That magical time of year that is Deer Hunting...
Within these pages we will share the big game animal that has proven to be in our "wheel house" as we look back on our successes and lessons learned. Even with deer, if it was so easy they'd call it "shopping" instead of "hunting!"
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We both had some experience prior to our link-up in Colorado in 2010 but our jobs prevented us from gaining detailed knowledge that can only be gained from dedicated hunting. Nothing will better prepare you and hone your skills than actually hitting the bush and trying out those techniques that you study in the comfort of your home.
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Most of our hunts have been on public land and DiY with a few private land hunts mixed in. We were fortunate in Colorado to also "yard hunt" since we both lived on about five acres of, what turned out to be, lucrative hunting grounds. My Minnesota hunts were the same with my only success thus far coming on my five acre homestead!
Minnesota Whitetail - Firearm
A nice Whitetail doe that I heard coming from a long way off with the dry leaves. I was on leave from the Army in 1998 in Minnesota and had to borrow all the gear...but it was on an old friend's private land. I'd hunted during my formative teen years with gun and archery but once I went off to college and then the Army, this was my first chance at an adult gun hunt. During these "old days" of borrowed equipment, I did not use any scent cover methods, urine, or calls but I ended up tagging her from a rickety deer stand at just over 25 yards. My old brother-in-law drove his old, no muffler truck out to the woodline and the hunt was over for my sister who was in a nice heated elevated blind about 100 meters away! It was one of the few times I was able to hunt while in the Army until I was posted in Colorado during the twilight of my Army career.
Mississippi Whitetail - Archery
My first and only Mississippi archery deer hunt in 2006. Another rare hunting opportunity while I was on active duty. Thinking back, I probably only hunted there once due to the heat, humidity, and abundance of venomous snakes! I bought the Hoyt Viper-Tec bow from a friend for a hundred bucks and am still using it for archery in the fall of 2020! She will be retired this spring for a much needed upgrade of a more silent, faster bow! A friend of mine had a two story barn like structure that he hunted out of of and let me take a whack at some, what I consider, small whitetails. I had to stand on a wooden box to properly shoot out a window and continuously squawked every time I'd move. A few gathered about 30 meters below me and I took a shot...then another...than another! The third arrow was finally on target but a bit low...as you can see in the picture, it was enough!
Colorado Mule - Archery
My first Colorado hunt in the fall of 2010, six months after arriving. I had, literally, tried to get posted in Colorado for 15 years and was looking forward to the incredible Colorado outdoors. I was finally in the land of the Mule Deer and set up an outdoor archery range shortly after moving into a five acre house north of Peyton. The best part of moving there was meeting the other founder of the GOM Hunting Club, Mike, who lived right next door. His five acres were even better with an established food plot of clover which you can see next to Mike's shed in the background picture. I got a call that there were deer on the property so I headed over to park behind his shed. The Muleys were watching so I had to almost low crawl around the edge of the building - slowly. Lo and behold, a very nice doe wandered down the hill towards the archery range where I had just practiced the afternoon before! She came to the 30 yard bag, I shot, and...a miss! After trotting off, she again came back except this time she stood two yards offset from the 50 yard bag. My arrow flew true and I had my first Muley and matched our family's longest range shot just as my father had 40 years prior!
My second Colorado Mule hunt October 2010 which was three weeks after my first but I was lucky enough to not have to leave my yard! Another, much shorter shot, found the mark and she did not run far at all. I think I became a bit "spoiled" that first Colorado season since I filled both tags without traveling more than 1/4 mile from my house!
The "Ricochet Buck!"
My first archery buck in November 2011 while, once again, "yard" hunting! Yes - that is what I was wearing when I took my first buck! There I was, drinking a cup of coffee before work...looking out the window watching this guy. As he came closer, I just could not resist as it was later in the season with the cold coming fast. So I set down my coffee, retrieved my trusty Viper-Tec loaded with 100 gram Muzzys from the garage, and stepped out the back door. As soon as I saw antlers emerge around the corner, I drew back and waited for the shot. The pole you see in the picture as exactly where he stopped at about 25 yards. The kill zone was just in front as I released. As a loud "crack" sounded off like a gun shot, I thought I'd missed an easy shot. He jumped straight up and I immediately saw blood trailed down the whole side of body. My arrow had, literally, ricocheted off the pole and went thru! He ended up running about 50 yards. I called my boss and briefly told him the sage before asking to be an hour or so late...being a fantastic boss, he asked around the office to see if anyone wanted to help me dress him out and load him! So, that is the story of naming this first buck of mine along with the highly unusual "hunting" outfit that I'm wearing!
