North Dakota Badlands are Real Good!

[coaster500]

Great stuff here !!


 

[Whip]

We'll just all throw in our own experiences as we go, so there will be four versions of the story all going on at once here. You'll want to pay attention!

Being the first time on this ranch, and with only a short 5 days to hunt, we had our work cut out for us. I elected to spend the first afternoon and the next morning glassing from a high vantage point to learn as much as I could as quickly as possible.

The strategy paid dividends immediately when I counted 74 different deer the very first evening. There could have been quite a few more, but I was trying not to double count them. I only counted those that I knew for sure were different animals.

Now that's an encouraging start to a hunt!

[Whip]

We'll just all throw in our own experiences as we go, so there will be four versions of the story all going on at once here. You'll want to pay attention!

Being the first time on this ranch, and with only a short 5 days to hunt, we had our work cut out for us. I elected to spend the first afternoon and the next morning glassing from a high vantage point to learn as much as I could as quickly as possible.

The strategy paid dividends immediately when I counted 74 different deer the very first evening. There could have been quite a few more, but I was trying not to double count them. I only counted those that I knew for sure were different animals.

Now that's an encouraging start to a hunt!

A good portion of the deer had seemed to be using one particular pine covered ridge as a bedding area, so we focused on the trails leading from that ridge down to the hay fields they were feeding in below. Tree stands were hung to cover different entry points, and hopes were high for our second evening hunt.

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

As time grew near for  THE BIG HUNT, i had a week to spend in the Wisconsin woods trying to get even a lil more MOJO before we headed to North Dakota. not going to tell the whole story cuz it's for another tread, but 5 days before leaving to ND, my INDIAN SUMMER produced another AWESOME kill on a nice 8pt buck taken at 8 yards, this would be my 1st trad buck and my second kill in my 1st year of hunting with a trad bow!! I was truly being blessed!! and the Biggest blessing was yet to come, which i couldn't even imagine. i was really ready for ND now.

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

The day finally comes and Bowhuntinfool (joe.B) and i ride in his truck to Whips cabin to meet him and smoke, when we arrived we where all pretty excited to get going . I rode with Smoke and the two Joes rode together.  The luck was in the truck is what i said, we will learn why later. the drive to ND was long with an over night stay at a hotel not far from the place we would call home for the next 6 days. I was anxious to say the least.

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

Getting closer to our destination was really getting to me, the beauty of this land was amazing, the endless fields and beautiful cliffs and rock formations, i was in AWE of Gods creation!  AS we drove to the cabin we started seeing deer!!  little did i know this was going to be the norm, deer sighting after deer sighting constantly at all time of the day. truly i thought i must be in heaven!!

[Shinken]

Keep it comin' men!

This is great stuff right here!

Shoot straight, Shinken

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

Well with Whip being the only one with all the out west hunting experience, his strategy was to glass the first evening and next morning, and from his observations he laid the plan to set us all up in different locations to cover the area where he knew the deer where coming from. Where i sat i walked the side of a brushy draw about 250 yrds long and every time i did this i kicked out deer. that 1st evening i had a couple small muley does walk by  about 25 yards, but i wasn't even thinking about shooting a doe this early in the hunt, that night i also saw two nice muley bucks that never came close enough for a shot.  a couple of mornings i went to high ground with Whip and Smoke hoping to get a chance at deer moving up after feeding all night in the fields. Almost pulled off a shot at a muley doe at under 20 yards but she caught me drawing, it was exciting for sure. Well as long as i was up there i got a chance to take in more of this beautiful place from the high point and to see lots of deer groups scattered all across the terrain.

