Pudelpointer
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Lethbridge, Alberta
So this story actually begins a couple years ago when my friend Aaron found a great piece of Mule deer country. The first year we only went scouting as rifle season was already open. MD are on draw in the area, but you can hunt with a bow for all of Sept. and Oct.
Year two I managed to get within 35 yards of a 170 class buck twice on opening morning of archery season, but got busted both times before I could draw. On the last day of archery, I had a 'chip shot' on a 190 who was watching Aaron, who was doing a good job of distracting the buck by popping in and out of sight about 400 yards away. At 40 yards I went to full draw, and then made the mistake of looking at his antlers. Holy crap, what a buck. Shake, shake, shake,,,,,,,. Decided 30 yards might be better. While ranging him with my rangefinder, at exactly 30 yards I suddenly found myself face to face. As far as I can tell the wind must have swirled. End of season two.
This year I only had time to go out scouting once in August and we saw a few decent bucks, but all were in velvet and hard to judge. September found me elk hunting with a couple friends from the coast, and then work, and life, etc.
Saturday (Oct 17th) was the first day I could get out there, and it was the last day Aaron would be able to go. We left my place at 5am, and made the long drive to our spot. There are a bunch of oilfield roads in the area, and following a new route that Aaron guaranteed would be shorter we managed to get turned around. So we stopped and caught some shut eye until it got light enough to find the trail we needed.
We spotted deer out feeding and moving towards the coulee as soon as the sun popped up. The day was windy with some scattered clouds, but was a magnificent day to be out hunting Mule deer.
Aaron decided he wanted to work the river edge for a couple of km, and I decided to drive the truck up the road and then hike a couple more to the river and work back towards him. I bumped a few more deer heading for the coulee and river, including a couple of smaller bucks.
When I reached the river I slowly worked my way along, glassing the coulee terrain, and using the spotting scope to evaluate deer down along the river edge. About 5 km away (in the opposite direction) I could see a decent buck with about 15 does and fawns. A while later I could see a small buck and a doe feed into range and then bed down. I was working along the top of the coulee edge, and dropped down a 100 feet or so to keep from getting silhouetted.
I could see Aaron up on top of the river bank half running across the field, so I turned my radio on to see what was going on. He answered saying he could see a group of decent bucks heading my way. I knew where the trails were on the slope, and quickly spotted a couple medium sized bucks with 5 does running below me, away from Aaron's direction. Once they were out of sight I closed the distance between myself and the trail I figured the bucks Aaron saw would travel on. I had dropped about 250 feet down towards the river when I spotted the group of bucks round a ridge a couple hundred yards to the south.
I sat above the trail I thought they were on for about 10 minutes, until I got impatient and decided to sneak a look around. I quickly spotted a big 3 point up on the valley top edge, looking back towards where Aaron was. One buck quickly became 2, then 5, then 6 and a couple does. After 10 minutes of staring south, the younger bucks started feeding and pushing each other around, and soon they were all bedded down on a wide open slope. One buck was a nice 4x4 with decent brows and stickers on each side and a neat drop tine from near his right antler base. He was not an old deer, but would score high and was more then big enough for me.
I got Aaron on the radio and told him to work up and around the big draw that the deer were at the base of. If I bumped them they may run up past him. I was going to try and come up from below them (because now I was 150 feet down hill) and get a shot at the drop tines buck. I told Aaron I would give him 45 minutes to get in position and then shut off my radio. One minute later I spot two more bucks, very nice bucks, farther to the north. They were part of the original group Aaron had spotted, but were out of sight while we had watched them. I knew exactly which bucks I was going after now.
I gave Aaron 45 minutes, eating my lunch and drinking some water; the sun was out for a bit, and it is really dry in that landscape. I got ready to make my move. I popped my head up slowly to see where the big guys were bedded / feeding, and saw something that had me concerned. The big old three point up on the hill was back on his feet and staring intently to the south. I figured he must be able to smell Aaron and was sure the deer would bail at any second.
I moved north out of sight and scent and ran up that hill as fast as I could. The ground was somewhat muddy in spots due to the snow last week and the warm temperatures of that day. I came up the back of a little ridge and was 35 yards from a trail that crossed a little bench I was on, and had a small rock outcrop for cover (a very rare thing in that country).
I took off my pack and knocked an arrow. The last time I had seen the two big bucks they were directly below where I now was. I crawled up to the edge of the draw looking for them, but instead saw a couple of the small bucks running into the bottom of the next draw to the south. Damn.
I still could not see much of the draw below me, and stood up slowly to get a better view. ANTLERS! Right below me. BIG ANTLERS! I quickly dove my face into the dirt.
Catching my composure, I fished out my range finder and ranged where I thought he might cross below me; 35 yards. I hooked my release on the string and sat up on my knees. There he was, but he walked a bit downhill and passed out of sight. Crap. I ranged the next bench he might step out on - 56 yards, way too far. So I decided to close the distance.
