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.
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I have feeling this going to be good.
Jack
:campfire:
Can't wait.I see Whip very busy to set the camp!!
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.
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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.
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This mulie we gave the name Halfrack and gave me my first location to setup my Huntmore chair.
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Ya this is going to be good for sure! I'm a big fan of whip. Super Nice guy
Keep it going! :campfire:
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.....
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
This is looking good. I will be looking forward to this.
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.
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Whip, Rafael and Shakey(ranch owner)enjoying the whole experience.
There arent any deer in North Dakota!!!!!
:campfire:
:goldtooth:
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.
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One of our glassing positions. Loved my time glassing. Beautiful country!
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.
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.
(http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo306/bhaukom/NorthDakota062.jpg)
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.
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.
C'mon fellas, we want more.......more........more. Give it up dudes!
Awesome stuff lads ... beautiful country ... keep it coming !
Great stuff here !!
:coffee:
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!!
Keep it comin' men!
This is great stuff right here!
Shoot straight, Shinken
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.
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.
great story and photos of some fantastic country...
Keep it coming.
:campfire: :campfire:
This is getting good.
:campfire:
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.
I'm green with envy..... :thumbsup:
Cool hunt ... looking forward to hearing the rest of the story and seeing some more pictures!!!
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.
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!!
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!!
OOPS sorry getting to excited over here!
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.
Good stuff Guys! And you made it home for Nov 20th. Nice! :thumbsup:
This is Cool! Keep it coming Rafael.
I think something exciting is about to happen :campfire:
:campfire: Man this is some good reading!! I wish studying for my finals was this exciting.
Rafael must have gotten distracted or he's waiting for his heart rate to come under control so I'll continue until he breaks in. I think it was Tuesday morning and from my glassing position I could see that the group of 12 does and 3 bucks one which was a 170 class mulie were in the field where I needed them to be to be able to work my way down to a plateau where I had positioned a Huntmore chair behind some pines approximatly 50 feet above a thicket along the creek that meandered through our valley.
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By 9am this group had stopped there chasing in the field and worked their way into the thicket shown in the picture above. The big boy wondered around tearing up bushes which I could clearly hear and see from my elevated position 70 yds away. He checked out all the does however they didn't seem that interested and we had concluded that this was early in the mulie rut and the chase phase which is preferable. The big guy bedded down next to the creek and the younger 4 by 4 took over. I decided I would try the can call and both bucks turned immediatly.
I turned the can one more time and the younger but still nice 4x4 headed out of the thicket crossing a narrow field to the next bend of the creek below me. He emerged with a doe which I had no idea was there. Man, I do the calling and he gets the doe some things never change. They stood in the middle of the field probably 50 yds away and I was still 50 ft. above. I can called again, he turned, left the doe and headed for the creek directly below me. I didn't hear anything for a few minutes then the sound of a deer coming across the creek. I looked straight below and he was standing in the creek with a 60 degree slope between him and me and a possible opportunity.
I concentrated on my particular routine to ready for a shot but my heart was racing. As I turned to my left to look behind and below one more time he was climbing right up the spine of the 60 degree slope. I had to quickly move back into the right body position and calm down, take a deep breath and make sure to maintain form with my Northern Mist Baraga in hand.
A minute went by............where was he. Another minute or so.........nothing. Later I would find he veered into another draw that would position him above where he likely may have seen me.
Great experience for this 57 yr. old rookie.
Rafael has come down with the flu so we may be delayed for a day or so with the rest of the story unless BowhuntenFool or Whip decide to continue.
Come on, getting good.
What a great hunt. Thanks for taking us along :thumbsup:
At about 2pm on the north end of the lil wood lot came 5 muley does and right behind them came a 3x3 buck, they were about 60 yards away and i was hoping they would come closer. one of the does must have been coming into estrus cuz every time she moved the buck would trot over closer to her side, never letting her get to far away. there was one big doe that knew something was up and always kept looking up in my direction , i dont think she ever seen me, but she had sensed that i was there and after 20 mins she took the rest of her clan and headed back the way they came.
Well i second guessed myself, thinking that since every afternoon i kicked up deer in the brushy draw , that maybe they would all start coming out on the other side, so i quietly got out of my stand and walked over to where the mulies came down 30 mins before. i was really thinking of moving! but something just pulled me back to my 4 foot perch where i knew i had perfect cover and the wind was in my favor. so i started glassing the fields and hills and all afternoon i was seeing different groups of deer coming from all over, Just hoping something would come close enough to give me a shot.
