2019 success: my first mule deer

[Bubblehide]

Saaaaaaa waaaaaaa eeeeeee T

Congratulations!!!!!!

 

[ATXHunt]

What an awesome hunt! Thanks for sharing the story. This really got me pumped up for my hunt this Fall.

 

[vBC]

Thanks for sharing. These story means a lot for new western hunter like me.

That's a very good looking buck.

Cheers

 

[JGross1]

Awesome, congrats!

 

[A&M 90]

Excellent Recap. Thank you for sharing.

 

[jscheil]

Terrific story - congrats on the success & thanks for the book suggestion


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RCL]

Great story.
Congratulations on a fine buck.

 

[Stagman]

Great buck. Awsome

 

[Seth5005]

Nice buck!

 

[65Remmy]

Congrats on an awesome hunt. I dream of being able to do this one day. It's on my bucket list.

 

[Chief23]

Nice story! Congratulations on a great hunt.

 

[Don Fischer]

I will try to keep this short, but that isn’t usually how my stories go. I want to tell the story because it was an awesome hunt which was a culmination of web searches, e scouting, training, reading, and chats with great hunters on here over the last few years. I believe there are a few lessons that can be learned as well.

I have been able to take quite a few very nice whitetails here in the Midwest, mostly with archery equipment hunting out of a tree stand. Archery is what I love most, but I occasionally grab a rifle or muzzleloader to help get some much needed venison for the freezer. In 2019, I finally cashed in many years of points to draw my first rifle “any deer” tag in South Dakota, of which I am a resident. Now I have been building points for a long time to get to hunt basically any county in the state. I ended up going to a county where you basically do not need points to draw it. Why? Because I knew this county a little. I had hunted one of the large sections of public land several times before. My goal on this hunt was to get a mule deer, it didn’t have to be big, just not immature. Any branched 4- was really in trouble. I knew my success rate would go up here dramatically due to the fact I knew the area and had limited time to scout other “better” counties. I knew deer could get big there even with excessive pressure during rifle season because I had seen some in the past and found some dead heads from EHD (had to leave them because it is illegal to take them of public here). The dead deer found the year prior was one big negative of this county choice, but I didn’t feel it outweighed the benefit of prior knowledge.

The trip started Friday after work, the second weekend of rifle season (weekend before thanksgiving). I was all packed up and left strait from the hospital. I was hoping to make the 5-hour drive in time to have about a half hour of glassing the first evening after a short walk to a decent hill. Work happened and I made it to the parking lot about 10 minutes after legal shooting light. On the drive there I was reassured the rut was in full swing, every group of does had bucks in the vicinity.

I slept in my pickup that night and headed out several hours before shooting light for a several mile hike to my glassing point. I had several points selected from E scouting which would allow me optimal glassing (mainly sun behind me glassing into good wind based bedding draws). I knew the wind was from the west, temps were warm, these draws had shade, and sun at back...perfect.

I got set up right in time to glass with my binos. Within 5 minutes I had spotted two does, one yearling, and a nice buck cruising through them at about 900 yards. Now this is the first nice buck I have ever “glassed” up this way while actively hunting. Man what a rush and sense of relief that was to find what i thought was an okay buck so quick. I believe choosing this spot to glass based off the wind is why I found those deer. If the wind was different I assume does wouldn't have been there. Maybe…maybe not, but it was part of my thought process. I picked what I thought was the BEST spot for a mature buck.View attachment 165432
---this is similar country to what the country I hunted looked like. I know I always like to see google earth pictures of country that holds mule deer, because I am not great at finding them yet. People don't want to show their spots and I definitely hesitated to post this, but heck if you are that desperate to find a "spot" then heck go for it and try to find it---

What went through my head next was a big part of my success with this buck. I strategically planned out each move, staying out of sight, wind in my face, and sun at my back. I glassed to make sure I wouldn’t spook deer on my way. I was planning within seconds of finding him. From what I saw, it looked like this buck was just heat checking these does, because he was leaving them. I decided to drop down from my point and cut the distance to glass again to make sure he stayed this draw. I caught a glimpse of one side of his rack and his head moving through the cedars from this ridge. I confirmed he was still here. I took my time and planned out a path to get across the draw from where he was last. at this point he was in the wind tunnel on the leeward side of that ridge. The ridge I wanted to get to would put me around 300 yards or under from where I last saw him. I got there, belly crawled to the top of the ridge and got set up prone across my bag. I started to range the opposite ridge where I believed he would be. While trying to get a range, a doe popped out…and got pushed through an opening by this buck. I never did get a range because of some grass I assume. I grabbed my gun and got the cross hairs on him…and didn’t shoot. I told myself not to mess it up by guessing the distance, rushing the shot, and busting them out of the county. I struggle at guessing range out west, something I need to work on. I knew he wasn’t going anywhere. He had everything he needed right there…food, security, and his lady.

