Sounds about the same for around here.
Sounds about the same for around here.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
Congrats! Glad to hear he died instantly. Not sure how you keep a steady hand to get a clean shot after hours of waiting and then sudden adrenaline.
Also: 9 hours in the stand? Jesus. Do you get down periodically to go the bathroom? Or walk around so you don't get a blood clot?
The adrenaline dump comes after, at least with bear (haven’t had it with deer for well over a decade). And it’s gone pretty quick. We actually have empty liquid detergent bottles on stand, which we use for going to the bathroom. If you have to take a crap, I carry baby or dude wipes. Outside of hunting in the mountains, generally don’t have to worry about that, but it’s best to be prepared.Quoting amberlita (view post)
The stand is completely enclosed, so every so often I slowly stand up, stretch, move my legs a bit, then sit back down slowly.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
The first bear I shot, I went down to retrieve it with my buddy, confirmed it was dead (knew from the shot placement it was another quick kill). Then I went to gut it and my hands shook after the incision, so much that my buddy finished dressing it out. A few minutes later they were gone.
This year, i shot, ejected the spent casing, added it to the collection in the stand. My hands shook for a few seconds and that was it.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
Just realized not all the pictures uploaded:
[]
Also, headed out to Idaho Thursday morning, be back the following weekend. Hunting mule deer. Hiking mountains / ridge lines with a full pack is my penance for baiting black bear. Oh, and one of the hunters also has a black bear permit as well. Knowing our luck, he'll shoot it a few miles from the trucks, and we'll hike it out.
Last edited by Scar; 10-12-2021 at 02:55 PM.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
Successful hunt! Two mule deer down second morning hunting. Will be home tomorrow night, full post eventually. 5% brutally hard work, 94% calm, less than 1% chaos (Sunday morning, 0830 Local time).
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
Oooh, looking forward to this part.Quoting Scar (view post)
I dont think Iowa has any mule deer so I would have to Google what they look like. Sounds cool, though.
Blog!
And it's happened once again
I'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
And sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And I've been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well, I guess this is growing up
Idaho Mule Deer Hunt 2021. I'll spoiler the gory bits.
Friday: After a two day, 21 hour drive, we met up with our third hunter, Jason. We drive another three hours, two of it in the mountains trying to get as far from other people as possible. We eventually stop and camp near a river / creek. Its here that Dave informs us that he's sticking with the cheap ammo that patterns really well in his rifle a 300 win mag bolt action. Jason and I exchange a side eye 'shiiiit' moment.
Next morning we get up a couple hours before legal shooting, and start heading up a mountain. After an initial ascent in darkness with head lamps, things flatten out along the mountain. Twenty minutes before legal shooting, we leave the path and go all the way to the top to glass for a few hours. About thirty minutes later we see a doe and a yearling come up from the river bed. The yearling was running around and spinning around like a puppy. That alone made the trip worth while. After another hour or so, we descended from the ridge. Fun times....
We then went farther in, descended, and set up camp by another river / creek:
Then we crossed over the river, and went back up to the plateau where we saw the deer in the morning.
I hung out there the rest of the day, while Dave and Jason decided to keep climbing. When they got back that night, they informed me that they had zero cover, lots of brambles / rough shit, and decided they wouldn't be going back in that direction. We decided the next morning we'd get up early and set up shop above that plateau.
I started 'making' breakfast at about 0800, I wouldn't eat until almost noon:
About 0815, a group of five does come out from below us, from the direction we certain expect. Jason starts glassing them, then quickly realize there are two bucks trailing and harassing the does. I go grab my rifle (a single shot Ruger #1), and only one round..... This is where we learn that mountain hunting is a helluva lot different than deer stand hunting in Minnesota.
[]
We quartered our deer, threw them in game bags, then broke camp and started hiking all that stuff out.
We hung them up in Jason's garage, took the next day off, then back into the mountains. Up and down, glassing. Saw a lot more deer, but nothing worth tracking over a couple more mountains. Great, yet exhausting, trip.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
And then Saturday, Bac0n had to suffer through one of my experiments: Smoked and braised mule deer shoulder barbacoa's:
Smoked for three hours, then braised over peppers, onions, chipotles in adobe, and one beer for about four hours:
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
Other random pictures:
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
That...was a hell of a shot, sir. How it didnt just drop is amazing. And even with cheap ammo, where was your friend aiming?? C'mon now...miss high and forward, to avoid hitting low and back.
He hit it in the lungs, (his deer). Mine, I have no clue. We just called it a texas heart shot ( shoot it in the ass hole and it goes straight through) and moved on. Looking closer at it, it must have caught it low in the guts and opened it wide open.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
You guys Hellraisered that sumbitch lol
Pops and I harvested two deer yesterday. One head shot, one neck shot. Both dropped in their tracks. Skinned them out yesterday late afternoon. Suppose I should get to butchering.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”