Black Bird
11-15-2008, 09:12 AM
Hi folks,
I am brand new to hunting so I apologize ahead of time if all my (almost) mistakes and questions seem obvious.
A couple of weeks ago I went up to 3-29 to hunt for mule deer with some family friends. I have never been hunting before but it has been something I have been thinking about for quite some time. For me, I want to follow a meal from a living being to what ends up on my plate and the plates of my family and friend. I realized some time ago, that even though I like to cook and I make my meals from 'scratch', I have no real idea of meat (hunting, shooting, gutting, cleaning, butchering, etc).
The group I went up with all have hunting experience. The youngest of the group (my age - 36) had been on about a dozen previous hunting trips (deer, elk, grouse) and had shot two deer during those trips. The most experienced was about twice my age and had hunted on and off since he was a teenager.
However, nobody had been hunting in a couple of years or so and it took us a little backtracking to find our spot the first day.
We got out of the truck and tested the wind. It was coming down the hills out of the north. I was given some instruction on how to move quietly and what to look out for. We fanned out about 200m apart and started working our way north.
I couldn't believe how intense the experience was. I was using all my senses and moving very slowly. Just a few steps at a time, wait, listen, and a few more steps. After about 45min of hunting I was working my way up an abandoned logging road (I can't believe what great shape the 'abandoned' roads are in - where I come from {the coast} you leave a road alone for a year and it is gone!) when I spotted a grey shape glide across the old road about 70m in front of me. A second shape moved out onto the road, stopped, lowered its head and began to eat.
My heart immediately started to hammer in my chest. I lowered to one knee, flicked off the safety, and raised the scope to my eye. The recticle was bouncing around, pretty much to the beat of my heart, as I focused in on the vitals area behind the front quarters. Suddenly it dawned on me that I have no idea if this is a male or a female (I had a tag for a male mule deer and a whitetail deer). I looked out over the top of my scope (mistake) and the head came up at the same time the deer walked off into the woods. At the time I thought it was a buck, but now that I think about it I think all I saw were the big ears.
Eventually, I made my way back to the truck to tell my tale and there I found the rest of our party. It turns out that everyone had seen between 2-4 deer - all female. We were pretty excited as we figured it would be only a matter of time before we came across a buck as we were in the area for 3 days.
That day I would personally see 18 deer - 15 of which were does and 3 which I couldn't tell (they were facing the wrong way or jumped off into the bush before I could tell). I was still quite excited as we figured odds must be on our side.
On our way driving down out of the hills and into the sage brush I almost made my second mistake. I spotted a buck about 100m down a gully and this time I was pretty sure as I could see 2 antlers (small ones). I got out of the truck, loaded the rifle, chambered a round and took to one knee. I had a great line of sight as the deer was giving me a side shot. I raised the scope to my eye and flicked off the safety. As I looked something about this deer did not seem quite right. It was the right colour (greyish) and about the right size, but too stalky. The rump was pale in colour, but the tail to small. As I took a better look at the head I realized that the 'antlers' were about 6 - 8 inches long but curling backwards. I flicked on my safety and stood up. I was looking at a female mountain sheep.
Had anyone have told me that I would almost mistake a female mountain sheep for a young mule deer buck I would have called them crazy. Yet, I guess sometimes you can almost make what you want to see appear.
In short, during the rest of the trip I would personally see close to 40 deer over the 3 days. Not one of which could I be sure was a buck. We ended up going home empty handed but having had a very enjoyable time walking through the woods and soaking up all the nature.
I learned many things during the trip. One, which is probably obvious to all who have taken the time to read this rambling thread, is to use my binoculars instead of a scope to ID deer. I was taught that in my CORE course but at the time I guess I was just too excited. I have learned my mistake and no animal is worse for wear for it.
My question is: where were all the bucks?
We were there Oct 30, 31 and Nov 1. Was it possible that we just didn't see the bucks or might they have been somewhere else biding their time until the rut?
Again, I am brand new at this so if people don't want to answer to protect their hunting spots I understand. I will be happy to go out again (maybe this year) and wander quietly through the woods.