Great stories, great pictures. The suspense is killing me!
Through out the afternoon sit, i would glass over my left shoulder towards the brushy draw and i would see a muley doe that was there since i hung my stand earlier, she would bed for 20 mins then feed, then bed, this happened all afternoon. Was this the same doe ? i have no idea, but every time i looked she was there. throught the sit i had seen 39 deer! the last half hour of my last evening sit was upon me. i thought this was a great week and the memories will be with me forever and i was already thinking of a return trip. well i decided to keep watching that doe that has been there all afternoon with the binos that Whip let me use on the trip, i figured she might come down to the cut hay before the night was through.
As i turned to glass the doe, i seen she was still there, doing the same thing. Just then out of nowhere a deer walked into the lenses of the binos, Man i thought, thats a Big deer and it looks like a whitetail It's a BUCK!! but i couldn't see his rack that good ,but his body was big. i immediatley reached in my pocket and grabbed my can call and while looking through the Binos I turned it over!THE bUCK SNAPPED HIS HEAD UP AND LOOKED IN MY DIRECTION!! Holy smokes he is a nice buck i thought to myself.
Well the glassing game was over, he was 50 yards and coming! I lost sight of him for what seemeed like forever, but he was in No rush for anything not even the seductive call of a hot doe.I knew his path would lead him to the edge of the draw and the edge of the field. He finally materialized on the edge of the field, By now i was shaking so bad, knowing i might get a shot. he hesitated for a moment , but it wasnt because he thought anything was up. once more i tuned the can call over and he made the turn to the south on the edge of my lil wood lot heading to where i waited.
I can't describe the flood of emotions that i was feeling at that moment, i could barley hold my bow still without the arrow feeling like it was going to fall off. I had a 10 yard shot out in front of me with a small natural opening in the tangled bushes, if he came in perfect, two steps further or closer i would have to wait for him to pass the tangled mess and give me a Quartering away shot at mere yards, which still was perfect.
Raphael your killing me. Hope you feel better soon and know your bow is fully capable of the task!
He stopped about 12 yards from where i needed him to be, and put his head down to eat some hay.Just then i felt a warm breeze in my face, not the mid 30s breeze i felt all afternoon. my body stopped shaking and i heard a voice in my head saying " i have been here before, in times past, in different lands and different places,and my arrows have flown true" I focused back on the Majestic animal, and as that warm breeze blew in my face i was not shaking any more, he continued his walk ,i continued focusing on a spot.
Awesome story and pictures guys! :campfire:
The buck came in and stopped in that very small opening i had through the tangled brush' and stopped perfectly where i needed him to and as he stopped i seen his head go down to pick up some more hay.and all instincts took over , i dont even remember drawing back or anchoring or anything,i just remember looking at the spot i wanted my arrow to hit. Suddenly i snapped out of it seeing the arrow in his side and him running his last run. My body started shaking uncontrollably again, i was thankful that i was only four feet off the ground. I exited my stand and ran across the field to where i last seen my buck, he crested a lil hill and was laying there next to the cow pasture fence, I slowly walked up to him and nuged him with my bow, making sure he had no life in him. Then i knealt down besides him and rubbed his hide and gave thanks to God for providing for me and i thanked the animal for also providing food for family and friends,and the memories of a great hunt. Then i felt that warmth again and knew what it was , My INDIAN SUMMER brought a little Warmth to the Bad Lands of North Dakota on that 30 degree afternoon.
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Congrat's Rafael! ....Now that's some good story telling! You had me on the edge of my chair.
Now for the Pictures :campfire:
Blaze removed for the pictures.
Yup.....now that's what I'm talking about!
Whoo! Hoo! way to go :thumbsup:
Congratulations :clapper:
How did Joe B. do? I am thrilled for you guys. Great story telling Raphael.
I just want to thank Smoke, "Bruce H." and Whip "Joe L. for inviting me and making a dream of mine to go out of state to come true. I also want to thank Bowhuntinfool "joe.B for helping me make the transistion from compound to Traditional. I can never see going back. Want to thank John McDonald for the best longbows around. Dave Ricke for the Knives he made me and Paul M. from badger arrows for helping me pick properly spined arrows for my set up. And also My Big River bow that i named Indian Summer for Providing 3 deer for me in my 1st year of Traditional Archery.
Congratulations, man! What an inaugural year!
