I was hunting pretty slow this yr. Mike and Jason were working real hard and I didn't want to slow them down in their quest for the wiley elk. I took a hunting stool that Mike and I made two yrs ago and just poked along (if you call humping a mile up 45 degree slopes poking along). A couple of days after the Angus encouters I had a dandy mule deer encouter. Now I am a string walking traditional bow hunter. I like to know the range. thus the gall danged range finder
I dropped in to the middle of 3 avalance bushes halfway between two selves at about 6000'. there were fresh mule deer buck tracks just under the brow of the top shelf. i am 1000' above of small river in the Payette national forest. The 300' down the ridge is a cattle salt lick. there are more mule deer tracks around the salt lick than I have ever seen in one area.
It is evening, around 4:30. I tuck back into the the alavlance brush pocket to wait. At 5:20 (17:20) I see some movement (mule deer feet and legs) 10 yds under the brow move from right to left (the good way, since I am right handed). The deer was 55 yds when I saw him (range finder). At 45 yd when I got a good look at him. 3 points (western count) which would be an 8 point total. Good mass in the beam, shoulder and rump were well filled out. My guess is a good 3 yr old maybe 4. His path is going to take him behind a christmas tree that is 28 yds from me, I am going to use my 32yd string walking crawl and take him just as his head goes behind the Xmas tree.
He is five step from the Xmas tree. I have let my Leupold RX1 range finder fall free on the landard. 2 steps.....I look down at my crawl mark and reach for the string. I kept my bow pretty low even though I was on a stool. As I reached for my string my arm in my jacket push the RX1 (rough plastic hollow case) across the plastic buckle of my Bison fanny pack just as the buck head was one step from the tree. Two radar beam brown eyes lock on the RX1 in an instant. The big buck froze, moved his head left and drill holes in me with the radar eyes, move is head right my chest was getting hot from the beams. Jerked is head up and snortted me 5 or 6 times. He still hadn't fingered me yet but he know it weren't good, alot. He starts up and 1/4 away from me. gets 30 more yds angling to me on the quater and snorts my 3 or 4 more time.
Of course I knew it was over the instant I herd the RX1 scrape acorss of the back pack buckle. I stayed quiet and hide because I didn't want to move him out of the area. Of course, if ya hunted mule deer very much, ya know he circle around into my wind and stepped out about 80 yds behind me. Snortted twice and then all I saw was white butt heading for over yonder.
it was 15 minutes of maxium adernaline. I have never considered close encounters when my plan was coming together as failures if I didn't get a shot esp. on mule deer. My mule deer encounters average about 1 shoot in every 3 close encounter. I chose not to hunt them over the salt lick (not sure it would have been legal anyway). the salt lick was a gps mile from camp and a hellish climb down and up across the river. I am pretty sure my hunting buddies would have help hump out the deer but for the hump out it would have a dandy before I would drop the string. I had three more encounters with does on other days hunting the salt lick ridge but never tried to set up on them. Not that I have any against shooting a doe. I'd do it in a New York minute.....but much closer to camp
rusty
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Non-Tradtional Recurve Shooter
Topic: Bulls, Bucks and chickens .. .a Wingnut, Trashwood and Jason adventure (Read 12886 times)
