I have been posting these for several years now but things were a bit chaotic for me in 2020 and it slipped my mind to do it.
2020 started off with draw moose. Normally I take a week for elk hunting but after waiting for 13 years to finally get drawn for moose, I decided I was going to maximize my chances and take the time off during moose instead. I have shot a pile of elk, deer and bear over the years but never a moose. I've had my cross hairs on so many of them, including some real giants but always in the wrong zone or the season wasn't on. One year I had 13 different bulls in the cross hairs but never once during the regular season. For whatever reason, I've been very unlucky with moose. Anyway, draw season in the farmland has a lot better odds than regular season hunting up in the forest but I wasn't going to be picky for my first moose ever. Plus, we had been drawn for mule deer unexpectedly and I was worried about not having enough time to get them both done. My motto was if it had antlers it was going down. Opening day of draw season we spotted this guy on the edge of a field we had permission in. He was heading away into some bush but a quick cow call had him trotting right at us. At about 75 yards he stopped broadside and I fired. He took off running and I fired again hitting him in the neck. It was pretty spectacular, just like the ground had been taken out from under him and he dropped like a stone. Just a youngster but probably the best meat I've ever eaten.
Next up was the surprise mule deer draw. I was not expecting to get drawn so soon after the last time and was really excited when I saw the results. In 2017 I shot a 200" non typical in the same zone and knew of several other big mule deer so I was thinking another big mature mule deer was easily obtainable. Well, it didn't turn out like that. Muzzle loader season opened the same day as draw moose and after cutting up my moose the day after I got it, we were out after mule deer. I put on hundreds of miles hiking hills, hours glassing, pounding on doors getting permission on new spots but after 23 days of hard hiking during muzzle loader and rifle season and I hadn't seen a single mature buck. The only mature buck I found was a cool 6x6 dead head that had been dead probably a week before I found it. I don't know if it was bad luck, a bad winter, or what but I just couldn't find anything good. I saw a lot of really nice whitetail so I doubt it was winter kill taking out the mature bucks. Making things worse, we got a freak snow storm that changed the landscape from no snow, to over my knees in one storm. I was in phenomenal condition but it still made things tough. I just couldn't cover the amount of ground I wanted. With 2 days left before the season was over, I hit a spot where the previous evening I had seen a huge herd of does and a couple smaller bucks. I figured with that many does there had to be something decent with them. About a mile in, I cut a fresh track coming up out of a ravine heading to a known buck bedding area. The area was nothing more than waist high grass but it always had some sort of buck or bucks bedding in it. I could tell the tracks were from a mature buck so I started following. It didn't take long. 50 or 60yds into the track and he stood up from behind a small lump in the terrain and stood broad side. I knew he wasn't a giant and not a totally mature buck but he was a pretty decent 4 1/2 year old and time was almost out. I didn't hesitate and fired.
Finally I was able to move on to whitetail. I had a stand set up in the forest and had a nice buck on camera that I had decided to take if he showed up. I didn't have to wait long. I think I only put in a couple sits before he popped out into the clearing about 200yds away following a doe. It was a super crisp and calm morning and I could hear him grunting all the way back in the bush across the clearing. The grunts were deep and I just had a feeling it was a mature buck. When he stepped out it didn't take more than a second to decide he was the one and that was the end of my big game seasons for 2020. Unfortunately he had broken off a tine in the past week since I last got a picture of him but still a nice 6 1/2 year old with extra kicker points and some unique features. Huge body as well.
2020 started off with draw moose. Normally I take a week for elk hunting but after waiting for 13 years to finally get drawn for moose, I decided I was going to maximize my chances and take the time off during moose instead. I have shot a pile of elk, deer and bear over the years but never a moose. I've had my cross hairs on so many of them, including some real giants but always in the wrong zone or the season wasn't on. One year I had 13 different bulls in the cross hairs but never once during the regular season. For whatever reason, I've been very unlucky with moose. Anyway, draw season in the farmland has a lot better odds than regular season hunting up in the forest but I wasn't going to be picky for my first moose ever. Plus, we had been drawn for mule deer unexpectedly and I was worried about not having enough time to get them both done. My motto was if it had antlers it was going down. Opening day of draw season we spotted this guy on the edge of a field we had permission in. He was heading away into some bush but a quick cow call had him trotting right at us. At about 75 yards he stopped broadside and I fired. He took off running and I fired again hitting him in the neck. It was pretty spectacular, just like the ground had been taken out from under him and he dropped like a stone. Just a youngster but probably the best meat I've ever eaten.
Next up was the surprise mule deer draw. I was not expecting to get drawn so soon after the last time and was really excited when I saw the results. In 2017 I shot a 200" non typical in the same zone and knew of several other big mule deer so I was thinking another big mature mule deer was easily obtainable. Well, it didn't turn out like that. Muzzle loader season opened the same day as draw moose and after cutting up my moose the day after I got it, we were out after mule deer. I put on hundreds of miles hiking hills, hours glassing, pounding on doors getting permission on new spots but after 23 days of hard hiking during muzzle loader and rifle season and I hadn't seen a single mature buck. The only mature buck I found was a cool 6x6 dead head that had been dead probably a week before I found it. I don't know if it was bad luck, a bad winter, or what but I just couldn't find anything good. I saw a lot of really nice whitetail so I doubt it was winter kill taking out the mature bucks. Making things worse, we got a freak snow storm that changed the landscape from no snow, to over my knees in one storm. I was in phenomenal condition but it still made things tough. I just couldn't cover the amount of ground I wanted. With 2 days left before the season was over, I hit a spot where the previous evening I had seen a huge herd of does and a couple smaller bucks. I figured with that many does there had to be something decent with them. About a mile in, I cut a fresh track coming up out of a ravine heading to a known buck bedding area. The area was nothing more than waist high grass but it always had some sort of buck or bucks bedding in it. I could tell the tracks were from a mature buck so I started following. It didn't take long. 50 or 60yds into the track and he stood up from behind a small lump in the terrain and stood broad side. I knew he wasn't a giant and not a totally mature buck but he was a pretty decent 4 1/2 year old and time was almost out. I didn't hesitate and fired.
Finally I was able to move on to whitetail. I had a stand set up in the forest and had a nice buck on camera that I had decided to take if he showed up. I didn't have to wait long. I think I only put in a couple sits before he popped out into the clearing about 200yds away following a doe. It was a super crisp and calm morning and I could hear him grunting all the way back in the bush across the clearing. The grunts were deep and I just had a feeling it was a mature buck. When he stepped out it didn't take more than a second to decide he was the one and that was the end of my big game seasons for 2020. Unfortunately he had broken off a tine in the past week since I last got a picture of him but still a nice 6 1/2 year old with extra kicker points and some unique features. Huge body as well.
