Busterbrown
12-03-2014, 08:28 AM
When I arrived at camp there was 8" of fresh snow on the ground and temp-7 , perfect conditions to head out and see where the deer are moving. I went to an area we had seen some does the week before to check on any sign. I found lots of tracks going up and down the hill so it appeared the deer had not yet moved out .
The next morning woke to temp of -21 and a constant wind of 60kph , looking out in the field the snow was blowing sideways , the area I was headed to was in the timber and hopefully out on the wind . When I got off the road and onto the snowmobile trail the wind was much better and there was sign everywhere . I was just about to stop my ATV and watch a small plateau when I saw a nice buck staring at me about 80 yards in the bush. As he was looking straight at me I could not get a count on points.
We had a stare down for what seemed like 15 minutes but was likely only a couple minutes when he then turned and started walking away, not the stiff legged bounce but fairly quick. Still no count on points. As he walked away he kept looking back over his shoulder, then two does appear between me and the buck. He was not in a hurry to leave the area , the does were feeding and slowly moving to my right, at that point I walked up the trail to see if there was a lane of visibility to see them when they come out , I then went back to my original spot and here comes the buck again with his head down and headed straight fo the does.
I ran back to where I thought the does would show and here they come, first one walks out slowly feeding , second one shows the same way, the buck comes out right behind her with his head straight out and his lips all curled up. Looking through my scope get a count of four, bang , he ran about 40 yards toward the trail and fell over
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/Busterbrown_08/2014Muledeer_zps06d159d7.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Busterbrown_08/media/2014Muledeer_zps06d159d7.jpg.html)
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/Busterbrown_08/2014Muledeer1_zps5421b2e0.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Busterbrown_08/media/2014Muledeer1_zps5421b2e0.jpg.html)
It was real cold when cleaning him as everything was freezing when opening him up. The hardest part of the whole process was to load him on my ATV as I was alone
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/Busterbrown_08/2014Muledeeratv_zpse7e3c9dc.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Busterbrown_08/media/2014Muledeeratv_zpse7e3c9dc.jpg.html)
When I got him back to camp to hang and skin him, I could not believe how skinny he was. There was not an ounce of fat on him and his spine was very visable as he was so thin. I guess he was doing more rutting than eating. While skinning him the hide was freezing solid as it was coming off . I dont remember ever being this cold as the wind was howling with a temp of -25
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/Busterbrown_08/2014Muledeer3_zps446956fb.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Busterbrown_08/media/2014Muledeer3_zps446956fb.jpg.html)
The next morning woke to temp of -21 and a constant wind of 60kph , looking out in the field the snow was blowing sideways , the area I was headed to was in the timber and hopefully out on the wind . When I got off the road and onto the snowmobile trail the wind was much better and there was sign everywhere . I was just about to stop my ATV and watch a small plateau when I saw a nice buck staring at me about 80 yards in the bush. As he was looking straight at me I could not get a count on points.
We had a stare down for what seemed like 15 minutes but was likely only a couple minutes when he then turned and started walking away, not the stiff legged bounce but fairly quick. Still no count on points. As he walked away he kept looking back over his shoulder, then two does appear between me and the buck. He was not in a hurry to leave the area , the does were feeding and slowly moving to my right, at that point I walked up the trail to see if there was a lane of visibility to see them when they come out , I then went back to my original spot and here comes the buck again with his head down and headed straight fo the does.
I ran back to where I thought the does would show and here they come, first one walks out slowly feeding , second one shows the same way, the buck comes out right behind her with his head straight out and his lips all curled up. Looking through my scope get a count of four, bang , he ran about 40 yards toward the trail and fell over
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/Busterbrown_08/2014Muledeer_zps06d159d7.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Busterbrown_08/media/2014Muledeer_zps06d159d7.jpg.html)
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/Busterbrown_08/2014Muledeer1_zps5421b2e0.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Busterbrown_08/media/2014Muledeer1_zps5421b2e0.jpg.html)
It was real cold when cleaning him as everything was freezing when opening him up. The hardest part of the whole process was to load him on my ATV as I was alone
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/Busterbrown_08/2014Muledeeratv_zpse7e3c9dc.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Busterbrown_08/media/2014Muledeeratv_zpse7e3c9dc.jpg.html)
When I got him back to camp to hang and skin him, I could not believe how skinny he was. There was not an ounce of fat on him and his spine was very visable as he was so thin. I guess he was doing more rutting than eating. While skinning him the hide was freezing solid as it was coming off . I dont remember ever being this cold as the wind was howling with a temp of -25
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/Busterbrown_08/2014Muledeer3_zps446956fb.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Busterbrown_08/media/2014Muledeer3_zps446956fb.jpg.html)