Great job guys. I've been hunting the ND badlands for 8 years now, and I can tell you to kill a deer out there with trad bows is quite an accomplishment.
I think the key was private land, and hunting the rut w/o rifle hunters. I can say that I would have killed about 6 big mule deer with a compound when we hunt in Oct. The other guys that hunt the same place kill deer almost every time at 40-60 yards. It's a huge handicap with trad bows, much more so than whitetails back here in WI. Those who I have taken out there are amazed at how well mule deer can see. Yes, you will see a lot of deer because you can see a long ways, but they can also see you. Especially the does which are everywhere blowing up opportunities. That and the wind has been my nemesis trying to get a 20 yard or less shot. Not very many good trees where we are either, and they are never straight. And the valleys swirl the wind.
Some guys have called me nuts and claim it’s impossible to kill a mule deer with a recurve. That just makes me want to prove them wrong (I was able to take a fork horn few years ago). But you have to give up a lot of country, as there are only so many place you can hunt them (those that have cover within 20 yards and deer walking by it). The value of glassing cannot be understated. Our rancher best described mule deer as having no conscious. They will go where the mood strikes them, so patterning them can be frustrating too. But the recent oil and gas development out there is having an impact on hunting. On one ridgetop I counted 18 new wells. That’s the price we pay for being able to drive our trucks to places like this though.
This year I did everything right, but had a bull elk huffing at me while I waited for a really nice 4x4 mulie to walk by me. Besides the elk making me nervous I had 8 years of work into this shot, so no surprise I promptly shot right under him as he stood on the crest of a rise in a cut field. Not very good judging at yardage in that situation, they are bigger and look closer than they are! It’s wonderful country, we also saw elk, bighorn sheep, antelope, turkeys, sharptails, pheasants, waterfowl, porcupines, beaver, bobcats, coyotes and cougar tracks. ND is a great place to hunt, but don’t come away from this thinking it’s an easy place to hunt deer with traditional bows. They will try your patience and test your loyalty to traditional equipment.
Topic: North Dakota Badlands are Real Good! (Read 1992 times)
