I moved to Canada 11 years ago and bought a cabin 3 years ago. I’ve been ‘hunting’ my area for 3 years now. My family isn’t really into it so I do it when I can get away. Having a place near Kamloops helps because it’s not too far and I can get away for small chunks of time and explore. I know there are areas with more game and less pressure, but I’ve really concentrated on my area.
Mule deer are still a bit of a mystery to me but coming from Michigan I have a much better understanding of whitetails. I’m no pro but at least I feel like I can predict where they will be and what they will do much more than mulies.
I’ve seen a lot of mulies but during hunting season only does. If I’m seeing does – and CLOSE – I know I’m on the right track and I’ll start to see bucks if I play my cards right.
Anyway, there’s a spot near me where I’ve been seeing whitetails. It’s an area where I would expect to see whitetails, lots of open space and good cover nearby. I saw a couple from the road so I did some scouting with iHunt and Google (I use HuntBuddy as well but iHunt has a great maps that show private land). There’s a ranch nearby – hence the open space – but they won’t give permission to hunt. I tried. So, I found a nice area adjacent to the ranch that looked open enough where I thought the whitetails were going through.
Today was my first day exploring it. I needed to bushwack to get in – but in keeping with good whitetail cover – it wasn’t too thick so not so difficult.
I had about 3 hours. I circled the cut block slowly and made my way around. The plan was to circumnavigate the cut block and end up back at my truck. I did the slow poke – checking my GPS occasionally to make sure I was on my planned track – and not straying onto the ranch. I saw nothing. I only had about an hour of daylight left and started working my way back. I was still being careful but maybe not as careful as earlier in the day. Sure enough, I see 2 does bound away. But, I was going slow and they weren’t really that spooked. They stopped at 50 yards or so but there was too much brush in the way and I couldn’t get a shot. I backed off and worked my way around to where I thought they would push through the brush. Sure enough, I saw them – but again – no good shot. Offhand, 50 yards, at a deer’s head isn’t my thing.
I followed them a little but decided maybe I shouldn’t push them too much because they weren’t that scared. Whitetails are animals of habit and I knew where to sit tomorrow so best to continue on my way.
I get to just about where I saw the 2 does and I hear a snort, stomp, and see a flag. Shit! I busted another deer! I couldn’t see if it was a buck or a doe but I knew it was big – the earlier 2 were kind scrawny. When you get snorted it’s usually because the deer doesn’t know what you are – at least in my experience. I was a mile in so I figured they weren't too pressured. The wind was in my favor and I guessed that it hadn’t gone too far.
I slowly worked my way around and over the ridge where I thought it probably would stop. It was maybe 30 yards up and another 50 around. I was setting myself up with the wind directly in my face, so I felt that if the deer hadn’t gone too far, I had a pretty good chance of seeing it. I crept up the hill behind some good cover.
Wouldn’t you know it, after some slow gazing down into the hollow, there’s a doe standing broadside at 100 yards. I had plenty of time to put in my ear plugs and lean against a tree. I put the cross hairs just behind her leg, took a breath, breathed out slowly, and squeezed. You know when it’s right.
She was with another deer (not sure if buck or doe) that I hadn’t seen, that took off at the shot. I shoot a 270 and the Hornady 145g precision hunter went completely through, exited above the opposite shoulder, and shredded the top of her heart. She took 2 steps and dropped. She had no idea what hit her. My rifle shoots just about anything well but it has a particular affinity for this ammo. They were awesome at the range, but I had never shot anything with one.
What a fattie! I would guess close to 100#’s dressed. She has a 2” layer of fat over her entire body. What a healthy deer.
It was a long way from the truck. I dragged her about ½ mile and decided I couldn’t make it the rest of the way because it was mostly uphill. I took off the rear quarters and got them, my rifle, and backpack to the truck. Hiking a mile with a deer gives a man quite a bit of time to think about how he might make the trip easier…. I realized that there is an old FSR road blocked off because of the ranch.
Not excited about 2 more trips of a mile round trip carrying venison, I decided to ask the ranch if I could pretty please drive through their property to retrieve the rest of my deer. They said ‘yes’, they even opened up the locked gate, and I drove right up to the rest of my deer! I owe them some steaks.
Now, I need a mulie and a moose.
I know it’s a long post but it’s my first deer in probably 30 years.
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