Mule Deer 2012, Tanglewood Guides, Recap

[h20hunter]

Perspective is a funny thing. Sometimes you think you have it, sometimes you end up with it.

This year I went with my father George and brother Nathan to hunt mule deer with Tanglewood Guides. I've hunted myself with Oren and so has my dad. This was to be my brothers first big game hunt and introduction to mule deer. For an Illinois flatlander he did just fine. Before I get into the hunt and sharing of pics I'll share a few of my favorite quotes from the weekend.

Tom is the oldest hunter that I've shared camp with. I'm going to say Tom is 70 something...maybe 60 something...not real sure. Tom is loved by all. He is funny, kind, quick with a smile, happy to be where ever he is at the moment, a bit foregetfull, asks pretty much for nothing and is quick with a thank you. I understand he got a new hip last year as well as a girlfriend. Sorry...can't share some of those stories here...family sight and all. So anyway...I think it was the second evening and we are all sitting around. We've got Tim and Rita (Orens mom and dad), Orens kids (all 4), hunters, guides, wifes and sisters, the whole extended deer camp family. We're sitting around the living room and I get into a conversation with Faith, Orens oldest daughter. I am commenting that I find the music of Justin Beiber to be far better than that of Miley Cyrus.....Faith is rolling her eyes and Tom simply smiles, leans over to make sure none of the sensitive ears can hear and whispers one word. Now, I can not type that word on this forum and if you find Justin Beiber to be simply awesome, prefer playing for the "same team", sit intentionally when you pee, and find yourself just loving Queer eye for the straight guy....well then good for you. Not saying there is anything wrong with that....you wanna get married....fine...do it. But hearing Tom call me that certain word that rhymes with hag and ends with a "t" was pretty damn funny. I like Tom very much and we all know that each year will be Toms last. He keeps showing up, cracking jokes, and stealing the hearts of all the ladies. Tom knows this as well. He shows up with his boots on and I'm sure when the sun has set on his last camp he will have taken his deer and given it his best shot.

One of the other quotes was from our part time guide. Drew was along to help out since his hunter was a little late to camp. We were on the way down and he and our guide Jeff were dragging the deer. He mentioned that "this is a lot more fun than looking for a deer." Yep....very true.

Lets see....I'll give you some basic highlights then I'll get back to the actual hunt. I had Rainshadow make a knife for Rita as a kind of thank you gift for the hospitality. We had gotten to camp, settled in, and the hunters were about to do their sight in. I caught up with Rita, said what I wanted to say, and presented her with the knife. She simply looked at it, laid it on the counter, and say hang on while she goes and gets her gun. Uh, what the hell? I am left standing there, the house mom has said she is going to get a gun. Rita has been running a crew on various fires for the last few weeks so I'm a little scared. Do I stay? Do I run? Drive home right away? Thankfully she came back while I was still frozen in place. There on the counter next to her pearl handled ladies custom camp knife was now laying a loaded stainless .357 with about a six inch barrell. Her eyes were all lit up like Tom seeing dinner being served by a swedish bikini model. She told me about the gun, how it came to be hers, and how the knife would make for the perfect addition. She loved it and it was awesome how it worked out. The rhythm of deer camp at the Tanglewood Ranch is a family affair with a cadence of sleep, eat, hunt, eat, hunt, eat, cribbage, repeat. The whole family is there and you are treated with the utmost hospitality and taken in as just part of the family.

Now...the hunting. I'll start with my dads hunt because it will be the most brief. He was guided by Jeffery as well as Todd, Orens brother and my fathers guide two years ago. They set out on opening morning to a little draw that a shooter or two were known to wander. They climbed up the little hill and got set up. A bit goes by and the deer get moving. Todd sees one of the bucks coming in and tells dad to get ready. He is set up and shooting a Marlin levergun in .308 Express. He is sighted dead on at a hundred and it looking at about a 70 yard chipshot as the buck comes out of the sage and comes across his line of sight. With a little adjusting to make sure he is not shooting towards the ranch below he is ready to go, safety off. Now, at this point Todd is saying "George, you see the deer". "Nope." "Right there George" "Nope". I understand that my dad and his bad eyes was simply looking to far. Todd takes the stock and kind of nudges him in the right direction...oh he says, that deer. The buck is not hustling but not really lingering. In the video you can hear the softest little whistle from Todd, the report from the rifle, and then see the buck mule kick and jump about 2 or 3 feet straight up. Todd estimated the hang time at around 3 seconds...kind of like Spudd Webb dunking. The buck landed, ran about 2 seconds and piled up in a cloud of dust. The round entered the right shoulder, blew the lungs out, top 1/3 of the heart, and out the other shoulder. The round performed very well and his deer ended up very dead. The rack was a 3x2 with the 2 pt side pretty deep and tall. The hide was very light colored.

