Had a great day hunting today.
It didn't start out too good though, woke up to thick ice fog. I took this week off of work and was a bit pissed, but I decided to still go out. Most of the morning, I could only see about 100 yards or so. There are lots of Mulies and Whitetails on the property I hunt and I don't have any Mule deer tags. Didn't want to make any bad mistakes and headed back home for a few hours.
Went out again when the fog lifted, this time with one of my sons. Got into one area that I almost always see something interesting and this day was no exception. While my son and I were glassing an area, two small mule deer bucks came up behind us. My son was the first to see them (I'm so proud!) and we watched them get to about 20 yards of us. Then they put on a show by having a little sparing match. My son loved it.
Here is a picture of the two bucks, not a good one, it was taken with my Blackberry. Behind us would be where we were glassing, a large, deep draw that leads to a larger coulee.
Just after that, we jumped two mulie does and a coyote. We then headed back home for lunch.
I had been out to this property 3 previous times without seeing a Whitetail. I decided to change tactics and try rattling and maybe some calling. I had bought a Primos buck/doe deer bleat this year and decided to try that too. Part of me thought it might be a bit early, but you never know.
When out again to the property and headed to my favorite spot, but there were 2 trucks there already. I talked to one of the groups to see what they were up to and as fate would have it, they were just about to walk into the same area that I was planning on. Oh well, I said good luck and headed off.
There is a small field/draw area that was beside the first wooded area where the other hunters were in and you could see the back part of the wooded hill. I normally don't go to this spot as I have never seen anything in there. Figured what the heck, my first choice is gone and maybe those other guys might push something out.
I got settled in a nice spot right in the trees and behind a large bolder and waited. I heard some rather aggressive rattling going on in the wooded area and thought that these guys were doing the same as me. I put the rattling horns away as I didn't want too much action going on. I pulled out the new deer bleat and started with the doe bleat. About 10 minutes later, I heard something behind me in some other bush. I had called in 3 mulies, a small buck and two does. Might not have been what I was looking for, but I was pretty happy that the call worked!
I was starting to get the "it's not my night" feeling when it hit sundown. 30 mins left! I blew the call again, first as a doe in estrus and then as a mature buck. 15 min later, I saw movement in woods on the other side of the draw and I knew immediately that it was a big buck. The only problem was that it was about 250 yards away, it was moving parallel to me, it was getting dark, and I couldn't tell what type of buck it was. I lost sight of him for a few minutes. Then I saw him again, heading right up the hill towards me! He got to within 40 yards and stopped. I hit him in the front shoulder with a 160 gr Accubond from my 7mmRM Howa. He turned and ran, but went down within 50 yards.
AWESOME DAY, AWESOME BUCK! Here are some pics, cause I really hate reading these stories without some kind of payoff at the end!! hahahaha.
It didn't start out too good though, woke up to thick ice fog. I took this week off of work and was a bit pissed, but I decided to still go out. Most of the morning, I could only see about 100 yards or so. There are lots of Mulies and Whitetails on the property I hunt and I don't have any Mule deer tags. Didn't want to make any bad mistakes and headed back home for a few hours.
Went out again when the fog lifted, this time with one of my sons. Got into one area that I almost always see something interesting and this day was no exception. While my son and I were glassing an area, two small mule deer bucks came up behind us. My son was the first to see them (I'm so proud!) and we watched them get to about 20 yards of us. Then they put on a show by having a little sparing match. My son loved it.
Here is a picture of the two bucks, not a good one, it was taken with my Blackberry. Behind us would be where we were glassing, a large, deep draw that leads to a larger coulee.
Just after that, we jumped two mulie does and a coyote. We then headed back home for lunch.
I had been out to this property 3 previous times without seeing a Whitetail. I decided to change tactics and try rattling and maybe some calling. I had bought a Primos buck/doe deer bleat this year and decided to try that too. Part of me thought it might be a bit early, but you never know.
When out again to the property and headed to my favorite spot, but there were 2 trucks there already. I talked to one of the groups to see what they were up to and as fate would have it, they were just about to walk into the same area that I was planning on. Oh well, I said good luck and headed off.
There is a small field/draw area that was beside the first wooded area where the other hunters were in and you could see the back part of the wooded hill. I normally don't go to this spot as I have never seen anything in there. Figured what the heck, my first choice is gone and maybe those other guys might push something out.
I got settled in a nice spot right in the trees and behind a large bolder and waited. I heard some rather aggressive rattling going on in the wooded area and thought that these guys were doing the same as me. I put the rattling horns away as I didn't want too much action going on. I pulled out the new deer bleat and started with the doe bleat. About 10 minutes later, I heard something behind me in some other bush. I had called in 3 mulies, a small buck and two does. Might not have been what I was looking for, but I was pretty happy that the call worked!
I was starting to get the "it's not my night" feeling when it hit sundown. 30 mins left! I blew the call again, first as a doe in estrus and then as a mature buck. 15 min later, I saw movement in woods on the other side of the draw and I knew immediately that it was a big buck. The only problem was that it was about 250 yards away, it was moving parallel to me, it was getting dark, and I couldn't tell what type of buck it was. I lost sight of him for a few minutes. Then I saw him again, heading right up the hill towards me! He got to within 40 yards and stopped. I hit him in the front shoulder with a 160 gr Accubond from my 7mmRM Howa. He turned and ran, but went down within 50 yards.
AWESOME DAY, AWESOME BUCK! Here are some pics, cause I really hate reading these stories without some kind of payoff at the end!! hahahaha.
