badlands
FNG
I've been bowhunting for a mulie buck for longer than I care to admit. Season opened up here in ND this last Friday. I headed out Thursday night and met up with my good friend Jake. The first few days of season was hit or miss. I put a stalk on a nice 4x4 Saturday morning only to run out of cover at 120 yards. Jake found the big one we were after last year in the same spot he usually was. He put the stalk on that one as well and it didn't quite work out. Sunday morning was fairly uneventful in my favorite spot, and around 11 oclock I went for a drive down to a place I had wanted to check out. 2 oclock found me heading into unknown territory. I perched myself up on a ridge in the shade of a tree and started to glass down into the shade trees on the opposite face. In the first 2 minutes I spotted a buck! A nice wide 4x4 was taking an afternoon nap in the shade 1/2 mile away. Perfect wind. I dropped down into the bottom and came back up only to find his bed empty. After a bit of disappointment, I headed over the next ridge, and found another vantage point at the end of a finger ridge. As I picked apart the country with a set of Vortex 20x56 binos mounted to my tripod, I found what looked like a tree at first. Looking around at some other parts of that brushy cliff I spotted a deer. Turned out to be a wide 3x3 in full velvet. I scanned back across the cliff and the tree had moved a bit! Turns out it was a deer after all, and the biggest one I had seen so far this season. He got up and started to feed around with the 3x3, and I planned a stalk. Being they were 3/4 mile away and I was on a naked ridge with one cedar tree for cover, I backtracked 400 yards to get below a small rise to avoid being seen. I worked my way down to the creek below and come up another ridge 1/4 mile from them. Using another lone bush on that ridge for cover, I glassed the cliff again and found them feeding closer to a spot that looked stalkable. I watched them for a bit hoping they would bed again, but 6 oclock rolled around and something needed to happen. I went back down to the creek bottom and made the big loop around. Low and behold there was a cattle trail that kept me out of their view the whole time! I made it to the clay badlands butte they were on and dropped my pack at the base. What was once a 25 mph wind was now a mere 5-10 and made stalking on the dry grass a PITA. I made it up to where I could come around a corner and see where they had been feeding. Peeked around the corner and no deer! 2nd buzzkill of the day. Realizing the terrain was steeper than I thought, I slowly made my way around the corner looking for any sign of deer. Finally after 10 minutes I spotted the 3x3 feeding near the top at 100 yards. With the sun about ready to set and no sign of the big guy, I decided the 3x3 was in trouble. Sneaking to the top of the cliff I noticed the 3x3 was bedded and sleeping. I was able to make it to 47 yards and he picked his head up. By this point the wind was nonexistent and it was a waiting game. He was facing away, which gave me several opportunities to get what seemed like 47 rangefinder readings on his head. Then out of nowhere I could see more velvet coming up between him and I. The big one was there all along! He went to feed on a sage bush and I got a range at 35 yards, although he was facing straight away at this point. A few minutes later he moved to the next bush and was now at 41 yards. Finally after what seemed like forever he turned quartering away and stopped right there at 42 yards. I drew back and let one rip. I heard the arrow hit and he went crashing down the steep butte. He wound up going 70 yards and started getting weak in the legs. I could see blood pouring out behind the shoulder, and within a minute he was down for the count. I watched him lay there for 15 minutes before I called my buddy and letting him know it was going to be a long night. After talking with Jake I went and retrieved my pack and made my way to the buck. With little light left I tagged him and headed my way for the road. Jake and his friend Jason were at the truck to meet me, and we started our way in. Several cuss words later and a few lessons on navigating rough terrain in the dark, we made it to the buck at 1030. We took lots of pictures and got him loaded up in our packs. The way out was quite a bit easier as Jason had plotted a better, more gradual route on his GPS. Made it to the trucks at 12:41 that night and enjoyed a good beer. Ive killed 5 mule deer with the rifle, but none of them are as big as this guy. 8 years of trying and it finally came together. Now to see if the elk gods shine on me in MT in a couple weeks!