Cheers,
Black Bird
I am brand new to hunting so I apologize ahead of time if all my (almost) mistakes and questions seem obvious.
A couple of weeks ago I went up to 3-29 to hunt for mule deer with some family friends. I have never been hunting before but it has been something I have been thinking about for quite some time. For me, I want to follow a meal from a living being to what ends up on my plate and the plates of my family and friend. I realized some time ago, that even though I like to cook and I make my meals from 'scratch', I have no real idea of meat (hunting, shooting, gutting, cleaning, butchering, etc).
The group I went up with all have hunting experience. The youngest of the group (my age - 36) had been on about a dozen previous hunting trips (deer, elk, grouse) and had shot two deer during those trips. The most experienced was about twice my age and had hunted on and off since he was a teenager.
However, nobody had been hunting in a couple of years or so and it took us a little backtracking to find our spot the first day.
We got out of the truck and tested the wind. It was coming down the hills out of the north. I was given some instruction on how to move quietly and what to look out for. We fanned out about 200m apart and started working our way north.
I couldn't believe how intense the experience was. I was using all my senses and moving very slowly. Just a few steps at a time, wait, listen, and a few more steps. After about 45min of hunting I was working my way up an abandoned logging road (I can't believe what great shape the 'abandoned' roads are in - where I come from {the coast} you leave a road alone for a year and it is gone!) when I spotted a grey shape glide across the old road about 70m in front of me. A second shape moved out onto the road, stopped, lowered its head and began to eat.
My heart immediately started to hammer in my chest. I lowered to one knee, flicked off the safety, and raised the scope to my eye. The recticle was bouncing around, pretty much to the beat of my heart, as I focused in on the vitals area behind the front quarters. Suddenly it dawned on me that I have no idea if this is a male or a female (I had a tag for a male mule deer and a whitetail deer). I looked out over the top of my scope (mistake) and the head came up at the same time the deer walked off into the woods. At the time I thought it was a buck, but now that I think about it I think all I saw were the big ears.
Eventually, I made my way back to the truck to tell my tale and there I found the rest of our party. It turns out that everyone had seen between 2-4 deer - all female. We were pretty excited as we figured it would be only a matter of time before we came across a buck as we were in the area for 3 days.
That day I would personally see 18 deer - 15 of which were does and 3 which I couldn't tell (they were facing the wrong way or jumped off into the bush before I could tell). I was still quite excited as we figured odds must be on our side.
On our way driving down out of the hills and into the sage brush I almost made my second mistake. I spotted a buck about 100m down a gully and this time I was pretty sure as I could see 2 antlers (small ones). I got out of the truck, loaded the rifle, chambered a round and took to one knee. I had a great line of sight as the deer was giving me a side shot. I raised the scope to my eye and flicked off the safety. As I looked something about this deer did not seem quite right. It was the right colour (greyish) and about the right size, but too stalky. The rump was pale in colour, but the tail to small. As I took a better look at the head I realized that the 'antlers' were about 6 - 8 inches long but curling backwards. I flicked on my safety and stood up. I was looking at a female mountain sheep.
Had anyone have told me that I would almost mistake a female mountain sheep for a young mule deer buck I would have called them crazy. Yet, I guess sometimes you can almost make what you want to see appear.
In short, during the rest of the trip I would personally see close to 40 deer over the 3 days. Not one of which could I be sure was a buck. We ended up going home empty handed but having had a very enjoyable time walking through the woods and soaking up all the nature.
I learned many things during the trip. One, which is probably obvious to all who have taken the time to read this rambling thread, is to use my binoculars instead of a scope to ID deer. I was taught that in my CORE course but at the time I guess I was just too excited. I have learned my mistake and no animal is worse for wear for it.
My question is: where were all the bucks?
We were there Oct 30, 31 and Nov 1. Was it possible that we just didn't see the bucks or might they have been somewhere else biding their time until the rut?
Again, I am brand new at this so if people don't want to answer to protect their hunting spots I understand. I will be happy to go out again (maybe this year) and wander quietly through the woods.
Cheers,
Black Bird