My evening wasn't nearly as eventful. I hadn't even seen a deer from my stand, and at dark I headed out to pick up Rafael. There was a skiff of snow on the road, and as I pulled up to Rafael I noticed the road was filled with his tracks where he had been pacing back and forth. I thought to myself that he must have been really cold to have been pacing around so much waiting to be picked up.
I rolled down the window and he said "I shot a nice whitetail doe. She's laying right over here" I got out, walked up the small rise, shined my flashlight, and immediately saw the rack of a great buck sticking up from the head of his "doe".
The whooping and hollering and hugging and dancing commenced! What a fantastic animal! I couldn't have been happier for my brother, and to share that moment with him was the highlight of my trip. I was so glad I could be there to savor a special moment. I don't think I have ever been as excited, even over an animal of my own.
The story doesn't end there, REMEMBER the luck was in the truck!! Smoke and i drove up together and we drove back together!! And he has got his own story to tell!! ENJOY!
I'd been hunting the ground for the entire trip and had many great experiences but when I had the opportunity to hunt a tree that Bowhuntinfool decided to vacate for a new location 150 yds away I jumped at the opportunity for our last evening. Joe Bzura and I headed out early as did all of us that night. Our location was in the Ponderosa Pines about a half mile up slope from where Rafael was about to have his encounter with that real nice North Dakota whitetail. Congratulations Rafael it was a pleasure to be part of that experience with you. We were able to drive my truck about a quarter mile back in the pines and then had about a half mile to walk in. I was carrying my lone wolf assault with climbing sticks
to the tree location that Joe B new well. Once at the site I could see why it was special. 5 trails appeared to cross in this high level saddle. With the stand secure and me exploring the different shot angles I already had good case of nervous anticipation.
Great story guys! Congrats on a fine buck! :campfire:
Thats awesome!!
A few hours went by and I decided to sit for awhile which seems to be a mistake in this stand, because the deer are on you in a hurry with no sound as I would soon find out. Later Joe B would tell me that he meant to remind me of that fact. Soon out of the corner of my eye I saw a deer already only 12 yds away to my left. It was a decent forkie mulie and I started to stand and my ash arrow I had crafted for this trip hit a branch on the way up that I knew I should have removed as soon as I got in the stand. He jumped off the trail hesitated enough for me to get to half draw than he headed up slope and gone. The heart was pumpin. Not a minute later a decent 3x3 was coming down the same trail off to my left and behind. As soon as he got to the spot that the previous deer had moved upslope he thought he would too and that evening ended that way. I was now really looking forward to the morning, our last stand.
On the drive out we met up with Whip and Rafael on the road and had a good old celebration over Rafael's success.
The next morning after a proper celebration you would think it would be hard to get up..........well you're right, but we all did except Rafael of course, but he had plenty of work ahead of him since we planned to leave that afternoon. Joe B and I got started about 10 minutes earlier than he had normally left for his stand. I had been used to leaving about an hour later because Whip and I had been doing the morning glassing for the last couple of days so we would enjoy our morning coffee at a leisurely pace. That was not the case this morning. Also it was much colder about 15 with a breeze so the heavy pacs and fur hat were in order and we were off.
I got into the stand and sat down waiting for shooting light that was 15 minutes away. Why was I sitting down again. 20 min. had gone by and I was still sitting anticipating how I might shoot at the different approaches that deer come into this stand. Out of no where in the low light a big bodied tall racked mulie was coming straight in from the trail facing me. Last year even though I got a good shot on a doe I had a high hit on a nice 10 ptr that I never recovered. Negative thoughts began to creep in as this beautiful specimen was moving in but quartering toward me. I would need to wait for him to pass.
As he approached the trail that Joe B and I walked in on he got a wiff of a drag rag that Joe had attached to his foot as he walked past my stand. This boy didn't like whatever he smelled and slowly turned to leave giving me that split second opportunity for a more broadside shot. My Northern Mist Baraga tightened in my hand as I squeezed the sap out of that handle and drew the 54# longbow with a 750 gr. white ash arrow and released into the low light conditions. I heard the sound you want to hear as the arrow entered the cavity but I didn't see the track of the arrow. He bolted back to where he came, around a corner and out of sight.
I got down to look for blood in the light snow cover and after a few minutes found blood at 20 yds but no arrow at the site. I climbed back into the stand for a nearly two hour wait.