From what I guessed, he pushed that doe over the ridge to the north out of site due to cedars. I waited at that spot for about a half hour, glassing down the bottom of the draw and up the top. Those two never came out. There was a chance I had missed them, but I didn’t think so. I made another play to drop back and loop around to glass into the smaller secondary draw I figured they holed up in, probably for the day. There was a perfect flat plateau with a large cedar tree in the middle of it. Once I got to the top, I belly crawled, unfortunately through some cactus, to the cedar with it between me and where I assumed they were. ranged a little clearing that was still shaded…it was the only spot I ranged because it just looked right. It was shaded, there was some feed, and the winds would have been swirling around there. About ten minutes later I heard what I thought was the sound of stuff walking though those cedars across the draw. I got the binos up and waited. I couldn’t believe it, there they came. I grabbed my gun and belly crawled to the edge of that little plateau. 200 yards, squeeze and follow through the trigger pull, BOOM. He didn’t make it out of that clearing. Things never go like this for me on the first morning. Its hard to describe the level of excitement and relief I had at that point. I had meat for the family which I could now get home to much sooner. I definitely need to start hunting with my rifle more because I really enjoying being able to reach out a bit more at these animals. Plus, I get the same level of excitement as with archery equipment, but with better harvest odds. I called my wife before the buck even perished to tell her the great news.
View attachment 165433
---This is the view from where i shot the buck. The deer were initially spotted on the far ridge within the darker looking grass---
View attachment 165434
---the buck perished in this clearing right above the spent casing---
View attachment 165439
---this is how I found him. I guessed him to be 3.5 years old, his teeth were pristine...though that just a guess, I could be off by a ways. My biggest regret was forgetting to take his teeth when I dropped him at the taxidermist. Not that I care about age, but am curious and always try to learn whatever I can.---
View attachment 165437
For me, that was only the first part of the fun. This is the third buck I have had the privilege to pack out. I finally started to do more strength training to supplement my running, it definitely paid off. The pack out was 3.5 miles, mostly flat which was really nice.
View attachment 165443
---I really appreciated a couple cattle tanks along the way for a breather---

One thing I want to put out there is to just hunt more. Whether it is cottontails, turkey, deer, or elk. Nothing beats what you learn when you are actually trying to harvest something. This has definitely helped me. Something else I noted after this hunt was I catch myself saying “man if he would have been a year or two older he would have been huge!” or “maybe if I went somewhere else I would have found more deer or bigger deer.” Well I hate those things come through my mind because this is an awesome public land mule deer in SD, especially for my first one. I think this is in part due to social media and the amount of information out there now. I’ve passed up so many “young” whitetails in the past to hunt more mature deer just to eat tag soup that year miss a great opportunity to fill the freezer and become a better hunter. Until recently I’ve dealt with bad tunnel vision with a deer coming my way I was planning to harvest. I personally believe I could have mitigated this issue a while back if I wasn’t so selective trying to let them grow and what not.

I fully enjoy reading many story’s on here and hope someone gets some enjoyment out of this one too. If you are new to mule deer and hunting out west, get Robby Denning’s book. It has everything you need to become a more successful hunter for about every species out there.

Boy, glad ya kept that short!

 

[The_Short_Sportsman]

I will try to keep this short, but that isn’t usually how my stories go. I want to tell the story because it was an awesome hunt which was a culmination of web searches, e scouting, training, reading, and chats with great hunters on here over the last few years. I believe there are a few lessons that can be learned as well.

I have been able to take quite a few very nice whitetails here in the Midwest, mostly with archery equipment hunting out of a tree stand. Archery is what I love most, but I occasionally grab a rifle or muzzleloader to help get some much needed venison for the freezer. In 2019, I finally cashed in many years of points to draw my first rifle “any deer” tag in South Dakota, of which I am a resident. Now I have been building points for a long time to get to hunt basically any county in the state. I ended up going to a county where you basically do not need points to draw it. Why? Because I knew this county a little. I had hunted one of the large sections of public land several times before. My goal on this hunt was to get a mule deer, it didn’t have to be big, just not immature. Any branched 4- was really in trouble. I knew my success rate would go up here dramatically due to the fact I knew the area and had limited time to scout other “better” counties. I knew deer could get big there even with excessive pressure during rifle season because I had seen some in the past and found some dead heads from EHD (had to leave them because it is illegal to take them of public here). The dead deer found the year prior was one big negative of this county choice, but I didn’t feel it outweighed the benefit of prior knowledge.

The trip started Friday after work, the second weekend of rifle season (weekend before thanksgiving). I was all packed up and left strait from the hospital. I was hoping to make the 5-hour drive in time to have about a half hour of glassing the first evening after a short walk to a decent hill. Work happened and I made it to the parking lot about 10 minutes after legal shooting light. On the drive there I was reassured the rut was in full swing, every group of does had bucks in the vicinity.

I slept in my pickup that night and headed out several hours before shooting light for a several mile hike to my glassing point. I had several points selected from E scouting which would allow me optimal glassing (mainly sun behind me glassing into good wind based bedding draws). I knew the wind was from the west, temps were warm, these draws had shade, and sun at back...perfect.

