Re: The 2013 Big Game thread
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2013 11:21 amHere's the story.
I decided at work this week that I wanted to deer hunt a new area. I was not too thrilled about the prospect of watching a bunch of guys dressed in prison style hunters orange jumpsuits drive their trucks all over public land (not on designated roads) for a second Saturday in a row. A spot that I had checked out during antelope hunting was on my mind, and I had seen a nice tall buck right off the road when I was in there a month ago. I was hoping this area wouldn't get hunted too hard since the nearest town (something like 500 people) was over 30 miles away and was known for having good deer hunting anyways. I decided to check it out in the morning and then if it didn't pan out, I would head farther south to another area someone suggested.
I don't remember turning off the alarm set for 4:45 am, but I was up at 5 and out the door by 5:15 or so. I got a later start than planned, but figured it was going to be a good morning when I saw a 140-150" whitetail cruising for does on Fort Peck Dam.
Shooting light was about 6:30 and I parked the car and started hiking around 7. My plan was to hunt some "badlands" style terrain which rose quickly and topped out with rolling grassy meadows. As soon as I made the top I saw a group of does. I glassed around a little bit and didn't see anything else so I figured I'd check the does to make sure I didn't miss anything. They had dropped behind a ridge, so I made my move and ended up right above them less than 30 yards. No buck with them so I went on my way to find another spot to glass from.
I found my next spot and started looking but not finding so I decided to turn around and look for the group of does. I spent about 10 minutes switching from glassing the hills and watching the does until I finally spotted another deer about a mile and a half away. I could tell instantly it was a buck, it was big and by itself feeding up a draw and I could see antlers. I watched him for a while until I lost him. Next time I spotted him, he was 200 yards from where I had last saw him and on the move. I thought maybe this was a different deer because of the mood change, but I now am pretty sure it was the same deer. He worked his way down a coulee where I lost him behind a ridge, but two does came out lower down in the coulee where I could see. Sure enough, shortly after he appeared where the does were. I gave him a couple more minutes to make sure he wasn't passing through and then decided to get a closer look.
I decided at work this week that I wanted to deer hunt a new area. I was not too thrilled about the prospect of watching a bunch of guys dressed in prison style hunters orange jumpsuits drive their trucks all over public land (not on designated roads) for a second Saturday in a row. A spot that I had checked out during antelope hunting was on my mind, and I had seen a nice tall buck right off the road when I was in there a month ago. I was hoping this area wouldn't get hunted too hard since the nearest town (something like 500 people) was over 30 miles away and was known for having good deer hunting anyways. I decided to check it out in the morning and then if it didn't pan out, I would head farther south to another area someone suggested.
I don't remember turning off the alarm set for 4:45 am, but I was up at 5 and out the door by 5:15 or so. I got a later start than planned, but figured it was going to be a good morning when I saw a 140-150" whitetail cruising for does on Fort Peck Dam.
Shooting light was about 6:30 and I parked the car and started hiking around 7. My plan was to hunt some "badlands" style terrain which rose quickly and topped out with rolling grassy meadows. As soon as I made the top I saw a group of does. I glassed around a little bit and didn't see anything else so I figured I'd check the does to make sure I didn't miss anything. They had dropped behind a ridge, so I made my move and ended up right above them less than 30 yards. No buck with them so I went on my way to find another spot to glass from.
I found my next spot and started looking but not finding so I decided to turn around and look for the group of does. I spent about 10 minutes switching from glassing the hills and watching the does until I finally spotted another deer about a mile and a half away. I could tell instantly it was a buck, it was big and by itself feeding up a draw and I could see antlers. I watched him for a while until I lost him. Next time I spotted him, he was 200 yards from where I had last saw him and on the move. I thought maybe this was a different deer because of the mood change, but I now am pretty sure it was the same deer. He worked his way down a coulee where I lost him behind a ridge, but two does came out lower down in the coulee where I could see. Sure enough, shortly after he appeared where the does were. I gave him a couple more minutes to make sure he wasn't passing through and then decided to get a closer look.
