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!  

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!  

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.

 

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!