Mountain Mule Deer Hunt Video!

[Justin Crossley]

This is hilarious you have made more assumptions and called more names then anyone on this thread. You really should quit talking out both sides of your mouth. In one post you mention how your going to catch flak and it doesn't bother you, then on the next post you are calling out people who question your shot choice. Here's a couple questions; Why didn't you try to get closer? Also why didn't you wait for that buck to stand? He obviously wasn't boogered and you said it was evening so he would have stood at some point either to feed or move why not wait?

You're right, I jokingly called you little buddy. It was tongue and cheek but wasn't needed. I apologize for that.

To your questions of why I didn’t get closer and why I didn’t wait for the buck to stand.

In the spot that the buck was laying I thought my best chance at cleanly killing it was setting up a shot from the spot I did. I felt that getting closer would have given me a worse shot, or just spooked the buck.

The night before the buck did almost the same thing. He walked into the open, fed a little bit and then laid down until after dark. I believed he would do the same thing again so I didn’t wait for a better shot.

I took a shot that I was very confident in at the time. The problem was my confidence was partly arrogance like I mentioned on the podcast. I made a mistake, wounded the buck, and wish I would have done it differently.

 

[Elkfitness]

I don’t know justin personally, but have followed / seen his posts over the past 7-8 years and believe he is focused on quality equipment and practice. I’ve seen his posts on going to the sportsman’s type challenges to improve/look at ways to improve his shot making abilities. I think it just points to how hard it can be to make certain shots and that things can happen even when you’ve checked all the boxes. Kudos for Justin for posting the video and staying with the comments. I get the intent and good job on staying after the animal. Lastly, I got a kick out of Jordan laughing when one of you almost fell with a full load at the end, I’ve done that many times myself (the falling part).


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[brn2hnt]

For context: I saw the vid pop up on my YT feed before I ever saw this thread.

Honestly, I was a bit taken aback by the decision to post the video. Not because I think it is something to hide from, but because of the realities of being able to have a constructive conversation/dialogue around it.

In that same vein, I also felt like it was poorly pre-framed for viewers. It was set as a premier, so that questions could be answered, but that wasn't communicated until much later and only in one line of a comment by Robby. There was little to no mention that it was gonna ruffle some feathers (that I saw) as such, people were probably in a different state of mind than ready to have a calm, rational discussion.

Big takeaways, marketing and messaging matter.

You make your own luck, both good and bad.

 

[Shadow Walker]

For whatever this is worth, I didn't know Justin until I met him this past fall during his hunt. Justin, Jordan, and Rob happened to set their camp not too far from mine.

Here are my first hand observations of the situation.

1. Justin, Jordan, and Rob were friendly, respectful, and willing to coordinate so we weren’t stepping on each other’s toes.

2. As Justin indicated, the buck bedded in a location that made it impossible for him to get closer without being detected. He was as close as he was going to get.

3. I spoke with Justin, Jordan, and Rob shortly after they had recovered the buck, listened to their account, and saw firsthand where it all went down. In my view, they went far beyond what most hunters would do in order to recover a wounded buck. Given the terrain the buck was traveling, it is on the edge of miraculous that they were actually able to find him. He was headed for some country that would have made it impossible to find him.

4. Justin owned his decision to pull the trigger and felt genuine sorrow for the result. They were so relieved to find the buck and they paid the physical price to do so, in some unforgiving and challenging terrain.

5. Justin made the decision to post the video publicly, tell his story honestly, accept responsibility for his choices, and learn from what he believes was a mistake ... knowing criticism would surely follow. It would have been real easy for him to hide part of the story and avoid the heat. I can’t ask any more of a hunter.

I have nothing but respect for how he handled what was a very difficult situation.

Justin... you, Jordan, and Rob are welcome at my campfire anytime...

Shadow Walker

 

[Justin Crossley]

For whatever this is worth, I didn't know Justin until I met him this past fall during his hunt. Justin, Jordan, and Rob happened to set their camp not too far from mine.

Here are my first hand observations of the situation.

1. Justin, Jordan, and Rob were friendly, respectful, and willing to coordinate so we weren’t stepping on each other’s toes.