The "Bully Buck!"
My biggest mule deer ever in the fall of 2012. My boys and I tracked and saw this guy for months prior to the season. We watched him ram and "bully" smaller bucks a does alike, hence the name! On opening day of archery I was standing in the kitchen talking to my wife when I remarked that "the bully was in the backyard again." Stating the obvious, she said, well, isn't today opening day?! I rushed into the garage to gather equipment and sneaked around the front of the house to a large bush. I could barely see him so I slowly and carefully bent branches to get a shooting lane. He was doing his usual but finally stopped broadside to me at 22 yards. This was the first time I really heard a loud "thunk" as the arrow penetrated and he let out a deep "whoof" while jumping straight up. He ran into a gully and was off into the field behind me. I waited for a good 15 minutes, gave my wife an update and retrieved my binos. After spotting him, I thought I'd drag him up towards the house and commence with the field dressing process. It was only an idea, since there was a fence in the way and I discovered he was well over 200 pounds and I just could not drag him by myself up the slight incline! This is where having a buddy on-call is absolutely vital. We were able to get him near the bottom of the driveway and properly taken care of. He may not be Pope & Young worthy but I'll never forget the months of tracking him with my boys and then finally getting an arrow on target!
Colorado Mule - Firearm
Back to our previous hunting grounds in December 2013. One of the GOM missed the early season due to a deployment in Africa...and no, unfortunately, there were no chances of an African safari to be had! We hunted the Comanche National Grasslands in GMU 145, Baca County, in the southeastern corner of the state. This was the first time we participated in a group hunt but it turned out to be a great time sharing stories with fellow hunters. We hunted some new areas, including Picture Canyon, the newly established Sikes Ranch State Wildlife Area, and the Carizzo Creek Allotment. We stayed in Mike's outfitter wall tent and brought along a small heater since we knew the weather was turning much colder. A good friend of ours, Jon J., came down for his first hunt with his new Browning .300 Win Mag. As you can see, we covered a wide variety of landscape including prairies to the hills of Sikes Ranch. We drove a long way to Picture Canyon and saw deer on the way but had no luck in the Canyon except for my first and only silver fox! He ran out from behind a large rock and disappeared for a bit. I had time to get my .22 magnum out and set-up for a shot. He showed up again in a sprint for some cover at 104 yards and I dropped him on the run. That ended up as the only actual hunting luck we had but this was a huge learning experience for us.
Commanche Grasslands - late season 2016. One of the GOM missed a couple of seasons due to taking a work position in Montana. We hunted the Comanche National Grasslands just outside of LaJunta, Colorado. We didn't know it at the time but this would end up being our last joint hunt in Colorado due to one of the GOM taking a position in Minnesota the following February.
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Mikes Muley Buck: This year, we rented a camper with a generator in hopes of enjoying the off times of not being in the field. From previous hunts, we knew there were big deer around but there was limited cover for us to still hunt from. We scouted a patch of woods that was about 80 acres and had a massive amount of deer sign, including scrapes from the rut. As we drove the blocks one late afternoon, we spotted a group of about a dozen muley's with two shooters. I dropped Mike off over one terrain feature and he stalked in about a mile to sit beside a lone, large tree in hopes of ambushing them. Since they disappeared in the grass, we thought about setting up on the ridge line (behind Mike in the picture) the next morning. It was elevated enough, and between the field and the patch of woods where we knew they'd been bedding down in during the day. We found a huge Yucca plant and commenced the glassing. After a couple hours, Mike went about 50 yards away to take care of some business and wouldn't you know it, here came the small herd! He hurried back on the reverse slope of the ridge and took up a firing position. We spotted them about 500 yards out and I began to call out the range for him as they turned and came towards the trees. Once they came to just over 100 yards and were broadside to us, Mike took the shot with his faithful .308. Deer scattered but we couldn't see the big guy anymore. We thought he'd got away but Mike went down for a look anyway...and there he was with a headshot!
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Jim's Whitetail: The next day we decided to hit the same ridge after checking out Sand Canyon which also had a huge amount of sign. We saw three coming in along a fence line with two large and one small button buck. Mike called out range and I was mentally urging the larger does to present a shot. As luck would have it, only the smaller one was visible in the high grass and stopped to eat some low hanging leaves. As it was my only chance, and the end of our trip was fast approaching, I took the shot at 174 yards. While it was an instant kill shot, I discovered that the magazine I was using in my Browning X-Bolt, .300 Win Mag was still loaded with 200 grain rounds from the bear hunt. All in all, it was a very successful hunt and a fitting way to end our Colorado time together!