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

The next evening i set up further up the draw where i seen the two nice bucks the night before, i did see deer about 14 of them on this sit, when i was 1st setting up my stand i caught movement across a little grassy hill, it was a 3x3 buck. i decided to put the sneak on him since the wind was right for it, well i closed the distance from 75 yards to 25 yards but needed 5 more yards to be in my comfort zone, DARN, got busted! but came close. this was about 2pm. later had 2 does come by at 30 yards and seen a couple other small bucks on the other side of the grassy hill all afternoon, an hour before close on the opposite side of the hill i seen 6 does and a small buck come into view and right behind them all was HALF RACK!!  boy was he a brute. well they all stayed on that side never coming closer than 80 yards.  Moments before i seen all these deer Bowhuntinfool had HALF RACK broadside almost under his tree!!  i'm sure he will tell that story. next evening i would move my stand yet again closer to where the action was the night before, when i set up that tuesday  evening i had a strong feeling i wasn't going to see anything , and i was right,  the cows filtered in and couldnt get enough of the strange site in the tree that kept trying to shew them away, i decided to exit my stand early and thats when i seen all the deer at the end of the brushy draw on the edge of the cut hay field, there had to be over 20 of them, thats when i ran into smoke coming out from his sit and commented to him about all the deer and me possibly setting up there the following night , which would be our last night hunt of our trip.

[Gator1]

great story and photos of some fantastic country...

Keep it coming.

     

[Elkchaser]

This is getting good.
   

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

The night went and morning came, i went and sat on the ground in a pinch point between the river and the hill side hoping to catch something sneaking thru, well the wind was not perfect and i got busted by a group of does, i moved along the hill side to where it opened up to wider places, and got to witness a small 6pt whietail checking every little patch of cover looking for a hot doe, all he happened to find was a lil spike buck that he ran off. that was neat to watch. after lunch we all decided to head out, Whip and I rode together cuz we were going to hunt kind of in the same area, and Smoke and Bowhuntinfool drove together cuz they were going elsewhwere for their evening sit.

[ron w]

I'm green with envy.....  

[bohuntr]

Cool hunt ... looking forward to hearing the rest of the story and seeing some more pictures!!!

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

I made up my mind to hunt the edge of the brushy draw, that the night before Smoke and i Spooked a bunch of deer on the way out from our evening hunt. The draw runs east and west and is not 15 yards wide in most places, on the eastern edge of that draw is a small woodlot with small trees and some over grown tangle in it,it runs north and south, It's maybe 25 yards wide by 60 yards long, thats it.  Whip dropped me off around 1ish, we wished each other luck and i headed out with INDIAN SUMMER and my Lone wolf hang-on stand on my back.

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

As i headed the short 80 or 90 yards across the cut hay field, the whole weeks hunt was in my head, the beauty and hundreds of deers sightings, the fun i had with the guys. It was all worth it, but i also knew that all week i never really had an opportunity at any thing close enough while i was on stand, well thats hunting and thats the way it goes sometimes, getting something close or not the whole hunt will be remembered 4ever. Heck i harvested my 1st doe and buck back home ,that was big in itself!! The evening temps would be in the mid 30s much as it has been the whole trip, PERFECT hunting weather,  little did i know things were going to change and a lil INDIAN SUMMER was going to be headed to The Bad Lands of North Dakota!!

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

As i headed the short 80 or 90 yards across the cut hay field, the whole weeks hunt was in my head, the beauty and hundreds of deers sightings, the fun i had with the guys. It was all worth it, but i also knew that all week i never really had an opportunity at any thing close enough while i was on stand, well thats hunting and that the way it goes sometimes, getting something close or not the whole hunt will be remembered 4ever. Heck i harvested my 1st doe and buck back home ,that was big in itself!! The evening temps would be in the mid 30s much as it has been the whole trip, PERFECT hunting weather,  little did i know things were going to change and i lil INDIAN SUMMER was going to be headed to The Bad Lands of North Dakota!!

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

OOPS sorry getting to excited over here!

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

As i approached the tiny wood lot, i happened to spook a couple whitetail does that were bedded 10 yards inside the woods, i walked from the north end to the south end looking for a suitable tree, well there wasn't any i could really get up in, and i knew i really wanted to set up on the north end of the lot that butts up to that brushy draw where i knew deer were bedded. so i went back and found a tree i could only get one climbing stick in and then hang my stand, and that was it! the bottom of my stand platform was only 4 feet off the ground!! But i had perfect cover with dead falls leaning against other smaller trees around me and a bunch of tangle bushes that grew into those, anything coming from the brushy draw would have no clue.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Good stuff Guys!  And you made it home for Nov 20th.  Nice!