The ground below me was bare soil, no grass or anything, and was very soft. I went about 15 yards, and was watching the break very carefully knowing that I would see his antlers a couple of steps before he could see me. A few more steps and his antler tips came into view. I crouched down further and duck walked a couple of steps. Then I caught movement across the gully, and saw Aaron's head an shoulders skylined, and drop out of sight at about 150 yards. Yikes! I thought for sure that buck would run at any second so I drew and stood up. Crap, I was not close enough to get a shot into his chest, all I could see was his back; however, he did not see me because he was intently focused on where Aaron was popping up and down like a gopher on crystal meth!
I let the string down, dropped out of sight, and duck walked another 5 steps closer. I saw Aaron pop up into sight again, so I came to full draw with my bow sideways to the ground, then slowly stood up. I placed the 20 yard pin midway down his chest and released as the second buck, which was off to the right and I had not seen, turned to look at me. I watched the fletching disappear into his side, and could see the arrow continue on down the hill. That was the first time have ever had a complete pass through. The shot was 15 yards. The buck took off down the ravine, running about 150 yards (+- 10 seconds) before piling up.
I dropped my bow to the ground, threw mind hands in the air and let out a holler. Then I doubled up and fell over in the worst pain I have ever felt! I had a cramp in my rib cage that had me writhing and damn near crying while I simultaneously whooped and laughed at my good fortune. Aaron thought I was just REALLY happy. The pain passed after a couple minutes. Then I hiked back up the hill to get my pack, gathered my stuff and headed down to claim my buck. I looked at a couple of his tracks where he bounded down the hill; at one point he jumped almost 15 yards in one bound. Amazing.
Here he is -
He has 7 points on his left side and 5 on his right, including his brow tines. I have not green scored him yet, but will post it when I do.
I shot him at 12:00 and we had him field butchered and packed UP to the truck by 3:00pm. I carried the first load with all the loose meat, like loins, backstraps, neck meat, liver and heart, and antlers of course in my day pack while Aaron got the truck and brought it to a well site that was a lot closer.
Then we went down and carried out the shoulders and legs.
Turns out Aaron had bumped a decent buck and had followed it down the draw to where I was watching the bucks. That is what had the old 3 point up and ready to go. We have affectionately labeled this hunting technique the "distraction jack-in-the-box" method for Mule deer. The first time we tried it we had planned it, the second time Aaron just knew that it would probably work.
And it did.
Year two I managed to get within 35 yards of a 170 class buck twice on opening morning of archery season, but got busted both times before I could draw. On the last day of archery, I had a 'chip shot' on a 190 who was watching Aaron, who was doing a good job of distracting the buck by popping in and out of sight about 400 yards away. At 40 yards I went to full draw, and then made the mistake of looking at his antlers. Holy crap, what a buck. Shake, shake, shake,,,,,,,. Decided 30 yards might be better. While ranging him with my rangefinder, at exactly 30 yards I suddenly found myself face to face. As far as I can tell the wind must have swirled. End of season two.
This year I only had time to go out scouting once in August and we saw a few decent bucks, but all were in velvet and hard to judge. September found me elk hunting with a couple friends from the coast, and then work, and life, etc.
Saturday (Oct 17th) was the first day I could get out there, and it was the last day Aaron would be able to go. We left my place at 5am, and made the long drive to our spot. There are a bunch of oilfield roads in the area, and following a new route that Aaron guaranteed would be shorter we managed to get turned around. So we stopped and caught some shut eye until it got light enough to find the trail we needed.
We spotted deer out feeding and moving towards the coulee as soon as the sun popped up. The day was windy with some scattered clouds, but was a magnificent day to be out hunting Mule deer.
Aaron decided he wanted to work the river edge for a couple of km, and I decided to drive the truck up the road and then hike a couple more to the river and work back towards him. I bumped a few more deer heading for the coulee and river, including a couple of smaller bucks.
When I reached the river I slowly worked my way along, glassing the coulee terrain, and using the spotting scope to evaluate deer down along the river edge. About 5 km away (in the opposite direction) I could see a decent buck with about 15 does and fawns. A while later I could see a small buck and a doe feed into range and then bed down. I was working along the top of the coulee edge, and dropped down a 100 feet or so to keep from getting silhouetted.
I could see Aaron up on top of the river bank half running across the field, so I turned my radio on to see what was going on. He answered saying he could see a group of decent bucks heading my way. I knew where the trails were on the slope, and quickly spotted a couple medium sized bucks with 5 does running below me, away from Aaron's direction. Once they were out of sight I closed the distance between myself and the trail I figured the bucks Aaron saw would travel on. I had dropped about 250 feet down towards the river when I spotted the group of bucks round a ridge a couple hundred yards to the south.
