What a beautiful animal! Dark chocolate antlers, and just an absolute brute of a body. The neck on Bruce's buck measured 32" around. Simply massive! I don't think there is a more impressive looking deer than a muley buck in full rut.
The most difficult part of this trip for me was just figuring out where to sit. Deer were everywhere, but it is big country, and narrowing down your choice to the exact spot where a good buck might pass within range is the tricky part.
There was a good group of does that seemed to favor a particular hay field and had some very nice muley bucks hanging around. I spent a few mornings tucked in on the ground hoping one might use the draw I was in to move up into the hills.
In the evenings I sat in treestands on top of a ridge between bedding and feeding grounds. On one evening I had a whitetail spike directly under me but held off hoping for something bigger. When you see as many good deer as we did it makes it pretty easy to pass up the small ones. Just a couple minutes before quiting time I glanced to my right and a beautiful 10 point whitetail was already at 8 yards and closing. I was paying the most attention to the trails in front of me, and in the fading light I hadn't noticed him creeping in from my backside.
He passed at five yards, and I needed to turn around in a hurry if I wanted a shot. I didn't get away with it, and he was quickly gone.
He was a beautiful deer, with good width, mass, and height. But that would prove to be my only really close encounter with a good buck during the trip.
We only had five days to hunt, and like so many trips out west just about the time you really get it figured out it is time to head home. Oh, what I wouldn't have given for a few more days!!
Topic: North Dakota Badlands are Real Good! (Read 4361 times)
