River Rat
Active Member
After an 11 hour drive, Sunday, I arrived at my brother’s house in Alberta. It was long day, and we had to get up early Monday, to scout the area, as Tuesday was bow opener. My nephew has a new job and he’s been working 2 weeks away from home, and then a week off. He also has a new girlfriend, so his scouting this year, wasn’t as thorough as past years.
Five in the morning comes early, especially as I’m still on BC time, so make that 4:00 am. As started out doing our scouting, I found out two things. One, there had been a long really hot spell in this area, and the wheat crops were stunted as a result. Crops that were belt high last year, were barely 16 inches tall this year. Second, my nephew, hadn’t phoned the farmers yet to get permission to bow hunt their properties. So after a disappointing morning of scouting, I had discovered that this year was going to be a challenge. We drove into Drumheller, where I got my licenses and tags, then headed back to the house, where my nephew, Derek, started calling the farmers. Soon we had several farmer’s permissions, but 2 that hadn’t answered their phones, were the two farms, we had shot both our deer on last year.
Opening day, found us doing our usual circuit. Very few deer around, and most we had seen were does, spikers, or small 2 points. We continued on to one vantage point, and jackpot! We saw off in the distance a bachelor group of no less than 6 bucks. Two were very nice, and one was a cranker!! Oh wait…looking at the county map….we don’t have permission for the area! Fortunately, the count maps show the owner’s names, and we carry a local phone book, for this reason. A quick call, and we have permission to hunt the property. We watch the deer disappear over a rise in the land, and they don’t come out on the other side, so we decided to give it a try. We check the wind and the terrain, a plan is formed, and off we go. We walked down a road, and into a coulee, we follow the coulee for a while until we think we are a little ways past them, and then head into a field heading towards the fence line. This fence separates the field we are in and the cut, canola field the deer were seen in. We still have a rise in the land between us and the deer…..or so we think. We arrived at the fence, and took our boots off, to continue in wool socks. We walk a short distance along the fence, and Derek looks to our right, when suddenly he drops to his knees. I quickly do the same. I looked through the long grass along the fence, and see 2 bucks looking towards the road, but didn’t see us, as we weren’t quite even with the, as we approached from their rear. The bucks then laid down, just on the other side of a slight rise, in the cut, canola field. We could see the antlers of a 2x3….a big 2x3 covered in velvet. I ranged the distance. 150 yards. We decided to wait and see which direction they headed, when they got up. Oh…. by the way…..did I mention the mosquitoes were really, really nasty? We never thought about them, and had left our thermocells back at the house. Not too bright. We sat and waited, but the wind shifted on us, and of course the deer winded us, and off they went. They stopped a long ways off, and we, just couldn’t believe the one buck. Magnificent! That was it, for day one, we didn’t see any other bucks, and it was quite disappointing.
Day 2, found us travelling the same roads, seeing nothing but does, and the odd spike or 2 point. We returned to the same area that we’d seen the 6 bucks, but we didn’t see anything. We headed further west along the road, hoping we may find where they had gone.. We pulled into our usual look-out spot for a farm we had permission to hunt. We scanned it closely and saw a group of does and fawns off in the distance. My nephew looked behind us, across the road, and glassed the area. He spots 2 does, a 2 point, and big 3x4. I check it out with my binoculars, and the 3x4 looks great. He’s big bodied, and I told my nephew, the way things are going I’d definitely take this guy. My nephew, says great, we just need permission. Damn! Derek, checks the county map, then pulls out the phone book. Crap! He’s not in the book. We head back to the house, and Derek calls his mom…..who also happens to be the Mayor. Lol The land owner we’re looking for works for the county and she has his cell phone number. A quick phone call, and we’ve got permission. Back we go, the deer are still there, but spread out. We watch the 3x4 lay down in deep grass beside a large bush. This is in a shallow coulee, at the base of a hill, on which is a canola crop, that has been cut, but not picked up yet. Eventually, a doe and the 2 point bed down in the canola field, and the remaining doe beds down in the long grass, at the opposite end of the coulee.