I sat above the trail I thought they were on for about 10 minutes, until I got impatient and decided to sneak a look around. I quickly spotted a big 3 point up on the valley top edge, looking back towards where Aaron was. One buck quickly became 2, then 5, then 6 and a couple does. After 10 minutes of staring south, the younger bucks started feeding and pushing each other around, and soon they were all bedded down on a wide open slope. One buck was a nice 4x4 with decent brows and stickers on each side and a neat drop tine from near his right antler base. He was not an old deer, but would score high and was more then big enough for me.
I got Aaron on the radio and told him to work up and around the big draw that the deer were at the base of. If I bumped them they may run up past him. I was going to try and come up from below them (because now I was 150 feet down hill) and get a shot at the drop tines buck. I told Aaron I would give him 45 minutes to get in position and then shut off my radio. One minute later I spot two more bucks, very nice bucks, farther to the north. They were part of the original group Aaron had spotted, but were out of sight while we had watched them. I knew exactly which bucks I was going after now.
I gave Aaron 45 minutes, eating my lunch and drinking some water; the sun was out for a bit, and it is really dry in that landscape. I got ready to make my move. I popped my head up slowly to see where the big guys were bedded / feeding, and saw something that had me concerned. The big old three point up on the hill was back on his feet and staring intently to the south. I figured he must be able to smell Aaron and was sure the deer would bail at any second.
I moved north out of sight and scent and ran up that hill as fast as I could. The ground was somewhat muddy in spots due to the snow last week and the warm temperatures of that day. I came up the back of a little ridge and was 35 yards from a trail that crossed a little bench I was on, and had a small rock outcrop for cover (a very rare thing in that country).
I took off my pack and knocked an arrow. The last time I had seen the two big bucks they were directly below where I now was. I crawled up to the edge of the draw looking for them, but instead saw a couple of the small bucks running into the bottom of the next draw to the south. Damn.
I still could not see much of the draw below me, and stood up slowly to get a better view. ANTLERS! Right below me. BIG ANTLERS! I quickly dove my face into the dirt.
Catching my composure, I fished out my range finder and ranged where I thought he might cross below me; 35 yards. I hooked my release on the string and sat up on my knees. There he was, but he walked a bit downhill and passed out of sight. Crap. I ranged the next bench he might step out on - 56 yards, way too far. So I decided to close the distance.
The ground below me was bare soil, no grass or anything, and was very soft. I went about 15 yards, and was watching the break very carefully knowing that I would see his antlers a couple of steps before he could see me. A few more steps and his antler tips came into view. I crouched down further and duck walked a couple of steps. Then I caught movement across the gully, and saw Aaron's head an shoulders skylined, and drop out of sight at about 150 yards. Yikes! I thought for sure that buck would run at any second so I drew and stood up. Crap, I was not close enough to get a shot into his chest, all I could see was his back; however, he did not see me because he was intently focused on where Aaron was popping up and down like a gopher on crystal meth!
I let the string down, dropped out of sight, and duck walked another 5 steps closer. I saw Aaron pop up into sight again, so I came to full draw with my bow sideways to the ground, then slowly stood up. I placed the 20 yard pin midway down his chest and released as the second buck, which was off to the right and I had not seen, turned to look at me. I watched the fletching disappear into his side, and could see the arrow continue on down the hill. That was the first time have ever had a complete pass through. The shot was 15 yards. The buck took off down the ravine, running about 150 yards (+- 10 seconds) before piling up.
I dropped my bow to the ground, threw mind hands in the air and let out a holler. Then I doubled up and fell over in the worst pain I have ever felt! I had a cramp in my rib cage that had me writhing and damn near crying while I simultaneously whooped and laughed at my good fortune. Aaron thought I was just REALLY happy. The pain passed after a couple minutes. Then I hiked back up the hill to get my pack, gathered my stuff and headed down to claim my buck. I looked at a couple of his tracks where he bounded down the hill; at one point he jumped almost 15 yards in one bound. Amazing.
Here he is -
He has 7 points on his left side and 5 on his right, including his brow tines. I have not green scored him yet, but will post it when I do.
I shot him at 12:00 and we had him field butchered and packed UP to the truck by 3:00pm. I carried the first load with all the loose meat, like loins, backstraps, neck meat, liver and heart, and antlers of course in my day pack while Aaron got the truck and brought it to a well site that was a lot closer.
Then we went down and carried out the shoulders and legs.
Turns out Aaron had bumped a decent buck and had followed it down the draw to where I was watching the bucks. That is what had the old 3 point up and ready to go. We have affectionately labeled this hunting technique the "distraction jack-in-the-box" method for Mule deer. The first time we tried it we had planned it, the second time Aaron just knew that it would probably work.
And it did.
Last edited:
