Well Hell, can someone kick my butt please?

pharaoh2

pharaoh2

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The place that makes Liberals cry.
I just got in. I'm tired, wet and cold. I hiked for miles this Morning through some of the nastiest crap in these parts. I climbed the highest hill at first light and found a herd of about a dozen mulies. One big buck, two small bucks and a bunch of does. I have two mulie doe tags, one whitetail doe and one whitetail buck. I closed the distance some and watched these two small bucks sparing with each other at 200 yards. Three does hoped the fence over to the side I had access to, and started towards me, but they were still about 400 yards off. The two bucks started towards them and fell behind a rise. I started towards them to close the gap, but got pinned down by another who spotted me. After she moved off, I started again but the deer either spotted my, winded me or somthing because all but two took off over the fence again and bounded over the hills. I closed in again on the other two, but saw they were the small bucks. Just for fun I wanted to see how close I could get, but not close enough was the answer. They too spotted me and took off.

I decided to take a little break and went back to the car, then to the farm yard to talk to the farmer. He told me I could walk the coulee's behind his yard up to his property line 2 miles North. I accepted and started through the nasty stuff. I picked up some good tracks in the snow and started after them. I was trying to be quiet, but my Sorel boots are nylon and the brush wouldn't let me be silent. But to my surprise, after about a mile and a half of tracking, I looked up and standing fifty yards away, facing me head on was a mulie! I brought the thirty-thirty up, cocked the hammer and settled the sights on it's heart. Usually I'm not comfortable with head on shots, but at this range I felt confident in taking it. But at the very last moment, the sun came out, the snow got brighter, and so did it's antlers, or what I thought were antlers. I let go of the trigger and hesitated. From where I was standing, it appeared to have two small spikes. I slowly went for my bino's, but in that moment, it turned and I saw it was a doe. It was just the brush and tree's right behind it that gave the illusion of antlers. It dropped right there down a bit of a hill and disappeared. I took off after it, but my footing wasn't too good so I couldn't move too quick. Then I saw three more bounding over another rise and I kept on them, kicking myself for not paying better attention when I had my chance. When I caught up to them, they were just hopping the other fence and I knew I blew it, again. It's been a long time since I had to walk back alone with nothing better to do than think about my mistakes. I'll be back tommorow, and hopefully the hunting god's will smile upon me then.

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No need for a butt kicking....you did the ethical thing. Sounds like a great day overall and there are plenty more left!
 
Those white-lined ears on mulie does have fooled more than a few hunters. Good on you to let her walk rather than confirm ### after the shot.
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I'd prefer the hunting conditions you have.;)

All we have here right now is sunny and 17 celcius. Hunting in shorts and a T-shirt...:rolleyes:
 
I had the same situation when I first started deer hunting down here I glassed and glassed for several minutes this one mulie doe at the edge of some willows before shooting her. Turns out she had spikes hidden by those ears. I didn't have a buck tag. I was sick to my stomach.

I called myself in and Stan Hawes out of Cochrane came out and we gutted it and put it in the back of his truck. He told me that he could understand how I would have missed the horns and that even though he had to fine me, it was a minor charge that would not affect my license in the future and would still let me keep my antlerless tag, which he encouraged me to fill. On the way out, he even talked to the land owner and told him that I was EXACTLY the type of hunter a landowner should want hunting his property.

I still wish I had waited a few more minutes before shooting, but there was no evidence of horns on that one until I walked up to it. I'm glad you held off so you could be sure.
 
sjemac said:
I had the same situation when I first started deer hunting down here I glassed and glassed for several minutes this one mulie doe at the edge of some willows before shooting her. Turns out she had spikes hidden by those ears. I didn't have a buck tag. I was sick to my stomach.

I called myself in and Stan Hawes out of Cochrane came out and we gutted it and put it in the back of his truck. He told me that he could understand how I would have missed the horns and that even though he had to fine me, it was a minor charge that would not affect my license in the future and would still let me keep my antlerless tag, which he encouraged me to fill. On the way out, he even talked to the land owner and told him that I was EXACTLY the type of hunter a landowner should want hunting his property.

I still wish I had waited a few more minutes before shooting, but there was no evidence of horns on that one until I walked up to it. I'm glad you held off so you could be sure.
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That is a tough one. In Manitoba they give you 4" of antlers and still consider the animal antlerless. Gives you a bit of a safety margin in case your deer ends up having little nubs when you walk up to it.
 
You're complaining that you went hunting? Why I ought to...

I stalked a herd of Elk knowing there were some spikers in with the cows. I damn near got hypothermia glassing them, trying to confirm if one of them was a legal 3 pointer. I passed and the next day another hunter shot him. He was legal but just. I like hunting too much to risk that kind of mistake.
 
Harold Manback said:
That is a tough one. In Manitoba they give you 4" of antlers and still consider the animal antlerless. Gives you a bit of a safety margin in case your deer ends up having little nubs when you walk up to it.
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We get 4" too. But the way this one was holding it's ears, the sticks weren't apparent to me. The mess of willow behind probably helped obscure them. I learned though and now look extra long and hard

I had watched three does move into a thicket and watched two does come out. The third stopped at the edge and watched the other two move into the next thicket. After watching and "confirming" :rolleyes: that it was a "doe" I took the shot. The original three does then ran out of the out of the thicket.

Hard lesson and it cost me $150 but I feel good about my actions after, learned from the experience and Stan had already lined up a needy family in Cochrane that the meat was to be donated to.
 
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