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The morning started out slow, we had a tough time locating a good buck mule deer but by 10 AM all that would change. We spotted several mule deer doe in a pasture and drove down to get a closer look. Once we got there, we spotted a big 3x3 that had been seen several times -but nobody was able to get an arrow into him.
Parker and I watched the herd until the two bucks split off and headed into a flat, sagebrush covered meadow. The bucks were magnificent and I was able to get close enough to get some great photos with my zoom lens. The spotting began at 11:00 AM and we followed the buck until they bedded down in the sage at 1:00 PM. There was no way to stalk the bucks, so we simply camped on them to see what they would do.
The two bucks stayed bedded in the sage for hours until a quick hail storm got them up and into a draw. That's what we were waiting for. We watched the bucks until they disappeared. I made my move. I covered 500 yards and dropped down into the draw. I had a half mile of gullies to cover, making sure I spotted the bucks before they spotted me. Each turn of the draw produced a nice shady bed, I eased up on each one of them and peered down to look for horns. About three quarters of the way up, I spotted the four pointer's antlers.
View video of this buck (1.4mb) The bank wrapped around the draw like a snake. Knowing I needed to get close to that buck, I belly-crawled to within ten yards and nocked an arrow. I had the buck cleanly at that distance but I wanted the huge 3x3 that was with him (see picture above). I backed off and waited him out. My goal was to camp on these deer until they got up to feed. Hopefully, I would spot the 3x3 and make a stalk. The wind was howling through that draw which made moving a little easier and covered my sound. The 4 point got up forty minutes later then the big buck right next to him. The 3x3 was right underneath him the whole time - only ten yards from me.
While this was going on, three more bucks fed up on the opposite hillside, making my stalk more difficult. Eventually they all fed as a group back down the hilltop on the bank. I moved along the bottom of the draw to try and cut them off. I crawled to the top of the bank and peeked through the waving grass. The five bucks were only 30 yards away, but too far a shot with my longbow - especially in this wind. I stayed and watched as they fed back up the draw so down I went. two more times we played this game of cat and mouse until I moved into position for a shot. One of the bucks was so close that I didn't dare try to move. The big one was beyond him, but where?
Suddenly, the entire herd emerged behind me, coming back down into the draw. All five bucks passed by with the big boy in the rear. As soon as they were out of sight, I dropped gully and began crawling to the buck. His head was down, feeding, in a perfect position. My pulse raced as I saw my long 2.5 hour stalk coming to a successful ending. Then, for whatever reason, all the deer bolted. One of them either saw me or I got winded. From the time we first spotted this deer to the time it ended was 7 hours!
Parker had watched the entire stalk from a distant hillside. If we had pulled it off, it would have been a miracle. I came very close.
