My 2020 Whitetail Deer Hunting Year in Review

[kenton]

I wanted to do a review of last hunting season for me but I didn't want to make a long video with voice-over so Im going to try and do a write-up with a few short videos "peppered" in.

I planned on going mule deer hunting in Wyoming but that damn point creep got me bad. For the unit I applied, last year I was in the point group where the tags ran out but this year I was two points short: holy cow! I didn't even apply for any elk tags because I thought for sure I had this mule deer tag coming and that was a huge mistake. So I just hunted whitetails this year.

As deer season finally opened up in late September, I didn't have many older bucks living in my hunting area. The buck I missed two years ago and only showed up once last year was nowhere to be found, but in mid October I got a trail cam video of the next biggest buck I knew about. "Dagger" was still alive and was easily the buck I wanted a chance at most.

 

[kenton]

Although "Dagger" was alive and well, I know getting one video at nighttime isn't an ideal situation to be in. Luckily, I did have a four year old buck spending most of his time on the property I'm hunting. This buck represented a very good chance at getting a shot. The first time I showed my buddy a picture of this buck he named him Bob Lazar because he had two "alien fingers" on the right side of his head. If you don't know the connection between the real Bob Lazar and aliens, do a google search and spend a few weeks in that rabbit hole. The interesting thing is that "Bob Lazar" (the deer) had a very typical rack last year and was in fact the best three year old buck I had on camera. His left side is identical to the left side last year. I guessing he sustained some sort of injury last winter or spring that caused the malformed right side and caused enough stress that the left side didn't grow much.

 

[kenton]

My first few times out were fairly uneventful. I always tell myself to get a few does early in the season but I always seem to wait despite seeing lots of does. I did get a decent three year old to come by in range but I let him go.

 

[kenton]

Once the rut rolled around, bucks were running everywhere (see video). On November 2nd, I saw "Bob Lazar" right a daybreak. He was chasing a doe about 150 yards away from me but in timber thick enough that I couldn't get any video. The doe ran past a small buck and "Bob Lazar" ran the buck off before heading back for the doe. I figured this was a good sign that he may respond to a grunt call. I gave three deep but short grunts like a buck had begun trailing the doe. By the time I got my binos back up, Bob was sprinting my way. I hit the record button on the video camera and grabbed my bow. When I looked up, a saw movement between myself and where Bob was. My heart sank when I saw the bushy black-tipped tail of a coyote. I don't know if he was coming my calls or trying to find the doe but he was heading towards me and all the deer were heading away.

 

[kenton]

The evening of November 2nd, I had a decision to make. Do I go to where I think "Bob Lazar" went to after fleeing from the coyote or do I sit in a stand that should be a little better in general? I chose to follow the alien fingers and that turned out to be the wrong decision. Here is what I missed at the other stand:

 

[kenton]

On the morning of November 3rd, I sat overlooking a bedding area and saw two nice three year old bucks. In the evening I sat near where I saw "Bob Lazar" the morning before. I only saw two deer, a doe crossed the trail 80 yards in front of me and not far behind was "Bob Lazar".

 

[kenton]

During the rest of November, I saw a ton of different bucks. I had another encounter with "Bob Lazar" on the morning of Nov. 18th. He popped out on a trail about 60 yards from me. I didn't even bother with the camera because he had to head either south right to me or north out of my life again; he chose wisely and walked away.

 

[kenton]

December was pretty uneventful and then muzzleloader season opened on January 2nd. That morning, I had the right wind to hunt a really good bedding area. I was in the stand well before sunlight and settled in for a cold sit. About an hour after sun-up I was scanning the area in front of me with a food source to my left and the bedding area to my right. I hadn't seen any deer yet and then I heard a noise. It wasn't exactly a grunt and it wasn't really the "blow" that signals danger, it was somewhere in between but it was close. I slowly turn my head left further than I had been previously scanning. "Bob Lazar" is staring right at me from 11 yards. He had snuck (and I do mean snuck) in behind me. He wasn't supposed to be there but he was and now the jig is up. By the time I grabbed the muzzleloader and got him in the scope he was a ways out. I did take a shot but honestly, I shouldn't have. I don't like those low percentage shots but in the heat of the moment its hard not to take them. The next day I did take a doe for the freezer although I couldn't get it on video.

 

[kenton]

Wrap-up:
I had 26 hunts which is really low for me but was more than last year. Of those 26 hunts, only 2 had no deer sightings. 137 deer sightings so 5.27 deer per hunt (personal record). 40 buck sightings so 1.54 bucks per hunt (personal record). Of those 40 buck sightings, 4 were four year old or older (all were "Bob Lazar") but that means 10% of buck sightings were mature bucks.

A few lessons:
I need to get better behind the video camera.

By looking at the buck sightings its pretty clear when the rut was taking place (this is not new info but always good to see it). Between October 30th and November 18th, those 12 hunts produced 34 buck sightings. So 85% of my buck sightings happened on 46% of the hunts. So I'm roughly 5 times more likely to see a buck in that three week span.

Even though I only ended up with one doe harvested, I had an absolute blast having the opportunity to chase these animals.

 

[Wyocat]

Nice journal! Cool videos and info. Most the fun in hunting, is “the hunt”. I like a long walk in the woods with a rifle on my back.

I live in Wyoming. Medicine Bow Range. What area were those taken in? Nice looking country.

I’ve been lucky and drawn cow elk tags,
the past three years for area 7, where I live.

 

[kenton]

What area were those taken in? Nice looking country.

Northern Ohio but hopefully next year will include some Wyoming shots.