2. As Justin indicated, the buck bedded in a location that made it impossible for him to get closer without being detected. He was as close as he was going to get.

3. I spoke with Justin, Jordan, and Rob shortly after they had recovered the buck, listened to their account, and saw firsthand where it all went down. In my view, they went far beyond what most hunters would do in order to recover a wounded buck. Given the terrain the buck was traveling, it is on the edge of miraculous that they were actually able to find him. He was headed for some country that would have made it impossible to find him.

4. Justin owned his decision to pull the trigger and felt genuine sorrow for the result. They were so relieved to find the buck and they paid the physical price to do so, in some unforgiving and challenging terrain.

5. Justin made the decision to post the video publicly, tell his story honestly, accept responsibility for his choices, and learn from what he believes was a mistake ... knowing criticism would surely follow. It would have been real easy for him to hide part of the story and avoid the heat. I can’t ask any more of a hunter.

I have nothing but respect for how he handled what was a very difficult situation.

Justin... you, Jordan, and Rob are welcome at my campfire anytime...

Shadow Walker

Thanks for the kind words. It was great meeting you guys up there and we felt the same about your group.

 

[ttucci16]

The amount of steel in your marbles to release that video is pretty awesome, especially knowing that you're going to get absolutely shizzed on. I for one dislike any shooting of big game past 300 yards. With that said, i'm not going to pile on any more criticism than what's been said. I hope people learn from this situation, and everyone comes to the consensus that we owe it to the animal to give it a clean death. Is anything 100 percent...no, but the margin of error is much smaller the closer you get.

I also think archers get too much of a pass when wounding animals. The amount of quartering too and quartering away screw ups i've seen on youtube is insane. I've been seeing guys screw up shots from 10 freaking yards away. If the shot isn't there, hunters need to learn to let the animals walk away. Hunting has become too much about likes and the kill, and not about ability and woodsmanship. I like that hunters are challenging themselves, but it should never come at the expense of the animals we are pursuing.

I for one am going to try my hand at shooting nothing but an open sight 30-30 in WA state this year. Eastern elk, Mule deer, Black bear, and Cougar. I hope to be humbled, but also to become a better hunter. Best of luck to everyone this year.

 

[CApighunter]

Tough to watch, but good to see the deer eventually recovered. The video showed the unfortunate reality of hunting, shit happens sometimes. The most we can do is to know our limits and be confident in our decisions. When the dust settles, there’s always a lesson to be learned good or bad. Whether I or anyone else would have taken the shot is irrelevant, but I’m glad the video showed the effort put in to find the buck and hopefully everyone learned something.

 

[robby denning]

... and hopefully everyone learned something.

I did. It reminded me the margin for error is less when you’re shooting at a bedded buck. I’ve done it and haven’t had any disasters so far but it is better to let them stand if possible.


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[CApighunter]

I did. It reminded me the margin for error is less when you’re shooting at a bedded buck. I’ve done it and haven’t had any disasters so far but it is better to let them stand if possible.


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I took away the same. Add in a hard quartering angle and that margin gets smaller yet.

 

[Fatcamp]

I did. It reminded me the margin for error is less when you’re shooting at a bedded buck. I’ve done it and haven’t had any disasters so far but it is better to let them stand if possible.


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Ya. I stoned my buck this year bedded. 200 yards, but still. I've wondered since where I would have drawn the line. 300? 400?

Almost the same angle as the video.

 

[Txdeerslayer]

Just subscribed. Can’t wait to binge watch the videos.


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[Jethro]

Great job recovering the buck. Put in the effort and made the best of a situation that didn't go as planned.

After the fact though, everybody says the same thing. "Want to show the realities of hunting and learn from our mistakes." At what point do we start learning? Between Justin, Jordan, and the other guy that was a ton of hunting experience on the mountain. Between the 3 of them nobody brought up the fact that a bedded, quartered to, 800 yard shot may not be the smart choice? Certainly that should have been known and discussed between 3 experienced hunters prior to the shot.

We all understand a pulled shot. But poor decision making by experienced hunters is always going to draw scrutiny and criticism. Rightly so.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Great job recovering the buck. Put in the effort and made the best of a situation that didn't go as planned.