How I didn't see arrow earlier I don't know but after I got down I checked where I shot at 13 yds and there layed a blood soaked arrow. The emotions began to flow but I still had doubts that I shot high. Tracking began and as I turned the corner into the shorter grass the blood was small spatters. I got on my hands and knees to follow than sat up to look down slope. I see these branches in the distance and continue blood trailing. I look up again at those branches and rise to my feet dreaming that they might be horns..........They are horns! I'm overwhelmed and holding the bow high but couldn't yell because Joe B was hunting nearby. I had done it and like Rafael was overcome with only good thoughts.
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Great buck! Cngrats!
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I waited for a couple of hours before Bowhuntingfool showed up to celebrate our last stand bucks to top off a wonderful trip in the badlands of North Dakota with a group of great guys.
fantastic! and great bucks to boot! incredible hunt, thanks for the tellin.
This has been one of the greatest epic hunts I have read about in a while. Congratulations to Smoke and Rafael. WOW!
Great stuff guys. Gona do it again?
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!!
QuoteOriginally posted by PA-Spot:
Great stuff guys. Gona do it again?
Without a doubt! :readit: ;) :bigsmyl:
Congrats everyone, sounds like a great trip and special memories!
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Congratulations gents.
This is without a doubt, one of the most well documented adventures, along with fantastic photos I have read here..
There should be an annual award for the best hunting story....
Thanks for taking us along with the story guys. I love the pics with both deer laying together, and all of you are gathered around........... :thumbsup: :archer:
Excellent story and great pictures. Congrats to those who got their bucks and those who just enjoyed the hunt. Looks like a fine time was had by all.
What an awesome hunt guys, thanks for sharing the stories and pictures!!!
It's a great feeling to have those two on the ground. Awesome bucks for sure.
Shawn
That hunt looks awesome! Congtrats! Is this hunt available for people to buy. What is the contact info? Great job looks like fun.
The hunt is available for booking. I'd be happy to share contact information with anyone interested. Just send me an email or PM.
Stories well told and great buck on the ground. Congrats.
awesome bucks!!!!!!
:thumbsup: EXCELLENT !!!!!
You guys done good. Great story.
Jack
Great deer guys...what a great time :)
Thank you for the story and pictures....
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Thanks Whip for your capping expertice. Taxidermist said you did a great job. Also thanks Rafael and BowhuntenFool for all the teamwork necessary. Joe Bzura helping me in the field and taking those pics with my camera of this Dark Horned Mulie. After you get back home and think of the collective experience we had you want to find a way to get back, especially with the late start I got in this game. Life can be so short sometimes. Joe B had great experiences on this trip but I'm sure his work schedule has kept him away from this post. Maybe later?
Awesome stories guys. I hunted the badlands a few years back. It truely is an awesome place. We hunted about 15 miles south of Medora along East River Road, just north of "Handy Ranch." I plan to get back there in the next few years.
DId you guys have to draw rifle tags or archery tags?
Looks like a great trip.Thanks for letting us tag along. :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Good stuff! Awesome deer! Congrats! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
What a grand adventure. Thanks for taking me along, maybe someday I'll get the opportunity to head west, you have certainly fanned the flame of desire.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrat's Smoke! .......Job well done.
It's fun to see your friends have a successful hunt.
I am planning on hosting another WTA bunny hunt if you guys are interested.
Thanks you guys. Up for the bunny hunt and congrats on your deer!
"I just want to thank Smoke, "Bruce H." and Whip "Joe L. for inviting me and making a dream of mine to go out of state to come true. I also want to thank Bowhuntinfool "joe.B for helping me make the transistion from compound to Traditional. I can never see going back. Want to thank John McDonald for the best longbows around. Dave Ricke for the Knives he made me and Paul M. from badger arrows for helping me pick properly spined arrows for my set up. And also My Big River bow that i named Indian Summer for Providing 3 deer for me in my 1st year of Traditional Archery"
You can thank all of them if you want, but it was that bow grip that had the magic!
Congrats Tiger
Thanks Brain, and yes i'am for sure planning on going back!! traditonal archery, you can't get any better than that!
Looks like an awesome hunt and great story telling. Congrates on the 2 beautiful bucks.
:clapper: :clapper:
Awesome stories thanks for sharing. Raffel you sure had one successful first year of Trad.
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Great story and congratulations on your deer!
It was just like we were there...except we were warm in our homes and not in 15 degree weather :)
Awesome trip! Thanks for taking us along.