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Minnesota Whitetail - Firearm
The Minnesota chronicles began four months after our move in 2017. I tried some archery hunts but this describes my first Minnesota firearm season in 18 years! Just like my first Colorado archery season in 2010, I was able to fill two tags! It was a cold November and I could only take two weekdays to hunt. I wasn't fully prepared so I only had one blind on the homestead. My other positions were burlap camo staked out in 180 degrees around me. As I'd learn in the future seasons, we saw plenty of moving deer but only for the first two to three days. I could see deer in the neighbors cut cornfield but I didn't have permission to hunt there yet. Opening morning found the smaller doe wandering around just after first light. She ended up walking into my woodline about 40 yards away from my make shift blind with the wind in my face. The evening of the second day found the big doe walking just inside my woodline at dusk. Hardly any wind combined with low light conditions enabled me to get a 30 yard shot that rang true. It was an incredible hunt and caused me to be much better prepared for 2018 with proper blinds and staying true to the old adage of "the preparation for next year's hunt begins the day after the current season ends!"
The Minnesota chronicles continued for firearm season of 2018. I hunted on my homestead and a local 400 acre Wildlife Management Area (WMA in Minnesota). I had one actual ground blind and three game cameras so I was better prepared this year. I tracked deer patterns all summer and it was very nice, considering where I live, for the gun season with no snowfall. Most of the activity happened the first weekend before the usual lull of daytime sightings. I switched to the WMA which is bit tricky to still hunt. Half of the area is head high marshy like terrain and the other half consists of a sharp hill of thick timber and a huge field that has a 30 yards circular cut around it. The best sign is the deepest end away from the authorized parking area and the only stealthy way into there is along that cut portion which means exposing yourself to the woodline and the shorter grass in the middle. I tried and again saw plenty of sign but a single actual deer. The last day of the season found me in a different position on the edge of our front woods leaning against a tree. It had gotten colder with the windchill in full force. I was watching the open area where deer usually came out just prior to sunset to hit the tall, green grass. Not seeing anything, and not able to hear anything, I gave the Primos Can Call a couple of tries. Just a couple minutes later- movement to the side of me, back in the woods. I slowly turned my head just enough to see a very heavy bodied 10 pointer standing behind me at about 10 yards. We were locked in an eyeball to eyeball stare down. My only option was to flinch first in hopes of getting my sights on him but as soon as I moved, he was off towards the road in a sprint with zero chance for a safe shot! Thinking that was the end of the season, I quietly walked out behind my barn and up my driveway. I am a firm believer that you always hunt until the last minute of the last day of the season! Halfway up my driveway, I saw this doe laying behind some deadfall enjoying a good chew...she was so close and only having her neck and head exposed, I risked the shot. She never got up and died quickly and humanely. She was small but proved my opinion of always being on the hunt till the last minute...something that I'm passing on to my son!
A Hunter is born...
A new season and a first time hunter for the Youth Hunt of 2019. What you see is was only success of the season! Valuable lessons learned on this opening day...his first morning saw many does moving back out of the field and along the woodline. He took his first shot just after sunrise with his Remington 870 20 gauge and barely missed. We sat for a while longer then went inside for the mid-day routine. He was extremely upset with himself and it took a lot of convincing for him to go back at it in the afternoon. The main reason he initially refused was because he thought all the deer were gone after he missed! Being in a rush and thinking we were going to be too late getting back in the blind, I forgot the scent remover and doe urine. Calm and over 50 degrees, it was about an hour before sunset when three large does appeared from out of the corn and walked into our woodline, but they had us bracketed with one on each side and one directly in front of us. Their noses were up and we were all in a stare down for a few minutes. As the largest one turned broadside I whispered "shoot!" Since he already had his gun in the ready position, he was calmer and hit her almost perfectly. We waited and went to edge to look for a trackable blood trail. The picture that shows all the fur was the only sign for about 10 yards and he thought he missed yet again but, as you can see, she was easily tracked! We went to the neighbor to let him know where she was laying and then I told Wyatt that he was about to experience the joy of dragging a huge doe for 300 yards in lifting her into the back of my truck since we couldn't field dress her in his yard!
A Hunter emerges...
A new season and a new hunter emerges for the Youth Hunt of 2020. In Minnesota, youth can hunt the middle weekend of October up from 12 to 17 years old. My son is now two for two and had the opportunity to take this doe on the last day of his season at about 10:00am. She wandered out at 22 yards and kept his success streak alive for another year!