After the fact though, everybody says the same thing. "Want to show the realities of hunting and learn from our mistakes." At what point do we start learning? Between Justin, Jordan, and the other guy that was a ton of hunting experience on the mountain. Between the 3 of them nobody brought up the fact that a bedded, quartered to, 800 yard shot may not be the smart choice? Certainly that should have been known and discussed between 3 experienced hunters prior to the shot.

We all understand a pulled shot. But poor decision making by experienced hunters is always going to draw scrutiny and criticism. Rightly so.

That's a really good point. The three of us did discuss our options before I took that shot.

As I remember it, Rob and Jordan were not in favor of me taking that shot initially.

We talked about different shot angles and knew a more broadside angle would have required us to move much further away.

We talked about different approach routes to get closer but had hiked all the ridges already and knew he could see us for a long way no matter what. All the spots we would have good shooting lanes were the same distance or farther from the buck.

We also talked about the fact the buck didn't stand before dark the night prior.

I picked a shooting spot with the perfect angle for my rifle and body to have a good natural point of aim. I built my rest and tested it to make sure the rifle stayed on target while I dry-fired. The range was verified multiple times and the wind was perfectly calm at the shooting location. I couldn't see any evidence of wind at the buck's location in my scope and decided the only wind correction needed would be for spindrift.

I'm not sure if they were convinced it was the right plan or not but I was confident at the time and chose to shoot. I believe there was about 3-4 mph of wind from the evening thermals that I should have accounted for. I failed to do that and my margin for error wasn't enough to make up for my mistake.

 

[VANDAL]

I disagree, these kinds of stories need to be told and learned from. Too often in this industry, we only see the highlight reels. Why is it people love to attack long-range hunters? I know far more people that stick bull or bucks with their bows every year and never find them. Why does this seem to get a pass?? Hell, don't even get me started on trad bows. Then there is the Idaho legal muzzleloader that should be renamed the crippler or long death season.

No form of hunting is perfect so let's stop vilifying one way over another. Every person on here is one trigger pull or string release away from being in the same situation, no matter the practice or confidence in the shot. God knows I have. I would guess that 99.9% of the bad shots are never talked about or lied about. Justin made a bad shot and owned up to it. I would rather see the hard truth than most of the bullshit this industry is peddling these days.

Hey [mention]Ryan Avery [/mention]

Just catching up to your post...I really can’t disagree with anything you said.

I don’t know why long-range hunting rubs me the wrong way but it does. I know some very good hunters and also some very good shooters but have yet to meet someone that is a great hunter AND a great long range shooter. Seems like one usually trumps the other which leads to poor judgement and over confidence in shooting.

[mention]Justin Crossley [/mention] you mentioned your bullet may have drifted from a 3-4 mph wind. Where would your bullet have hit if it was 5-6 mph? I spray pesticides for a living and in a flat field the wind can fluctuate 5 mph within a few seconds (where I’m standing let alone 800 yards away). The mountains and thermals only exaggerate that. My comment on arrogance has something to do with that mindset. But it might be more of a function of over confidence in technology....

Also, for me, I think there is a fair chase component to long-range hunting. I have just witnessed things I don’t like.

Not looking to vilify anyone. That’s just how I see it through my window.


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[chasewild]

How many days left did you have on the hunt?

 

[Justin Crossley]

How many days left did you have on the hunt?

I shot that buck on the first day. We had about a week scheduled for the hunt. Obviously waiting for a better shot angle would have been wise.

 

[chasewild]

I shot that buck on the first day. We had about a week scheduled for the hunt. Obviously waiting for a better shot angle would have been wise.

You and the other hunter in the area said it would have been impossible to get closer. What made it impossible? After having slept on it, do you still think it would have been impossible?

 

[Justin Crossley]

You and the other hunter in the area said it would have been impossible to get closer. What made it impossible? After having slept on it, do you still think it would have been impossible?

There were some other spots I could have possibly shot from but they were all at least over 700 yards with less ideal shooting positions than what I had. Since the buck could see all of my possible approach routes, yes, I believe he would have spooked if I tried to get closer. Obviously, nothing is certain but I chose to take the shot I thought had the highest chance of success at the time.

I really believed when I pulled the trigger that the buck would not get up from his bed.