A couple of weeks ago Taiga Recurve (Tony), Brian Horn and I went out on a 5 day hunt.  It was a 6 hour drive from the eastern part of the state to the west.  We got to the temporary campsite around 12:30 am, layed out a tarp and sleeping bags and slept under the stars (what a display).  We had some curious cows nearby, but they kept their distance.



We got a little late the next morning but early enough to spot some deer.  I setup and glassed near an oil road and watched about a dozen deer walk around a large butte.  None of us flatlanders had our legs ready for the hills and we all got back to camp a little tired.  We picked up and made camp near the end of the road.  Tony has a on of camping gear and knows how to use it.

That evening we drove to another nearby spot, Brian and Tony setup along a creek bed and I walked along the side of a hill, hoping to intercept them as they came down the hill.  I saw 2, but they saw me first.  Afterwards I had a rabbit at 8 yards.  My shot was a little left and caught the rabbit in the neck.  I chased him for 20 minutes in the cedar have a couple more tough shots, it won and got away and I had a blast.

The next morning we all changed spots.  I setup where Brian was the morning before and watched 5 bighorn sheep ewes and some more deer over a mile away.  We had a quick lunch, talked things over and made a 20+ mile drive to a spot I had been the year before.  We saw some antelope on the way in.  I dropped Tony and Brian off on a trail, took the vehicle in search for the antelope.  I realized I wasn't going to catch up to the antelope with the decoy in time to get back before dark so I got up on a tall butte and glassed.  Before I knew it I saw 6 mule deer does near the bottom of the butte.  I got down off the butte and started the stalk.  I made the mistake of stalking to where I last saw them and not where they were headed.  They were no where to be found.  I kept along the dry creek bed I saw them and ended up bumping them along the edge.  Tony and Brian both saw deer and Tony had a shot, but missed just high.  We took quite a "shortcut" on the way back, 1/8 the distance but the same time of travel due to the roughness of the road.

...

The next morning I went to the same butte I was at the first morning.  I saw a group of 6 mule deer about 9 am, 2 were spike bucks and one of them was limping on it's right front leg.  The wind was in my favor and they ended up bedding 125 yards away.  I waited a couple of minutes then noticed one of the spikes at the bottom of the hill in front of me, he bedded down facing me.  I was trapped on the butte side with only a small cedar to disguise me.  I laid back and watched him for 45 minutes.  Finally he was up, stretched, then bedded back down away from me.



The wind was still in my favor and I crawled down the hill on my back, trying to be quiet and move slowly until I got out of the sight of the buck.  15 minutes and 30 yards later I stood up and walked the next 50 yards.  At that point I took my pack, boots and quiver off and stalked in my wool socks.  I did pretty good being quiet and only managed to get one cactus thorn in my foot.


In this picture I started from the top left hill and the buck was at the bottom of the right hill.

I was trying to get above the bedded buck working along the side of the hill he was bedded below.  I noticed the rear end of a bedded doe and realized that I wasn't going to get to the buck.  I crouched down, backed up and lined up for a shot on the doe.  When I stood up for the shot, she was standing.  I shot watching with dread as my arrow was heading towards her stomach.  She abruptly turned to her left (she was facing to my left to start) and nearly spun 180 degrees.  My arrow entered about 4 inches behind her shoulder and passed through just in front of the opposite hip.  I watched in amazement as she tore off down and around the hill with nearly all of the arrow hanging out the other side, covered in blood.  Seconds later all the deer appeared at the base of the next hill and I heard a crash in the cedar lined hill, right where the deer was headed.


The shot angle


The wounded deers escape route.

I collected myself and walked back to my pack and boots.  I had a brief lunch of kippered snacks (smoked herring), granola bar and water.  I texted Tony and let him know I hit a doe good.

...

After the break and waiting over 30 minutes I searched for blood at the point where I hit her and at the last point I saw her.  I only found blood at the point where she rounded the hill (the last I saw of her).  There wasn't much blood.  I stuck an arrow in the ground at the spot and backed off.



I texted Tony that I had some blood and would accept some help if they offered.
...

Jason, I drove about 14 hours to spend a week hunting the badlands back at the end of September.

Beautiful country.....

Great  Pics.

I'll be out by Killdeer in a couple weeks.  The pics look awfully similar.

Now finish the story did you find her yet!

Tony and Brian showed up about 1/2 hour later.



We found a little more blood, but not much and I was starting to lose a little hope.  We split up on the cedar lined hill.  About 20 minutes later Tony whistled and asked us if anyone wanted to gut a deer.

I was pumped to say the least.






...

After some congratulations and lots of pictures Tony and I boned out the deer and Brian manned the game bags and organized the meat.  I was very grateful to have the help I did.

After boning out the animal I did as much autopsy as I could and looked for the arrow.  We couldn't find it and I decided to look for it the next day.


Entrance wound


Entrace


Exit



Tony and Brian packed out the meat and left me with little to do except take pictures.



Tony and Brian went out for the evening hunt at the long distance spot and I finished cleaning up the meat.  We had backstraps that night for dinner.  Awesome!

We hunted the next morning, Brian stalked a couple of bucks with no luck and Tony seeing more deer.  That afternoon/evening I looked for my arrow while Tony and Brian went off to a new spot.  Brian saw a buck and Tony saw some more deer.

I found the arrow and realized the reason I didn't pass through completely is because my arrow had stopped in the dirt behind the deer.  I was verry happly with my arrow combo (7595 GT with 100 gr brass insert and Grizzly El Grande with 125 grain steel adaptor).



We decided to pack up the next morning so we could get back home in time to get ready for the next day of work.

This was probably the most relaxing, fun hunt I've been on in quite a while.  5 days of being out in the bush, no work and no worries with some great guys.

Thanks Tony and Brian!

BTW, the reason for the lack of blood wasn't the hole left by the head, the relatively high hit didn't allow the blood to spill out.  The body cavity was full of blood, it just didn't have enough time to fill up in the 5-10 seconds after it was hit.

Jason

Congrats  

Congratulations.   Very nice deer and way to stay with the tracking job.


 Don't you just hate it when your friends take over the really hard work?

cool story.  were you on public land?

Good job, Jason. Still shooting one of Tim's LB's?

Thanks guys, I just wanted to add to the stories going around that I enjoy reading.

Yeah, it's a Kota Praire Fire, 48# @ 28".

Yep, public land.  Lots of oil activity.

Jason

Anywhere near the Theodore Roosevelt National Grasslands.

Yeah, it was in the Little Missouri National Grasslands.

Just got back from there a week ago.  Spent 5 days there myself.  Congrats,  Chad

How was the deer population?  I know the whitetails took a hit from blue tongue like 3 years ago and were just making a comeback last year in the area we were at.

Good work Jason!  That is sure beautiful country, I've got a buddy that is moving out there next year so I'll have the inside track on hunting there!

Great job and cool photos, never hunted ND just a few times in SD, great country! Sounds like you've got some good hunting partners- way to go!

I can't say for sure, but I'd say in the area we were in there was a decent amount, but few bucks.