The last few years I've gone hunting, I've bagged a deer. Last year, myself and a friend managed to get a buck and his girlfriend at the same time.
Well, this year was different.
My friend Scott and I, have access to a section in 314. We hunted there a few years ago and saw nothing but Mule deer. Figured we'd give it a try this year as Scott had an antlerless Mule tag.
Arrived at 7 am and saw we were the second truck to have permission. Damn. They were hunting the far back side, so we figured we'd stay to the front, and avoid any problems. Heard some elk bugling from the group that was in the area. First time hearing bugling. Very cool. Spent the morning familiarizing ourselves with the area as we hadn't been there in a while. Did a little push in the afternoon and saw a nice little Whitetail buck with his doe. Didn't get a shot down the cutline as I was felling the effects of 4 hrs. sleep and totally unprepared for them. Hurried down to the next cutline to see if they would cross onto the next property and was trying to watch three directions at once, and turned to see them hop the fence, into the thick stuff. Didn't learn and kept trying to keep an eye on everything and missed a very nice WT buck as he crossed the same cutline and over the fence. That ended the day.
Sunday had us arrive to see two trucks at the entrance. Great. Same guys from yesterday and some guys the same age as us. We said we'd stay to the front, a the day before. That's where we saw everything anyway.
I set up on a cutline that followed the powerline running through the property, with my friend Scott about 100 ft. behind me watching the east/west intersection.
I ranged various poles along the cutline to get an idea of how far I would be shooting, and started to wait. About 35-45 min. a big wt doe steps out at 140 yds. Easy shot for the 7mm Weatherby as I was prone, with the rifle on my hunting bag. She ran to the west, into the bush. Scott walks over, asks if I hit it. I gave him the look. We wait for a bit, just getting ready to go track he down, and her friend walks out at the same spot. Lucky us. Scott fires on from his 7mm Alpine Supreme, and she takes off into the woods, around the same spot as the first. We stand up to start tracking, and we see another deer cross the cutline to the east side. Get to the point of impact and there are two splatters so close together, we think they're from the same deer. 15min later, we realize the one that crossed was the one Scott hit, we find her 40 yds from the cutline. Very nice double lung shot, just behind the shoulder. Drag it to the cutline and tag it.
Then we hear 6 shots in rapid succession. Who shoots six times?
Then we head back and start looking for mine. Scott found her about 30yds from the cutline, halfway back towards towards our shooting position. Almost the exact same POI. Cool.
We put them both in the truck and took them to a different clearing to get them gutted. Scott hadn't done this before, so I did the first one and he did the next. I just cut the stomach on mine, but nothing too serious.
We hear six more shots ring out. What the heck are these guys doing?
Had lunch and drove over to the watering station and corral. Parked the truck and were chatting with the music on, and two does walked to within 30 ft. of us. Decided to leave them be. Spent a couple hours calling and rattling to try and lure one of the local bucks in, but no luck. We heard 7 more shots while we were there.
We met up with the guys we chatted with in the morning. Turns out the one guy has never hunted before, and really wants to shoot something. I think he should aim instead of firing in the general direction of running deer. We decide to do a group push and head over to the south side of the property. Do a walk through and don't see much. Last area we walk through, I see a doe just jump out to the cutline, and then head back in towards the walkers. We get to the end and decide to walk back and push her out. Hindsight, I should have got the machinegunner to take my position, as I would be tagged out if I shot this one. Anyway, Scott yells out that she's heading my way so I get down on one knee and wait. 40 yd. chip shot. She jumped straight up in the air about 6 inches and almost made it over the fence. Walked up and yeah, she turned out to be a little he. Hit him a little far back. One lung, liver, and the very front of the stomach. Didn't make too much of a mess. At least he'll taste good. I got him gutted and the machinegunner started complaining that his wife would be pissed if he came home emptyhanded, so I offered him the little buck. He declined. Really? It's already gutted, and you're complaining. Whatever.
We head back towards the front of the property and these guys say they see a group of Mulie does in one of the meadows. Awesome! maybe we can tag out in a day. They book it over the fence. Damn.
We decided to just wait and see if they crossed back over at the end of the day. At 4:18 they did. They were about 500 yds up towards the entrance to the property, so we didn't want to be shooting in that direction. We waited for them to get into the trees, and then headed down in the truck. Decided to head them off at the gravel pick and walked down there. I waited and waited, then heard a shot. Started walking towards the truck and see a grinning Scott. He said they ran away, but couldn't keep a straight face. She died 6 feet from my the spot my WT doe expired that morning. Spine shot, a little far back. Wasted a bit of the straps, but the tenderloin was fine.
We heard a few more shots from the machinegunner. They left while we were gutting Scotts Mule doe. Their truck was empty. 20 or 21 shots and nothing to show for it. Wow. We had fired 4 shots and had 4 deer in the truck. Very good day.