Now, my brother and I, this is where the hunt got more interesting. I mentioned this was my brothers (38 years old) first big game hunt. He has had some years of hardship and this was to be his introduction to big game hunting. He is a skilled upland hunter, very fast and accurate combat shooter, and knows his way around most firearms. Our opening morning found us climbing up a bit of a hill, crossing a fresh cut field, dropping over a little ridge and getting set up in the tall grass overlooking a very cool "V" shaped draw. The wind was in our face, we could see about 500 yards to each side, 250 yards across, and soon it was obvious that the draw was full of deer. As the sun came up we began to pick apart the brush. Deer below us, deer to the left, deer straight across, deer to the right...It was like that Jimmy Buffett song. As we sat my brother was treated to many sights that many of us take for granted. There were two little bucks...a spike and a two point.....that would take turns making rubs 5 feet apart then fighting. There was the hawk that simply hovered up and to our right. I looked almost fake...like it was haning there....no effort at all. There were the coyotes that were trying to be sneaky and doing a fairly poor job of it. This one silly bull was all by himself about 1000 yards from the herd of cows just running all over and making a hell of a noise. Nathan was taking it in and loving just being in the moment. We didn't see any shooters that morning. We walked around, covered some ground, I did a little push on some brush and jumped a 2 point. He busted like I stepped on him and popped out right in front of the guys. No third point but pretty damn cool anyway.

On the way out is where the real hunt began and I began to get my lesson in perspective. We were driving down and chatting about the hunt when Jeff locked up the brakes and says deer, its a buck and its legal. There on the side of the road in the sage is a littel 3x2 standing there like he hasn't ever seen a truck before and by golly that is the coolest thing in the world. I'm telling Nathan that it is a shooter, kill it. Jeff is saying we can do better, it is up to you. I'm thinking that the money has been paid, there is a legal buck, he has a tag, a rifle, it is right there....shoot it. Nathan gets out, loads up, up comes the rifle and then the deer remembers to get his feet moving. As the deer bounds across the dirt I am saying wait...wait....don't want to have my brother throw lead at deer on the run. We get on him a little bit but he makes it up into the timber. More about the timber later. We let him keep going and head back for lunch. Once we get back down to the ranch we find out that dad had tagged out and his deer was all but quartered. Once we are fed we talk it over and decide that since dad is tagged out we will go after the 3x2 that we saw if he is dumb enough to hang out again. Well, sure enough, we are on the way up and he is perched on top of a little bit of rock just hangin out. We glass him up, chat a bit about the shot, and wait for Nathan to make the call. I'm sure he was feeling the pressure of filling his tag and said that he was going to take the shot. We were looking for a neck shot and spent some time gettting set up and comfy. At the report of the rifle the deer stands and rears up all at once. As he lands it is clear he is hit and hit fairly hard. He moves off a bit and appears to be swaying and having trouble staying on his feet. We are moving around in the brush trying to line up a shot. No shot. No shot when he sidehills and beds down. No shot when he sidehills back and stands there swaying. No shot when he sidehills some more and beds close to where he was when we took the shot. Now he is bedded down and all you can see is pine branches, service berry bushes, and the shape and body of a deer behind it all. No damn shot. After a few minutes of us rolling around in the brush and dirt trying to find a shooting lane he gets up and starts taking baby steps out of our line of sight. Then he is gone. We glass and glass and can't see or hear him. Jeff tells Nathan that they are going to go up there and kill it. Drew and I stay behind to not cause as much noice. They get up there, get on blood, begin tracking, no deer. Drew and I go up, start sidehilling back and forth, up and around and back down, all over. No deer. No sign, no blood, no nothing. The sun is quickly vanishing and the eveing is leaving us. Jeff and Drew send us down to the truck and they are going to play mountain goat and cover some ground quick. We agree and go down. Now, Nathan is entering the hardest part of the hunt. Should I have shot? Are we going to find it? How bad is it hurt? Will the yotes get to it before us? That kind of stuff. Jeff and Drew get back, tell us the bumped him, and know what side the mountain he is heading to. It is time to head down. The ride back to the ranch is quiet as the guides, shooter, and myself are alone with our thoughts. Dinner comes and goes and we retire early in anticpation of a hard long day putting in the time to end it. In the morning we eat and talk about the game plan. The plan is to wait for light, start at the top of the ridge, put Drew and I up above Nathan and Jeff, find the deer, finish the job. As we get going we have a few things that are working in our favor. The wind was good. It rained a bit overnight and left the ground a little damp. We had given ourselves our respective pep talks and began to hunt. We were not sure if the shot was fatal so we were hunting as if we had one and one deer only on the mountain. We had gone maybe about 1/4 mile and Jeff comes across the deers bed. He had bedded down at the same elevation as Jeff predicted...within about 30 yards of what he predicted. Jeff at this point had the deers scent. As we worked in tandem Jeff was getting whiffs and his mule deer spidey sense was going into overdrive. A few more hundred yards of side hilling and Drew and I up above...about 70 yards......sitting and watching waiting for them to catch up so we can make our move. We figured we were pushing the deer along and with Drew and I above him he wouldn't climb and with him packing his right leg he woulnd't go down hill. The woods go from quiet to some serious crashing. The is something moving below and to my left. I see my brother and Jeff coming at a trot into the same area I was watching. The timber opened up and you could see for about 200 yards instead of about 40. I see Nathan bring the rifle up, go down on a knee, stand, sidestep, fire. As he drops to he knee directly below my, cycles then bolt, brings up the rifle, and I begin to pray. At this point I am asking for help. I'm asking for my brother to shoot true, end the chase. I'm reminding The Man that my brother is a good man and deserves to be at peace with this animal. As I conclude my pleading I open my eyes and see Jeff point and nod his head. The deer was down but had lifted his head. At this point, the end was near but a finishing shot was taken. Now that the deer was down but not yet finished the angle was even more difficult. He went down on a knee, moved left, laid down on his left shoulder, and shot off and laying sideways and on his back a bit. When they got on the deer it was facing dead away. The bullet took it dead center in the spine and came out the right front corner of the brisket. The second shot hit an inch or two higher and ended it for good. As I came down the hill Jeff patted him on the back and said that it was done. I know the feeling. Relief that the animal is finished, relief that the shot was made, a sense of pride slowly creeping in and replacing the doubt and anxiety that was in its place. I've been there. I know the feeling. We get up the deer and make sure it has expired. Looking at the front shoulder, where the first shot hit, it was clear that the deer was hit hard. In a game of inches we lost on that first shot. One inch to the left we would have been in the chest. Two inches higher we woudl have been in the chest. The shoulder/leg on that right front side as only being held on my hide and some meat. The bone was complety crushed. The next bit of time was fairly typical. We talked about being proud of the effort put in. We talked about the deer. It was smaller in rack for a 3x2, darker colored hide, and has darker colored anterls much like a blacktail. Very cool buck in my opinion. Jeff and Drew did a great job of the knifework and can drag a deer down/side hill faster than I can jog. I sweat more on the way down than I did the hour or two we hunted him up that morning. Once we got on some flatter ground Nathan took his turn dragging...I did a little bit...but not much.