We are fortunate to watch them bed down, or we’d have a heck of a time knowing where they were. Another plus, was that it was very, very windy. So knowing the wind direction, studying the lay of the land, we had to make our stalk from the east, at the base of a hill, in sight of the doe and 2-point, then belly crawl, too the edge of a berm, which puts us out of sight of the 2 deer in the canola field. Sneak past the doe bedded in the long grass, which then puts a large tree between us and the 2 deer in the field. Once there…we, ourselves, are in the long grass, with brush piles around. My nephew, glasses where we think the big boy is, and sure enough we have him pin pointed. We are about 120 yards away, so we decide it’s time to take off our boots. Done. Ready? First step……ow!! Second step, way to the left of the first step……ow!! Freaking cactus lying out of sight! Boots back on….the hard gusting wind should cover any sound we make. The wind is blowing west to east, and we’re heading north to south. Stepping only when my nephew stepped, we made our way slowly to a small bush. The closest one to the bush we’d seen the buck bed down next to. My nephew peers around the corner, turns back to me, and hand signals two, zero. He’s 20 yards away!! Standing, I can see through the upper part of the bush, and sure enough, there’s velvet covered tines, sticking out of the long grass. We are so close!! I clip my release into my D-Loop and wait. After 30-40 minutes, we noticed that the wind had started to slow done a bit, and it was hitting the back of our heads….not good! Sure enough, the buck begins to stand up. I drop to my knees and draw my bow back, hoping he will appear on my side, heading towards the canola field, where the doe and 2-point are still laying watching us. Waiting, waiting….there he is!! Oh crap! He’s facing me and staring right at me, or rather the bush, because he’s sense somethings wrong. My camo is perfect for the surroundings, and it’s 18 yards between him and I. I’m on my knees, already at full draw…..I’m thinking about some shot placement pics I’d see for this scenario….I thought I can do this. I lined up my 20 yard pin, where his jugular would be, but also knew I’d catch at least one lung. Decision made, I released my arrow tipped with 100 grain Viper Trick. (Shot one the day before, for the first time) Traveling at over 290 fps, we heard a loud whack, and watched the buck wheel around and head up to the canola field 70 yards away. I was dismayed to see the poor penetration, and that the deer did the mulie hop when it reached the canola field. Eighty yards into the field the buck stops. Glassing the buck, I see blood pouring out of his mouth. Whew…..he’s not going far. The buck started up the hill, head down, and staggered a bit, then walked some more. Nearing a rise in the field, we watch him lie down. My nephew and I discuss what we should do next….the obvious was…..wait. We watched the spot for a ½ hour, and never saw the deer rise. We climbed out of the coulee, and saw what I had hoped for. My buck laying with his head on the ground. We walked up the hill, saw he was dead. Hugs and high fives, tagged him, and took pictures. I ranged from the deer to where he had bedded down. It was 367 yards! Where ever he’d stopped was pooled blood…lots of blood drops along the path as well, all from the mouth. My arrow had broken off with the broadhead still in him so we had to be careful with the field dressing. The wind had picked up again, and dark clouds were threatening, so we dragged him quickly to the truck and headed for the house. At the house we hung him in the garage, and then had a beer. After the beer, we skinned the deer, and checked things out. Here’s what we found. The Viper Trick had penetrated 15 inches into the deer, severing the jugular on the one side. It had continued and because I shot from my knees, the angle caused the broad head to travel up, and take out the top of one lung. The broad head ended up angled in the meat between the hide and the rib cage. Poor penetration was from passing through the meat in the neck, and in and out of the ribs. I cleaned off the broad head, ran my Lansky over it, and it’s back in my quiver.
Five in the morning comes early, especially as I’m still on BC time, so make that 4:00 am. As started out doing our scouting, I found out two things. One, there had been a long really hot spell in this area, and the wheat crops were stunted as a result. Crops that were belt high last year, were barely 16 inches tall this year. Second, my nephew, hadn’t phoned the farmers yet to get permission to bow hunt their properties. So after a disappointing morning of scouting, I had discovered that this year was going to be a challenge. We drove into Drumheller, where I got my licenses and tags, then headed back to the house, where my nephew, Derek, started calling the farmers. Soon we had several farmer’s permissions, but 2 that hadn’t answered their phones, were the two farms, we had shot both our deer on last year.
Opening day, found us doing our usual circuit. Very few deer around, and most we had seen were does, spikers, or small 2 points. We continued on to one vantage point, and jackpot! We saw off in the distance a bachelor group of no less than 6 bucks. Two were very nice, and one was a cranker!! Oh wait…looking at the county map….we don’t have permission for the area! Fortunately, the count maps show the owner’s names, and we carry a local phone book, for this reason. A quick call, and we have permission to hunt the property. We watch the deer disappear over a rise in the land, and they don’t come out on the other side, so we decided to give it a try. We check the wind and the terrain, a plan is formed, and off we go. We walked down a road, and into a coulee, we follow the coulee for a while until we think we are a little ways past them, and then head into a field heading towards the fence line. This fence separates the field we are in and the cut, canola field the deer were seen in. We still have a rise in the land between us and the deer…..or so we think. We arrived at the fence, and took our boots off, to continue in wool socks. We walk a short distance along the fence, and Derek looks to our right, when suddenly he drops to his knees. I quickly do the same. I looked through the long grass along the fence, and see 2 bucks looking towards the road, but didn’t see us, as we weren’t quite even with the, as we approached from their rear. The bucks then laid down, just on the other side of a slight rise, in the cut, canola field. We could see the antlers of a 2x3….a big 2x3 covered in velvet. I ranged the distance. 150 yards. We decided to wait and see which direction they headed, when they got up. Oh…. by the way…..did I mention the mosquitoes were really, really nasty? We never thought about them, and had left our thermocells back at the house. Not too bright. We sat and waited, but the wind shifted on us, and of course the deer winded us, and off they went. They stopped a long ways off, and we, just couldn’t believe the one buck. Magnificent! That was it, for day one, we didn’t see any other bucks, and it was quite disappointing.
