PlusFive
New member
Went out hunting this morning. About 8,000 feet up. Was trying for a cow elk, but the animals were late up the drainage. We saw a decent forky buck, but his body was not that big and some does moving up the drainage. After seeing them we ran up the clearing and sat by some pine trees. We sat there for a while as we received a strong smell of elk and they had not yet crossed the park so we figured they were also heading towards us. We were just about to leave the park, after sitting for some time, and move into the timber to cut off the elk as they either moved over the ridge or bedded in the thick timber line. Just as I go to move my hunting partner sharply whispers "don't move a muscle" 70 yards a big mule deer doe with two medium sized does were looking right at as. The deer fed around the bottom of the park and then fed right towards us. After confirming that the forky buck was not with them and that the one doe also had a bigger body than the forky I decided it was time to fill the freezer and save the horn hunting for elk rifle season. I have never shot a western big game animal and this doe was a mature beauty. My partner ranged the deer as they walked in and the biggest doe gave me a broadside shot at 40 yards. I drew and settled the pin. I squeezed the trigger.
I was aiming a little low expecting her to jump the string a little like a whitetail, but as the arrow flew she didn't move a muscle. The shot was a little low also hitting the leg bone as it comes up by the heart. However, I got the penetration and took out both lungs. We tracked the doe about 200 yards and found her bedded, but still alive. I placed another arrow into her to hopefully end her pain sooner. It did the job and after the second shot she made it less than 50 yards before expiring. Both my partner and I inspected the deer and gutted it to see what could explain the doe's stamina with a hole in both lungs. We could not come up with anything else except for she was running down hill and we pushed her a little too quick after the shot. We probably should have just given her a half hour or 45 minutes to expire on her own. But, it is over and the deer is on its way to my freezer. The processor weighed her at 97 lbs without a head, legs, guts, and skin, (just the bone in meat) for an estimated on the hoof weight of 150 to 160lbs. I am pretty dang happy that I was able to experience such a fun hunt for my favorite big game animal in the snow covered mountains of Montana with archery equipment. By the way, this was shot in a unit and area that has a hunter success rate of less than 13 percent for any big game animal.
I was aiming a little low expecting her to jump the string a little like a whitetail, but as the arrow flew she didn't move a muscle. The shot was a little low also hitting the leg bone as it comes up by the heart. However, I got the penetration and took out both lungs. We tracked the doe about 200 yards and found her bedded, but still alive. I placed another arrow into her to hopefully end her pain sooner. It did the job and after the second shot she made it less than 50 yards before expiring. Both my partner and I inspected the deer and gutted it to see what could explain the doe's stamina with a hole in both lungs. We could not come up with anything else except for she was running down hill and we pushed her a little too quick after the shot. We probably should have just given her a half hour or 45 minutes to expire on her own. But, it is over and the deer is on its way to my freezer. The processor weighed her at 97 lbs without a head, legs, guts, and skin, (just the bone in meat) for an estimated on the hoof weight of 150 to 160lbs. I am pretty dang happy that I was able to experience such a fun hunt for my favorite big game animal in the snow covered mountains of Montana with archery equipment. By the way, this was shot in a unit and area that has a hunter success rate of less than 13 percent for any big game animal.