After all the talk and coversation I have come to appreciate the word perspective. I went into this hunt feeling pretty good. Hell, I had killed a bear and made a good shot on my doe. I had helped make arrangements and forked over some cash so my brother could have a hunting experience that was new and exciting. My problem was that I allowed myself to lose perspective. I allowed myself to think selfishly and only desired the kill. For a bit there I allowed myself to doubt. I had lost my perspective. I had lost the whole reason we were out there. We were not out there to simply kill a deer. We were out there to hunt. If he would have shot that deer he would have been on one morning hunt then simply shot a deer standing next to a dirt path in the woods. What we ended up with was a true hunting experience. We took our shot and it was less than perfect. We went to bed knowing there was a wounded deer in the timber. We had to look past that and continue the mission. Jeff, out guide, showcased the true meaning of being a guide. Not only does he know the hills, he knows the quarry. Jeff managed us, managed the terrain, and was the sole reason we got back on that deer. His ability to visualize what needed to be done allowed us to be successfull. Now, looking back, I'm very much readjusted to the proper perspective. I'm very proud that my brother kept his chin up when doubt began to creep in. He made the most important shot at the most important time. He got the job done.

As I mentioned Nathans deer was a 3x2. It was smaller in frame but big in body with a darker coat on him. He fought hard and simply ran out of luck when the timber got thin. We lost a bit of meat due to bullet damage but we didn't lose the animal. Jeff, out guide, came away with a sense of pride that goes along with putting your skills to the test. My brother came away with the contentment of a job done, first buck down, and knowing that the meat will not go to waste. I of course am proud of them all.

There we of couse more deer killed during out stay. Tom punched a nice 3x3 with a perfect double lunger, Alex popped a funky racked muley after 20 minutes in the field, Andy got a nice 4x4 that was the envy of yours truelly, dad got his 3x2, and Logan tagged out yesterday on a very nice 3x3 after waiting for him to stand up from his bed. Nathans buck is not the biggest, nor is anyone that envious, but not a single person in camp can say he didn't earn it. For putting in the time and effort I would say his was the most hard earned.

Big thanks to Oren, all the guides, and all the other family that shows up and welcomes us into deer camp. I look forward to seeing Andy and his family, Chief the Dog who gives me fleas every year, Lacey who has learned to play cribbage, Todd who is always one with a smile, and of course Tom who may need another hip down the line but he shows up and reminds us all that every morning, every day, and ever season is something we can learn from.

Thanks for reading guys.....here are a few pics. First is dad (George) brother (Nathan) with their deer. Oh....if anyone wants to start the tag discussion it is tied inside the mouth of my brothers deer. Just saying.

[h20hunter]

Couple more....

[h20hunter]

And last one...........until out next trip of course.

[arrowflinger]

Awesome writ up, good pictures and great family memories.     

[runningboard]

good job by all, vongrats on family time! 

[X-Force]

Awesome writ up, good pictures and great family memories.     

[h20hunter]

Here is a quick vid that Oren put of off some of his critters and hunters. My dad takes his deer right at 8:28.......the brush made the deer a little out of focus but you can see him hit hard then pile up.

http://youtu.be/4hEQ_kAw0L0