Day 2, found us travelling the same roads, seeing nothing but does, and the odd spike or 2 point. We returned to the same area that we’d seen the 6 bucks, but we didn’t see anything. We headed further west along the road, hoping we may find where they had gone.. We pulled into our usual look-out spot for a farm we had permission to hunt. We scanned it closely and saw a group of does and fawns off in the distance. My nephew looked behind us, across the road, and glassed the area. He spots 2 does, a 2 point, and big 3x4. I check it out with my binoculars, and the 3x4 looks great. He’s big bodied, and I told my nephew, the way things are going I’d definitely take this guy. My nephew, says great, we just need permission. Damn! Derek, checks the county map, then pulls out the phone book. Crap! He’s not in the book. We head back to the house, and Derek calls his mom…..who also happens to be the Mayor. Lol The land owner we’re looking for works for the county and she has his cell phone number. A quick phone call, and we’ve got permission. Back we go, the deer are still there, but spread out. We watch the 3x4 lay down in deep grass beside a large bush. This is in a shallow coulee, at the base of a hill, on which is a canola crop, that has been cut, but not picked up yet. Eventually, a doe and the 2 point bed down in the canola field, and the remaining doe beds down in the long grass, at the opposite end of the coulee.
We are fortunate to watch them bed down, or we’d have a heck of a time knowing where they were. Another plus, was that it was very, very windy. So knowing the wind direction, studying the lay of the land, we had to make our stalk from the east, at the base of a hill, in sight of the doe and 2-point, then belly crawl, too the edge of a berm, which puts us out of sight of the 2 deer in the canola field. Sneak past the doe bedded in the long grass, which then puts a large tree between us and the 2 deer in the field. Once there…we, ourselves, are in the long grass, with brush piles around. My nephew, glasses where we think the big boy is, and sure enough we have him pin pointed. We are about 120 yards away, so we decide it’s time to take off our boots. Done. Ready? First step……ow!! Second step, way to the left of the first step……ow!! Freaking cactus lying out of sight! Boots back on….the hard gusting wind should cover any sound we make. The wind is blowing west to east, and we’re heading north to south. Stepping only when my nephew stepped, we made our way slowly to a small bush. The closest one to the bush we’d seen the buck bed down next to. My nephew peers around the corner, turns back to me, and hand signals two, zero. He’s 20 yards away!! Standing, I can see through the upper part of the bush, and sure enough, there’s velvet covered tines, sticking out of the long grass. We are so close!! I clip my release into my D-Loop and wait. After 30-40 minutes, we noticed that the wind had started to slow done a bit, and it was hitting the back of our heads….not good! Sure enough, the buck begins to stand up. I drop to my knees and draw my bow back, hoping he will appear on my side, heading towards the canola field, where the doe and 2-point are still laying watching us. Waiting, waiting….there he is!! Oh crap! He’s facing me and staring right at me, or rather the bush, because he’s sense somethings wrong. My camo is perfect for the surroundings, and it’s 18 yards between him and I. I’m on my knees, already at full draw…..I’m thinking about some shot placement pics I’d see for this scenario….I thought I can do this. I lined up my 20 yard pin, where his jugular would be, but also knew I’d catch at least one lung. Decision made, I released my arrow tipped with 100 grain Viper Trick. (Shot one the day before, for the first time) Traveling at over 290 fps, we heard a loud whack, and watched the buck wheel around and head up to the canola field 70 yards away. I was dismayed to see the poor penetration, and that the deer did the mulie hop when it reached the canola field. Eighty yards into the field the buck stops. Glassing the buck, I see blood pouring out of his mouth. Whew…..he’s not going far. The buck started up the hill, head down, and staggered a bit, then walked some more. Nearing a rise in the field, we watch him lie down. My nephew and I discuss what we should do next….the obvious was…..wait. We watched the spot for a ½ hour, and never saw the deer rise. We climbed out of the coulee, and saw what I had hoped for. My buck laying with his head on the ground. We walked up the hill, saw he was dead. Hugs and high fives, tagged him, and took pictures. I ranged from the deer to where he had bedded down. It was 367 yards! Where ever he’d stopped was pooled blood…lots of blood drops along the path as well, all from the mouth. My arrow had broken off with the broadhead still in him so we had to be careful with the field dressing. The wind had picked up again, and dark clouds were threatening, so we dragged him quickly to the truck and headed for the house. At the house we hung him in the garage, and then had a beer. After the beer, we skinned the deer, and checked things out. Here’s what we found. The Viper Trick had penetrated 15 inches into the deer, severing the jugular on the one side. It had continued and because I shot from my knees, the angle caused the broad head to travel up, and take out the top of one lung. The broad head ended up angled in the meat between the hide and the rib cage. Poor penetration was from passing through the meat in the neck, and in and out of the ribs. I cleaned off the broad head, ran my Lansky over it, and it’s back in my quiver.
