Well, after 4 seperate trips and more miles hiked than i care to tally up, i finally bagged my east central alberta mulie with only a day to spare. Best i could do for a photo, as i was hunting alone and had to improvise with a downed tree for a tripod.
OK, here's the story. This hunt started for me last season when my buddy pulled a 181" mulie out of this zone, i wanted a big boy too! I made my first trip out some time in early bow season and did some scouting, a scouting trip that last year, produces 27 bucks, with the majority of them being respectable. This year was different, the only decent buck spotted was 800 yds away in some canola and we never got a real good look at him, we just knew he had some decent bone to him.
The second trip up happened on the second weekend of the season. I walked the coulee for 2 days straight and got very little rest in a fleabag hotel in between. I was spotting lots of deer, but the biggest was a small 4x4, and one that had good width, but only to one side, as he was missing his antler on the other. I chalked it up as a scouting trip and decided i would come back on the second last or last weekend of the season.
Then, last weekend, i went out that way again, but with whitetail on the mind as well, as i had my wife and a buddy's kid along who were alo holding whitetail tags. I left my "honey hole" from weekends previous alone as i wasn't sure the stealth required to get in there was going to be possible with 2 rookie hunters in tow. We managed a pair of whitetails, that story is on the board somewhere, and then cut it short, opting to hunt only the Saturday.
I made the decision shortly after getting home last weekend that i would have to get out one more time. I told my wife that if i didnt, i would be ****ed with myself for the next 11 months.
I braved frozen roads, again, and made it to my destination slightly after daybreak. The morning hunt put me within 20 yards of a young whitetail buck, and a couple mulie does kept ahead of me by a draw or so for a while, but nothing with bone. I would have a quick solitary lunch and head to another spot i had in my pocket, the honey hole.
After scouting this spot, i knew of a patch of trees that has held deer every time ive hunted it, so i went there. The only place i could park my truck was directly up wind, which gave me a headache. I doused myself in scent eliminator and began to walk slowly to where i thought they were. I closed the distance to 500 yards on the patch of trees and noticed 3 deer exiting it for the lip of the coulee. I didnt see much before they dropped over the lip, but i knew there was a shooter in there. I knew where they were headed, so i dropped my pack and initiated a stalk that got me to the lip of the coulee, undetected. I checked the herd, which had been joined by a few others and spotted a nice, wide 4x4 that would do just perfect, all things considered. I set the 280 up on the bipod, and waited for a shot to be presented. It didnt take long, from a sitting postion, i delivered a single 140 gr fail safe to the lungs at a hair under 300 yds. The trusty 280 did it again.
Feels good to earn a deer like this, i am a happy guy. I just may have to load Sugar Creek (taxidermist, nice work!!) up with a bit more work yet this season, lol
OK, here's the story. This hunt started for me last season when my buddy pulled a 181" mulie out of this zone, i wanted a big boy too! I made my first trip out some time in early bow season and did some scouting, a scouting trip that last year, produces 27 bucks, with the majority of them being respectable. This year was different, the only decent buck spotted was 800 yds away in some canola and we never got a real good look at him, we just knew he had some decent bone to him.
The second trip up happened on the second weekend of the season. I walked the coulee for 2 days straight and got very little rest in a fleabag hotel in between. I was spotting lots of deer, but the biggest was a small 4x4, and one that had good width, but only to one side, as he was missing his antler on the other. I chalked it up as a scouting trip and decided i would come back on the second last or last weekend of the season.
Then, last weekend, i went out that way again, but with whitetail on the mind as well, as i had my wife and a buddy's kid along who were alo holding whitetail tags. I left my "honey hole" from weekends previous alone as i wasn't sure the stealth required to get in there was going to be possible with 2 rookie hunters in tow. We managed a pair of whitetails, that story is on the board somewhere, and then cut it short, opting to hunt only the Saturday.
I made the decision shortly after getting home last weekend that i would have to get out one more time. I told my wife that if i didnt, i would be ****ed with myself for the next 11 months.
I braved frozen roads, again, and made it to my destination slightly after daybreak. The morning hunt put me within 20 yards of a young whitetail buck, and a couple mulie does kept ahead of me by a draw or so for a while, but nothing with bone. I would have a quick solitary lunch and head to another spot i had in my pocket, the honey hole.
After scouting this spot, i knew of a patch of trees that has held deer every time ive hunted it, so i went there. The only place i could park my truck was directly up wind, which gave me a headache. I doused myself in scent eliminator and began to walk slowly to where i thought they were. I closed the distance to 500 yards on the patch of trees and noticed 3 deer exiting it for the lip of the coulee. I didnt see much before they dropped over the lip, but i knew there was a shooter in there. I knew where they were headed, so i dropped my pack and initiated a stalk that got me to the lip of the coulee, undetected. I checked the herd, which had been joined by a few others and spotted a nice, wide 4x4 that would do just perfect, all things considered. I set the 280 up on the bipod, and waited for a shot to be presented. It didnt take long, from a sitting postion, i delivered a single 140 gr fail safe to the lungs at a hair under 300 yds. The trusty 280 did it again.
Feels good to earn a deer like this, i am a happy guy. I just may have to load Sugar Creek (taxidermist, nice work!!) up with a bit more work yet this season, lol
