charliebravo77
Well-known member
So, this trip was 3 years in the making and started with fellow Hunt Talker Flatland Crusoe and I chatting about how to use some extra vacation time in Sep 2015. The Nebraska Sandhills region looked cool as hell, and there were mule deer out there to be had. The first year we were a little in over our heads and not completely educated on how mule deer behave, what their habitat requirements out there were like, and how hard they are potentially to find in the barren moonscape that is the Sandhills area.
The first year after glassing up a small herd of mule deer with a nice 3x3 buck the day before opening, I returned the following morning to find no deer. Later in the morning I was informed by Flatland that he was pretty sure he watched that same deer get killed by a group of dudes who drove waaay off the designated 4x4 trail and piled out of a truck emptying their guns at the deer. After talking with a ranger at the main road he gave us a tip on another area where Flatland ended up successfully harvesting a forkie mule deer.
Last year we returned to the same area where Flatland was successful and employed a (in retrospect) dangerously crazy idea to beat other hunters into the area by use of a $99 inflatable raft to make a half mile lake crossing at 3AM with 25+MPH winds in 15 degree weather. Not more than 5 feet from shore I heard the unmistakable hiss of a leak in the floor of the raft, but hey, it had 4 chambers so we wouldn't sink. Miraculously it worked out and he shot a nice whitetail just after sunrise.
I had been battling a chest cold all week prior and came down with full blown bronchitis while hunting and cut the trip short, barely able to stand before paddling back across the lake to the truck.
This year I decided to venture back to the first area I hunted in 2015, now much more experienced with how the deer act out there and how to hunt them. I arrived the day before to scout as usual and found a pretty appealing looking area with a grove of cedars, some scrubby brush that the bucks like to bed in, access to water, and basically everything short of a neon sign that said "Deer Here." Problem was, the following morning Flatland pointed out that it wasn't quite as far from the road as I thought it was and very soon there were other hunters pouring into the area and no deer in sight. We picked up and pushed further away, as is our usual M.O. to very quickly bump a mule deer doe which was the first deer either of us had seen in the ~50 square mile area. The doe lead us to a forkie buck, which I am ashamed to say I missed clean at 150 yards due to trying to shoot without a rest, but it turns out it was ultimately for the best.
We continued on deeper into the unit, trying to outrun the other hunters in the area. We settled into a hilltop for a quick glassing session and spotted a very nice looking buck bedded on a hilltop about 100 yards onto private land. We kept an eye on him for a bit until he decided to wander off down the far side of the hill out of view.
After the deer wandered out of view we started to hike around a bit more looking for good bedding areas and stumbled into what was in our minds, the perfect spot to set up on. The south side of the hill was thick with buck brush and other vegetation that seemed ideal for a big buck to bed down in. I laid down for a quick nap, which was interrupted not even 10 minutes later as Flatland noticed another hunter seemingly pointing his rifle right at us, perhaps to use his scope to get a look at what we were doing. As Flatland waved his hat in a :wtf: motion we realize that perhaps he wasn't pointing his rifle at us, but at the big 3x3 or 3x4 buck (presumably that we had glassed up in the spotter just before) that wandered up a hillside a few hundred yards away. I took a quick survey of the landscape to make sure the other hunter wasn't in my shooting lane towards the buck and waited to see if he'd come to a stop. As he reached the top of the hill another buck followed right behind him and both stood still for enough time for Flatland to give me a quick range and tell me the one in front was taller, but the one in the back had more points after his quick look. Since the other hunter wasn't in a position to shoot either deer, I settled in for a shot and asked which one I should go for. The tall 3x3 then disappeared over the hill leaving me only one choice. In the 5-10 seconds that had unfolded, I knew the second deer had a larger body, but I knew nothing else beyond it was a buck. I dialed a few clicks of elevation to make the 350 yard shot and squeezed the trigger. Flatland said it looked like a good hit right behind the shoulder and the deer took a stumble down the back side of the hill out of view. We gathered our gear and took off towards the hilltop and hopefully a buck down at the base. As we reached the hilltop and looked over, the 3x3 from before was still within a couple hundred yards but headed out of view. The larger, second deer was down in some thicker brush and still walking, but stumbling around as if he was hit. I put another two rounds into him and he folded up maybe another 25 yards away. When I walked up to the buck for the first time it was clear why he didn't go down right away. It was the biggest deer either of us had ever seen. I'm 5'10" and 280lbs on a good day and laying down next to the deer it looked bigger than me.
We quartered up the deer, loaded half into each of our packs, and hiked the 2.something miles back to the truck.
It's been quite a journey the past 5 years, from meeting Flatland for the first time at 3AM at the end of a gravel road to hunt ducks as a complete novice hunter, to becoming friends and hunting 3 different states and a variety of species together while he continually tries to kill me through tough hikes and conditions. This deer is my first buck deer of any variety and is going to take a serious effort to beat. I'm glad he didn't have a tag this trip, though it's as much his deer as it is mine as he always pushes me to hike a bit further and harder than I would on my own. I'd have probably still been sitting in that cedar grove if he weren't there.
