- Details
- Category: Archery
- Published: Thursday, 30 August 2007 21:07
- Written by Greg
Father & Son - Mule Deer Double
It was the opening day of the archery hunt here in Utah. Dallas (my son) and I had been hunting all day long and had seen a few bucks, but just couldn't seem to get close. The sun had set and the daylight was almost gone when suddenly we came upon a 2 point buck. At 8:30 pm after a long and tiring day, it didn't take long to decide that we'd let an arrow fly if the buck presented us a shot. The buck walked only 25 yards in front of us and stopped. Just as Dallas was drawing his bow, another 2 point came running out of the timber, across this little meadow, right toward the deer Dallas was drawing on. This made the buck in Dallas' sights jump a few steps forward and to the left, right behind a pine tree, while the other 2 point continued further into the trees until it couldn't be seen. Dallas released his draw and looked at me. We both looked back at the deer and could see it staring at us through the pine boughs. Dallas asked what he should do since there wasn't much of an opening to shoot at. We made a judgment call and decided to go ahead and try to sneak an arrow through the pine boughs since the boughs were resting right against the deer's body. Dallas drew back and nailed him. The buck took off running and died in mid stride 30 yards from where he hit it.
Next it would be my turn... Sunday morning came quickly. I was coming down this draw at 6:43 am when I saw a deer feeding across the side hill at 50 yards. It was a buck! He stopped and looked right at me. He was only a few feet from disappearing into a small patch of trees. I drew back...just as I let my arrow fly he stepped foward. I watched my arrow sail toward him...the closer the Easton XX75 got to the buck, the harder it was to make out the rocketing aluminum shaft in the early morning dawn. Just as my XX75 Gamegetter reached the point of impact, I completely lost sight of it as it blended with the buck and couldn't tell if or where I had hit him. Where's my Lumenok when I need one? The buck gave more of a startled jump, than the kick of an arrow hitting home. I watched the buck scamper up the hill another 50 yards and then he just stood broadside in a humped up manner. That appeared to be a sure sign of a gut shot. The buck stood there for 32 minutes without moving. During that time, four does came out of the timber and fed across the hillside...right past the standing buck and continued to walk right out of sight. The buck never moved an inch. After 32 long minutes of my not moving a muscle, I was excited to see the buck take one step and bed down. I continued to watch the buck for another 15 minutes and then decided to back out of the area and go get Dallas. I made it back to camp and woke up my sleeping teenager, ate breakfast, had a small fire and then decided to go check out the buck. It now had been a full 2 hours since I had left the buck, so I was thinking/hoping that I had given him enough time. Dallas and I snuck down the little draw to within 100 yards of where the buck had bedded and there he was...still bedded! I decided to put a stalk on him since there was a nice pine tree that would hide my approach and put me within 25 yards of where he lay. All I had to do was to head down hill 30 yards and approach him from a slight angle. I started the stalk in the direction of my prize and kept looking to Dallas for any sign that the buck may have spooked, since I absolutely could not see the deer from my angle. When I got to within 50 yards, Dallas gave me the sign that the buck had stood up. I stopped and waited...10 seconds later Dallas indicated that the buck layed right back down. I continued my stalk. I finally reached the pine tree which was only 25 yards from the buck. I looked through the boughs and saw that the 3x4 velvet antlered buck was looking straight toward me! Within a fraction of a second I had a plan...I would draw my bow, step out from around the tree and drill him. I drew, stepped to my left...and there he was...or at least there was his head and the top 2 inches of his back. The rest of buck was completely hidden behind a fallen tree that wasn't visible from the original angle where Dallas and I had first viewed the buck. I stood there at full draw for 10 or more seconds and suddenly in one quick motion the buck stood up, whirled and was gone. I didn't even get off a shot at 25 yards!
I waved Dallas over and we walked up to the deer bed. There we found blood, but not very much. We then made our way down to where I had originally hit the buck to go find my arrow. I needed to see what type of shot I had made on the deer based on the telltale signs left on the arrow. We found the arrow and my fears were confirmed...a gut shot. Now I didn't know what to do. I was convinced that my jumping the buck would be the last time I'd see this deer again. Both Dallas and I decided to go try and follow the buck's blood trail, if one existed.
We hiked back to the place where I had moments ago jumped the buck and there leading away from that spot was a faint trail of blood. We followed the blood for 15 yards or so and it led right to the edge of a clearing. Now the big question, which way did he go? Straight across the meadow? Up or down the timberline? We couldn't tell. Finally we decided to head across the opening to the edge of the timber on the other side of this 40 yard clearing to see if we could happen upon the buck. Just as we reached the timber on the other side of the clearing, we jumped the buck! Amazingly, the buck didn't seem very startled. He walked 20 or so yards and layed down. Again, we decided to back out of the area. This time we wouldn't return for at least 5 to 6 hours. It was finally 5:30 pm and we were back. As we cautiously approached the place where we had last seen the buck, we stopped to glass the area. There he was, still bedded! I wasn't going to make the same mistake again, I positioned myself for a shot and drilled him in his bed. We were elated, both of us had our bucks!