Well, this year was different.
My friend Scott and I, have access to a section in 314. We hunted there a few years ago and saw nothing but Mule deer. Figured we'd give it a try this year as Scott had an antlerless Mule tag.
Arrived at 7 am and saw we were the second truck to have permission. Damn. They were hunting the far back side, so we figured we'd stay to the front, and avoid any problems. Heard some elk bugling from the group that was in the area. First time hearing bugling. Very cool. Spent the morning familiarizing ourselves with the area as we hadn't been there in a while. Did a little push in the afternoon and saw a nice little Whitetail buck with his doe. Didn't get a shot down the cutline as I was felling the effects of 4 hrs. sleep and totally unprepared for them. Hurried down to the next cutline to see if they would cross onto the next property and was trying to watch three directions at once, and turned to see them hop the fence, into the thick stuff. Didn't learn and kept trying to keep an eye on everything and missed a very nice WT buck as he crossed the same cutline and over the fence. That ended the day.
Sunday had us arrive to see two trucks at the entrance. Great. Same guys from yesterday and some guys the same age as us. We said we'd stay to the front, a the day before. That's where we saw everything anyway.
I set up on a cutline that followed the powerline running through the property, with my friend Scott about 100 ft. behind me watching the east/west intersection.
I ranged various poles along the cutline to get an idea of how far I would be shooting, and started to wait. About 35-45 min. a big wt doe steps out at 140 yds. Easy shot for the 7mm Weatherby as I was prone, with the rifle on my hunting bag. She ran to the west, into the bush. Scott walks over, asks if I hit it. I gave him the look. We wait for a bit, just getting ready to go track he down, and her friend walks out at the same spot. Lucky us. Scott fires on from his 7mm Alpine Supreme, and she takes off into the woods, around the same spot as the first. We stand up to start tracking, and we see another deer cross the cutline to the east side. Get to the point of impact and there are two splatters so close together, we think they're from the same deer. 15min later, we realize the one that crossed was the one Scott hit, we find her 40 yds from the cutline. Very nice double lung shot, just behind the shoulder. Drag it to the cutline and tag it.
Then we hear 6 shots in rapid succession. Who shoots six times?
Then we head back and start looking for mine. Scott found her about 30yds from the cutline, halfway back towards towards our shooting position. Almost the exact same POI. Cool.
We put them both in the truck and took them to a different clearing to get them gutted. Scott hadn't done this before, so I did the first one and he did the next. I just cut the stomach on mine, but nothing too serious.
We hear six more shots ring out. What the heck are these guys doing?
Had lunch and drove over to the watering station and corral. Parked the truck and were chatting with the music on, and two does walked to within 30 ft. of us. Decided to leave them be. Spent a couple hours calling and rattling to try and lure one of the local bucks in, but no luck. We heard 7 more shots while we were there.
We met up with the guys we chatted with in the morning. Turns out the one guy has never hunted before, and really wants to shoot something. I think he should aim instead of firing in the general direction of running deer. We decide to do a group push and head over to the south side of the property. Do a walk through and don't see much. Last area we walk through, I see a doe just jump out to the cutline, and then head back in towards the walkers. We get to the end and decide to walk back and push her out. Hindsight, I should have got the machinegunner to take my position, as I would be tagged out if I shot this one. Anyway, Scott yells out that she's heading my way so I get down on one knee and wait. 40 yd. chip shot. She jumped straight up in the air about 6 inches and almost made it over the fence. Walked up and yeah, she turned out to be a little he. Hit him a little far back. One lung, liver, and the very front of the stomach. Didn't make too much of a mess. At least he'll taste good. I got him gutted and the machinegunner started complaining that his wife would be pissed if he came home emptyhanded, so I offered him the little buck. He declined. Really? It's already gutted, and you're complaining. Whatever.
We head back towards the front of the property and these guys say they see a group of Mulie does in one of the meadows. Awesome! maybe we can tag out in a day. They book it over the fence. Damn.
We decided to just wait and see if they crossed back over at the end of the day. At 4:18 they did. They were about 500 yds up towards the entrance to the property, so we didn't want to be shooting in that direction. We waited for them to get into the trees, and then headed down in the truck. Decided to head them off at the gravel pick and walked down there. I waited and waited, then heard a shot. Started walking towards the truck and see a grinning Scott. He said they ran away, but couldn't keep a straight face. She died 6 feet from my the spot my WT doe expired that morning. Spine shot, a little far back. Wasted a bit of the straps, but the tenderloin was fine.
We heard a few more shots from the machinegunner. They left while we were gutting Scotts Mule doe. Their truck was empty. 20 or 21 shots and nothing to show for it. Wow. We had fired 4 shots and had 4 deer in the truck. Very good day.