Well done fellas....well done :clapper:
Wow guys!! Great read and picks and deer dang, It's all good :notworthy: :notworthy:
Tracy
Beautiful pictures and great story telling! Thanks for sharing it all with us! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
This was just one of those trips where it all comes together. A fantastic group of people who all got along well and had smiles and laughs from start to finish. Just about ideal weather conditions. More deer than we could have ever hoped for, including some great bucks. And to top it all off with the two deer that Rafael and Bruce ended up with? Wow!
Sure, I suppose we could have wished that Joe and I could have gotten deer as well. We both had our chances. But to go 50% with traditional gear on a couple of last minute trophy class bucks - it just doesn't get much better than that on any trip.
I've sure had my share of western hunts, and hope and pray there are more to come. But this one will remain at the top of my memory list for a long long time.
Cool pictures.
This is pretty awesome thread fellas! I don't know where to begin! LOL! I had a great hunt in an amazing place with some good friends!
Yeah Joe, we had our chances thats for sure, I blew a 13 yard shot out of the same tree Bruce killed his deer out of, things just happened so quick on that opening morning my mind is still racing on that one! LOL!
QuoteOriginally posted by PA-Spot:
Great stuff guys. Gona do it again?
I am thats for sure!!!!!!!!!
Great story and pictures guys! ND Badlands are a very special place that is for sure! I have been hunting out there since I was 12 years old and am in the process of making the switch to recurve for next year!
Congratulations again guys!
Awesome job guys. That thread was awesome. I cant wait to hear some of the stories in person. The trip of a lifetime, that is for sure.
Matt Pochinski
Yeah Matt, it was an awesome place, it was pretty hard to leave, as any camp is......
I tell ya that last morning sit was pretty hard to stay in my tree, as Bruce was a few hundred yards away in a tree I hunted all week, I just wanted to get down and go hang out with my brother and enjoy it with him!
One thing I'll never forget is Bruce telling me on our way, "its pretty cool being pumped up for the last sit of the trip", I just knew he was gonna kill one!
Awsome! :notworthy:
Congratulations guys! you did a great job conveying your stories and successes. the pics were great and the friendship was great, too! thanks for sharing!
Kenny
Great story guys, congrats on the awesome deer and memories!
I got to hunt North Dakota several years ago on an incidental situation after we got mudded out of Montana elk country for a few days. I was entranced with the country and always said I would come back but I never had. This thread is like a gently wind across those almost dormant embers. Man, I want to go again now. Great story, cool hunt and awesome bucks. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome story! Great deer! Congratulations on the hunts guys. Thanks for sharing.
Congrats on your hunts... great story telling and great bucks!
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.
Great stuff guys! Congrats on a couple of dandies! :thumbsup:
Way to go guys. I had been wondering what came of that hunt. Sounds like a dandy.
Yes this hunt was on private land, but the gun season started the same day our hunt did, but no where near as many hunters we see in Wis. Well just got word that the other 3 guys i went with are all going back next year! Now i just have to make up my mind URGHH! I really want to. I'll know within the week.
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Well Done, Well Done!
Their is something about that photo of Bruce and his buck. The picture of all of you together ain't too shabby either. It is quite possibly one of the best set of photos I've seen in a long time. The light is perfect, the scene is beautiful, and the bucks antlers are as striking. Us midwesterns' just don't get to see chocolate antlers like that on a beautiful mulie.
Thanks for letting us share in your adventure. You all did a wonderful job painting the portrait of this story for us to see.
Chris
P.S. Is it just me or does Tradgang have the best collection of lids ever? I'm not sure I could pull it off, but they sure look cool on some of you guys. Bruce's has some serious character!
Super story and pictures! Western North Dakota is one of the most beautiful areas in the country. Your pictures really captured the colors of the scenery and the deer.
There aren't many hunters who have had a first year of hunting with traditional equipment that can top your experiences.
Again, congratulations!
Bernie Bjorklund North Central IA/Southwest WI
48# Spirit Longbow
45# Martin Hunter
It's great that you guys had such a good hunt and cronicled it so well here. It's always difficult when I recommend a place for friends to hunt, though from hunting there almost 25 years, I had confidence that you would have a good hunt. It'll be great having you back next year, I hope the hunting is just as exciting. It would be cool to fill the place with trad hunters next fall!
For those of you who might be thinking about planning a North Dakota hunt of your own Dan is the man to talk to. He handles the booking of the ranch we hunted.
Can't wait until next year!