The first year after glassing up a small herd of mule deer with a nice 3x3 buck the day before opening, I returned the following morning to find no deer. Later in the morning I was informed by Flatland that he was pretty sure he watched that same deer get killed by a group of dudes who drove waaay off the designated 4x4 trail and piled out of a truck emptying their guns at the deer. After talking with a ranger at the main road he gave us a tip on another area where Flatland ended up successfully harvesting a forkie mule deer.
Last year we returned to the same area where Flatland was successful and employed a (in retrospect) dangerously crazy idea to beat other hunters into the area by use of a $99 inflatable raft to make a half mile lake crossing at 3AM with 25+MPH winds in 15 degree weather. Not more than 5 feet from shore I heard the unmistakable hiss of a leak in the floor of the raft, but hey, it had 4 chambers so we wouldn't sink. Miraculously it worked out and he shot a nice whitetail just after sunrise.
I had been battling a chest cold all week prior and came down with full blown bronchitis while hunting and cut the trip short, barely able to stand before paddling back across the lake to the truck.
This year I decided to venture back to the first area I hunted in 2015, now much more experienced with how the deer act out there and how to hunt them. I arrived the day before to scout as usual and found a pretty appealing looking area with a grove of cedars, some scrubby brush that the bucks like to bed in, access to water, and basically everything short of a neon sign that said "Deer Here." Problem was, the following morning Flatland pointed out that it wasn't quite as far from the road as I thought it was and very soon there were other hunters pouring into the area and no deer in sight. We picked up and pushed further away, as is our usual M.O. to very quickly bump a mule deer doe which was the first deer either of us had seen in the ~50 square mile area. The doe lead us to a forkie buck, which I am ashamed to say I missed clean at 150 yards due to trying to shoot without a rest, but it turns out it was ultimately for the best.
We continued on deeper into the unit, trying to outrun the other hunters in the area. We settled into a hilltop for a quick glassing session and spotted a very nice looking buck bedded on a hilltop about 100 yards onto private land. We kept an eye on him for a bit until he decided to wander off down the far side of the hill out of view.
After the deer wandered out of view we started to hike around a bit more looking for good bedding areas and stumbled into what was in our minds, the perfect spot to set up on. The south side of the hill was thick with buck brush and other vegetation that seemed ideal for a big buck to bed down in. I laid down for a quick nap, which was interrupted not even 10 minutes later as Flatland noticed another hunter seemingly pointing his rifle right at us, perhaps to use his scope to get a look at what we were doing. As Flatland waved his hat in a :wtf: motion we realize that perhaps he wasn't pointing his rifle at us, but at the big 3x3 or 3x4 buck (presumably that we had glassed up in the spotter just before) that wandered up a hillside a few hundred yards away. I took a quick survey of the landscape to make sure the other hunter wasn't in my shooting lane towards the buck and waited to see if he'd come to a stop. As he reached the top of the hill another buck followed right behind him and both stood still for enough time for Flatland to give me a quick range and tell me the one in front was taller, but the one in the back had more points after his quick look. Since the other hunter wasn't in a position to shoot either deer, I settled in for a shot and asked which one I should go for. The tall 3x3 then disappeared over the hill leaving me only one choice. In the 5-10 seconds that had unfolded, I knew the second deer had a larger body, but I knew nothing else beyond it was a buck. I dialed a few clicks of elevation to make the 350 yard shot and squeezed the trigger. Flatland said it looked like a good hit right behind the shoulder and the deer took a stumble down the back side of the hill out of view. We gathered our gear and took off towards the hilltop and hopefully a buck down at the base. As we reached the hilltop and looked over, the 3x3 from before was still within a couple hundred yards but headed out of view. The larger, second deer was down in some thicker brush and still walking, but stumbling around as if he was hit. I put another two rounds into him and he folded up maybe another 25 yards away. When I walked up to the buck for the first time it was clear why he didn't go down right away. It was the biggest deer either of us had ever seen. I'm 5'10" and 280lbs on a good day and laying down next to the deer it looked bigger than me.
We quartered up the deer, loaded half into each of our packs, and hiked the 2.something miles back to the truck.
It's been quite a journey the past 5 years, from meeting Flatland for the first time at 3AM at the end of a gravel road to hunt ducks as a complete novice hunter, to becoming friends and hunting 3 different states and a variety of species together while he continually tries to kill me through tough hikes and conditions. This deer is my first buck deer of any variety and is going to take a serious effort to beat. I'm glad he didn't have a tag this trip, though it's as much his deer as it is mine as he always pushes me to hike a bit further and harder than I would on my own. I'd have probably still been sitting in that cedar grove if he weren't there.