I got set up right in time to glass with my binos. Within 5 minutes I had spotted two does, one yearling, and a nice buck cruising through them at about 900 yards. Now this is the first nice buck I have ever “glassed” up this way while actively hunting. Man what a rush and sense of relief that was to find what i thought was an okay buck so quick. I believe choosing this spot to glass based off the wind is why I found those deer. If the wind was different I assume does wouldn't have been there. Maybe…maybe not, but it was part of my thought process. I picked what I thought was the BEST spot for a mature buck.View attachment 165432
---this is similar country to what the country I hunted looked like. I know I always like to see google earth pictures of country that holds mule deer, because I am not great at finding them yet. People don't want to show their spots and I definitely hesitated to post this, but heck if you are that desperate to find a "spot" then heck go for it and try to find it---

What went through my head next was a big part of my success with this buck. I strategically planned out each move, staying out of sight, wind in my face, and sun at my back. I glassed to make sure I wouldn’t spook deer on my way. I was planning within seconds of finding him. From what I saw, it looked like this buck was just heat checking these does, because he was leaving them. I decided to drop down from my point and cut the distance to glass again to make sure he stayed this draw. I caught a glimpse of one side of his rack and his head moving through the cedars from this ridge. I confirmed he was still here. I took my time and planned out a path to get across the draw from where he was last. at this point he was in the wind tunnel on the leeward side of that ridge. The ridge I wanted to get to would put me around 300 yards or under from where I last saw him. I got there, belly crawled to the top of the ridge and got set up prone across my bag. I started to range the opposite ridge where I believed he would be. While trying to get a range, a doe popped out…and got pushed through an opening by this buck. I never did get a range because of some grass I assume. I grabbed my gun and got the cross hairs on him…and didn’t shoot. I told myself not to mess it up by guessing the distance, rushing the shot, and busting them out of the county. I struggle at guessing range out west, something I need to work on. I knew he wasn’t going anywhere. He had everything he needed right there…food, security, and his lady.

From what I guessed, he pushed that doe over the ridge to the north out of site due to cedars. I waited at that spot for about a half hour, glassing down the bottom of the draw and up the top. Those two never came out. There was a chance I had missed them, but I didn’t think so. I made another play to drop back and loop around to glass into the smaller secondary draw I figured they holed up in, probably for the day. There was a perfect flat plateau with a large cedar tree in the middle of it. Once I got to the top, I belly crawled, unfortunately through some cactus, to the cedar with it between me and where I assumed they were. ranged a little clearing that was still shaded…it was the only spot I ranged because it just looked right. It was shaded, there was some feed, and the winds would have been swirling around there. About ten minutes later I heard what I thought was the sound of stuff walking though those cedars across the draw. I got the binos up and waited. I couldn’t believe it, there they came. I grabbed my gun and belly crawled to the edge of that little plateau. 200 yards, squeeze and follow through the trigger pull, BOOM. He didn’t make it out of that clearing. Things never go like this for me on the first morning. Its hard to describe the level of excitement and relief I had at that point. I had meat for the family which I could now get home to much sooner. I definitely need to start hunting with my rifle more because I really enjoying being able to reach out a bit more at these animals. Plus, I get the same level of excitement as with archery equipment, but with better harvest odds. I called my wife before the buck even perished to tell her the great news.
View attachment 165433
---This is the view from where i shot the buck. The deer were initially spotted on the far ridge within the darker looking grass---
View attachment 165434
---the buck perished in this clearing right above the spent casing---
View attachment 165439
---this is how I found him. I guessed him to be 3.5 years old, his teeth were pristine...though that just a guess, I could be off by a ways. My biggest regret was forgetting to take his teeth when I dropped him at the taxidermist. Not that I care about age, but am curious and always try to learn whatever I can.---
View attachment 165437
For me, that was only the first part of the fun. This is the third buck I have had the privilege to pack out. I finally started to do more strength training to supplement my running, it definitely paid off. The pack out was 3.5 miles, mostly flat which was really nice.
View attachment 165443
---I really appreciated a couple cattle tanks along the way for a breather---

One thing I want to put out there is to just hunt more. Whether it is cottontails, turkey, deer, or elk. Nothing beats what you learn when you are actually trying to harvest something. This has definitely helped me. Something else I noted after this hunt was I catch myself saying “man if he would have been a year or two older he would have been huge!” or “maybe if I went somewhere else I would have found more deer or bigger deer.” Well I hate those things come through my mind because this is an awesome public land mule deer in SD, especially for my first one. I think this is in part due to social media and the amount of information out there now. I’ve passed up so many “young” whitetails in the past to hunt more mature deer just to eat tag soup that year miss a great opportunity to fill the freezer and become a better hunter. Until recently I’ve dealt with bad tunnel vision with a deer coming my way I was planning to harvest. I personally believe I could have mitigated this issue a while back if I wasn’t so selective trying to let them grow and what not.

I fully enjoy reading many story’s on here and hope someone gets some enjoyment out of this one too. If you are new to mule deer and hunting out west, get Robby Denning’s book. It has everything you need to become a more successful hunter for about every species out there.

Great story and great deer!

 

[SDArcher7]

Congrats, you put in the time and you will be rewarded.