North Dakota Badlands are Real Good!

[smoke1953]

Three western rookies gathered at Whips cabin to begin for us, our first adventure westward. Bowhuntingfool(Joe Bzura), Greatbrownknockemdown(Rafael Woods), and myself with Whip providing an experienced hand. Joe B and Rafael arrive displaying their eagerness to get this trip going. Whip and myself contemplate what may be for a trip to far western North Dakota just south of the Little Missouri River. You other guys can chime in as you wish.  
 

 

[Jack Denbow]

I have feeling this going to be good.
Jack

[Duckbutt]

[cacciatore]

Can't wait.I see Whip very busy to set the camp!!

[smoke1953]

We arrived at the 5500 acre cattle ranch south of the Roosevelt National Park on Saturday Nov. 13 and found a comfortable cabin that fit our needs well. This hunt was an either or Mulie/Whitetail hunt during the gun season and at the start of the mulie rut with whitetails also eager to find the does.
 

Whip convinced me to glass with him the first couple of days which is new to me who has been hunting Wisconsin whitetails for the last 37 years only the last 4 years with a longbow. What we were observing was real encouraging.

 

This mulie we gave the name Halfrack and gave me my first location to setup my Huntmore chair.

 

[Matty]

Ya this is going to be good for sure!  I'm a big fan of whip. Super Nice guy

[steadman]

Keep it going!  

[Whip]

I had hunted North Dakota a couple of times in the past, but it had been awhile, and I had never tried it in November. I had always thought about returning when the mulies were falling in love.

At last winters Wisconsin Traditional Archers banquet Dan Brockman donated a trip for one to hunt a private ranch in the Badlands. A second hunter could join in at half price, so Bruce and I laid plans to join in the bidding. We were not to be denied, the cabin accomodated four hunters, and we recruted Joe and Rafael to round out our group.

As many of you know, hunting in the west has kind of become the passion in my life. What a treat to share a trip with three western hunting virgins!  It was almost like I was seeing it all for the first time through their eyes.

Just being in the west experiencing totally new and different country is pleasure enough in itself. This trip turned out to be so much more, with hunting the likes of which fill our dreams.

Hang on, I think you're going to enjoy this one.....

[ChuckC]

Good luck out there.  I just got back from a week in SD, very similar terrain, but sparcer (?)vegetation and they were gunning there as well.

Very challenging !  Goo dluck
ChuckC

[FerretWYO]

This is looking good. I will be looking forward to this.

[smoke1953]

The rut really seemed to be getting better everyday and we thought we would be out all day however we did come back to the cabin for a couple of hours each day to have a good lunch and connect with the rancher that provided this great piece of land for our use. By the way this 5500 acres had only been bow hunted for 22 years so it was tough having to wear blaze.

 
Whip, Rafael and Shakey(ranch owner)enjoying the whole experience.

[nd chickenman]

There arent any deer in North Dakota!!!!!

[xtrema312]

[swp]

[smoke1953]

I can't tell you how many quality deer we saw. A stand or still hunt didn't go by without someone coming back with a great encounter with a huge mulie or large whitetail. Bowhunting Fool seemed to see big ones everyday from the tree. He might be the better one  to relate his experiences.  Also I'll qualify this a bit remember three of us were rookies and our excitement level was high and everything seemed big early on. Our first day drive through with Dan Brockman we saw several bucks and it was becoming harder for Rafael to stay in his seat. Coyotes were ever present and BowhuntingFool(Joe Bzura) was itching to get after them if he could get his deer early in the week. We were at a little disadvantage because we were cheating ourselves on two days of our hunt so we could get back for the Wisconsin gun opener to hunt with family.

 
One of our glassing positions. Loved my time glassing. Beautiful country!

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

Being new to trad archery and just starting to shoot a long bow in February of this year, i was a little nervous to saying YES to the offer of going on an out of state hunt with trad equipment only. I also knew this was a chance to experience something i always wanted to do ,  so this would be my 1st ever out of state hunt!! from that moment i knew i had alot of work ahead of me, and so started my daily shooting and going to 3-D shoots and shooting leagues all spring and summer. As days turned into weeks the love of the bow and arrow grew stronger and stronger for me, its was nothing like when i shot a compound for 16 years. i couldn't wait to be able to shoot everyday, with all the practice i got comfortable with, IF, given the opportunity to possibly  shoot at a live animal out to 15 yards. Wisconsin archery season opened in mid sept,and i headed to the woods with my Big River Bow that i named INDIAN SUMMER!!  5 days into the season i shot my very 1st Traditional deer a very nice doe , at a distance of 12 yards!!  This 1st kill gave me alot of confidence in my Bow, and the trip to North Dakota less than two months away was in my head day and night.

[smoke1953]

Well the week was going by quickly and different strategies were being used to try to head off several large mulies and whitetails that would come out of the Ponderosa pine draws and feed in the fields around the ranchers haybale storage site.

 

This site pictured also became shelter for the local pheasant population which were everywhere. One of those evening I was sitting on a side hill over looking this location. Pheasants were roosting in the pines across the draw from me, which I didn't know at the time. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an eagle come flashing into the pines and pheasant began to flush with the golden eagle in pursuit. After he would fail on one he'd come back and dive into the pines to flush another. It was just too cool!

The rest of the guys had spread out over a quarter of a mile to cover other points of entry to this feeding location and each had experiences with mulies and whitetails that for at least three of us were some of our best hunting experiences. I glanced to the high opening near the pines where we would expect deer to come from and there standing was a 28 to 30" wide mulie with 20 to 24" tops.  My can call interested him but not nearly as much as that noseful of female.
He would be seen again along with a couple of his large buddies.

[smoke1953]

While walking out from my hillside location to the truck where all four of us were to meet up that evening, I was kicking out many deer that had made it to the field which we had tried to avoid on two previous evenings. As I approached the truck Rafael(Greatbrownknockemdown) was getting there about the same time and he said, "did you see how many deer were coming out of that field and brush thicket?" Rafael quickly decided he was going to find some kind of tree at the edge of that thicket. Rafael it's time for you to tell your story and I'll follow up with pics.

[Irish Archer]

C'mon fellas, we want more.......more........more. Give it up dudes!

[Ben Maher]

Awesome stuff lads ... beautiful country ... keep it coming !