on a run to get in front of him. I see him coming down the fence line. He came over the hill where I did not think he would. But I moved a little to get behind a bush. He stopped and started raking a bush. I wanted to move a little more and I looked down to see where I could put my hand down to help me move and out of the corner of my eye I caught movement and it startled me and I spun my head and not 10' behind me was a 3x3 with his nose to the ground where I walked and His head came up and he ran towards the bigger buck. Bigger buck ran him off to the south. I realized then that the 3x3 cut my track and smelled the doe in heat. If I would not have cut his movement he probably would of had his way with me. So needless to say I never put that spray on again.

Crazy times.

I have alot of these type stories.

 

[NDBadlandsbucks]

Sorry, not a story about a mule deer, but my craziest story to date nonetheless.

About ten years ago or so i waswith my bro. in law at his uncle's farm/ranch in east central ND - "prairie pothole region". They have tons of whitetails and lots of cattail swamps to try to flush them out of. We had just finished a couple mile walk through a big pasture and were heading to town for luch. We were driving along an old road where there were a bunch of little potholes with cattails in them right alongside the road. The bro in lae starts fooling around and honking the horn in his pickup as we drive by them. All the sudden he says "there was a deer in that one - I saw it move when I honked" I didn't see anything but we jumped out and ran over there, there was lots of snow on the ground and I found a good trail to get me into the cover to chase the deer out. The buck that was laying in there htought it was a good way to get out of the cover as well. He starts running straight at me - and me without a buck tag. The buck finally takes a detour out the other side, and my bro in law got him. Its not very often that you have a buck on a dead run coming straight at you about forty feet away.

Keep the Sun at Your Back and the Wind in Your Face

 

[chewyman55]

I was chasing Turkeys near Gillette Wyoming and put a stalk on some feeding near a dry creek bed. I went sneaking up the creek bed, and slowly popped my head up to see where I was in relation to the turkeys. I chose the right spot to come out and was right on them. Maybe 15 yds away. The problem was that a bobcat had beat me to the punch. I was so interested in seeing what he was going to do that I didn't even shoot at the birds. We both walked away empty handed but, it was very much worth it.

 

[fatrooster]

Last year during archery season my hunting buddy and me found a nice 170's class buck in a drainage bordered by mahogany trees running parallel with the drainage. The buck would feed in the manzanita in the drainage and bed in the mahoganies. Well I stalked him during archery season with another friend who had an archery tag but the wind blew to this buck no matter what direction we came from. The mahoganies sat on a little ridge with wind blowing from the next drainage to his back and wind blowing from our drainage to his face. There was just no way to approach him without the wind giving you away which it did.
Next month we went after him for my buddy had a muzzleloader tag but the same thing happened. The wind gave us away and this time the buck dissappeared for a week or two.
Rifle season rolls around and another friend with a rifle tag agrees to go with me and get my camp out of the woods and do some hunting at the same time. At this point my friend with the tag was ready to take a forky for it was late in the rifle season. So on the way to camp we look into this bucks drainage and there he was sleeping in the middle of the manzanita in the open with his antlers laying on the ground. It was a cold morning and the buck was warming in the sun. And this time the wind was not blowing straight to the buck but straight down the canyon from our left to our right which gave us the oppurtunity to sneak within 217 yards. My buddy shot the dirt next to him and the buck stood up looking down hill and was broadside to us and the next shot was history. The buck ran 20 yards and fell in the manzanita. Believe it or not it took us an hour to find him and I could only find him after I climbed up on a rock outcropping and looked down on him. He proved to be elusive even in death. It took us three different seasons to put him down. What a great buck and a pleasure to be outsmarted by him several times. fatrooster.

 

[mossback1313]

Hey fatrooster do u have any pics of that buck, I'd like to see him..