Badlands Mule Deer Hunt

[Jack Shanks]

It was ten years ago when my hunting partner Cliff Free and I last hunted mule deer in North Dakota. Although our DIY hunt was unsuccessful we vowed to return one day and try again. Little did we know at the time that it would take us so long to get back. Actually, we had applied for and drawn tags last year but a sudden medical condition in Cliff's family had us post pone our trip until this fall.

Although last year's winter was mild North Dakota's three previous winters had been brutal and combine that with a outbreak of blue tongue disease in the area it didn't sound all that promising as far as deer numbers go.It has been reported in certain spots the deer populations were down 70% from what they were just a few years earlier. Any mule deer hunt I have ever been on has been a challenge and this one was stacked up to be no different going in. We still had high hopes as we left from Michigan on September 7th. After spending the night in a motel we arrived at our destination in the far western part of the state early the following afternoon. Something about hunting the prairie in early fall that sticks with you. We were glad to be back.

 

[slivrslingr]

[Jack Shanks]

I believe the key to successfully hunting mule deer in such open country is patience. Wait until you can locate a deer in a stalk-able location seems like the most productive method. We spent our mornings and evenings when deer were up feeding to glass the ravines and open hillsides looking for the right situations. They were few and far between.

 

We did soak up a lot of the natural beauty of the landscape in the process though.

[Jack Shanks]

We were glassing two really nice bucks in this valley each morning and watching them go to bed. They were never in a spot where either the wind or the terrian allowed us to get close though. The one day they bedded on a cliff part way up the deep ravine in the center of the picture on the hills in the distance. Too steep for a stalk but we felt maybe a push might work. I circled around and got dirrectly above their position while Cliff worked up from below. Our plan didn't work though as they must have squirted out the side. We never saw them leave.

 

[Rooselk]

Very cool! Great pics. I've been wanting to hunt the ND Badlands for a number of years.

[Jack Shanks]

One evening I was glassing an area when two smaller bucks came out of the draw below me and bedded on the hillside to catch the last rays of sun directly across from my position at about 200 yards.Two more bigger bucks appeared coming out of the ravine and started feeding just below me at about 100 yards. I didn't dare move for fear of being spotted by one or all. I was able to snap a picture of one of the bigger bucks when the smaller bucks got up and moved shortly before dark. I couldn't make a stalk on him though because of where the other bucks were located. This is where patience comes in. I didn't want to blow them out of the area so waited until they fed over the ridge and by then it was too late to make a move.

 

[Marc B.]

  Great so far Jack!

[Jack Shanks]

Finally on the morning of the sixth day I was glassing a buck that bedded in a place that would allow a stalk. He had fed late and I was pretty sure he would be there until evening. I slipped away from my vantage point and went to find Cliff who was glassing a spot a mile or so away. Here's the buck feeding a half mile distance through my spotting scope before he went to bed.

[Longbowlogan]

[Jack Shanks]

Cliff had located one of the two big bucks feeding in the valley and watched him enter a creek bottom and not come out. Although he couldn't see exactly where he bedded he hoped he might be able to walk up the creek and catch him napping. I felt the buck I had located could wait so I climbed to a vantage point and watched for the buck Cliff was after in case he bumped him. Cliff spent a couple hours looking but was never able to find the big buck and I never saw him leave either. We met back up and headed to the spot where I had last glassed the other buck in the morning. It was nearly noon by the time we got back there. He had bedded in the washout below the ridge in the center of the picture and was still there when we glassed. The stalk was on!

 

[Jack Shanks]

Cliff watched through the spotting scope as I made a wide circle to the left to keep out of the buck's view. You can see the washout where the buck is just above the shadow line on the middle left of the picture.

 

[wooddamon1]

 Beautiful country!

[Jack Shanks]

It took an hour or so for me to make my way around to the ridge. Coming in from the top the wind was blowing strong to help cover my approach and carry my scent away from the unsuspecting buck. When I could see the washout I knocked a Snuffer tipped arrow and slowly inched forward with tension on the string. Reaching the lip of the washout I peered over the edge. It was seven or eight feet to the bottom and undercut so I couldn't yet see the buck if he were still there. I slowly leaned out and could make out his antler tips a couple yards under my feet. At about the same time the buck either saw my shadow or sensed my presence as he exploded out of his resting place. I drew my bow, picked a spot and released the arrow in one fluid motion striking perfectly behind the right shoulder at about five yards distance.

The buck raced down the hill crashing in the brush to his right regaining his footing and dropping over the lip out of my sight. I ran around the washout to try and get another glimpse of him but saw or heard nothing. I called Cliff on the radio to see if he could see the direction the buck had gone. Cliff said he had looked up from the spotting scope and grabbed his binoculars as soon as the buck took off but couldn't find him again.

I walked a few feet down hill and found him 75 yards from where I had shot, piled up.

 


Cliff hunted hard the remaining few days but ended up never getting a buck within range.

We'll be back I'm sure.

[Marc B.]

Congrats Jack! That is a fine buck!

[doug77]

Nice deer Jack. What bow were you shooting.

doug77

[arsurveyor]

Great deer. Congrats.

[wooddamon1]

Nice, congrats!

[britt]

Thank you, what a hunt. Nice pics. Makes me want to be there.

[Darryl Quidort]

Great story and photos of your hunt, Jack.  Congrats on the success.

[Darryl Quidort]

PS - Jack, your mailbox is full.