best evening of hunting without pulling the trigger (update)

[elkboy]

I was out with my hunting protege/beginner for this year on a wheat field here in the Palouse last night.  Had a tremendous evening, without pulling the trigger.  He was set up on the eastern edge of the field where a brushy gully enters, and where deer tend to emerge as evening falls.  He set up very close to a minor deer trail, expecting the deer to use a heavier trail 30 yards beyond.  Around 6 pm, a large herd of whitetails (15 deer) comes out, but they use the trail about five yards from him.  They all see him, but appear confused.  He can't move to get a shot.  At one point, a fawn whitetail walks right up to him (he is prone in a little "foxhole" we dug) and actually sniffs him, jumping back when she gets a snootfull of his clearly human scent.  The deer, including a huge 5x5 buck, all move off, over the ridge, right to me across the field.  I am set up against two large rose bushes, and to make a long story short, the herd walks right by me, some of the does at three yards.  I could have taken any of 11 of the does, but alas, the early season is closed to doe harvest.  The buck, for his part, stays high enough on the slope that his chest is skylined.  He is within 30-40 yards of me the whole time, but I cannot risk an unsafe shot.  I watch the herd trail off, exulting in the thrill of having been with mere yards of live whitetails, as the sun sets over the Palouse. 

Some of the best hunts do not end with a deer on the meat-pole, but with memories that will outlast any freezer fare.   Over the afternoon, I had coveys of quail, flocks of pheasants, and a very surprised Cooper's hawk visit me.

I hope your muzzleloader hunts are all going well, also.  -EB

[pianoman9701]

Nice story, buddy. Well done on the pass, too. My last day of archery deer, I spotted a doe and started a stalk. After more than an hour and about a half mile, I got within 15 yards with an opportunity of a broadside-looking away shot. She was tiny and I passed. But it was good knowing my skills haddn't completely left me yet.

[7mmfan]

My favorite hunting memories do not include pulling the trigger. Every one of them.

[Sabotloader]

I was out with my hunting protege/beginner for this year on a wheat field here in the Palouse last night.  Had a tremendous evening, without pulling the trigger.  He was set up on the eastern edge of the field where a brushy gully enters, and where deer tend to emerge as evening falls.  He set up very close to a minor deer trail, expecting the deer to use a heavier trail 30 yards beyond.  Around 6 pm, a large herd of whitetails (15 deer) comes out, but they use the trail about five yards from him.  They all see him, but appear confused.  He can't move to get a shot.  At one point, a fawn whitetail walks right up to him (he is prone in a little "foxhole" we dug) and actually sniffs him, jumping back when she gets a snootfull of his clearly human scent.  The deer, including a huge 5x5 buck, all move off, over the ridge, right to me across the field.  I am set up against two large rose bushes, and to make a long story short, the herd walks right by me, some of the does at three yards.  I could have taken any of 11 of the does, but alas, the early season is closed to doe harvest.  The buck, for his part, stays high enough on the slope that his chest is skylined.  He is within 30-40 yards of me the whole time, but I cannot risk an unsafe shot.  I watch the herd trail off, exulting in the thrill of having been with mere yards of live whitetails, as the sun sets over the Palouse. 

Some of the best hunts do not end with a deer on the meat-pole, but with memories that will outlast any freezer fare.   Over the afternoon, I had coveys of quail, flocks of pheasants, and a very surprised Cooper's hawk visit me.

I hope your muzzleloader hunts are all going well, also.  -EB

Shoot O'deer! that was a fun read!

Sides if you harvest to early what are you going to do the rest of the season?

[baker5150]

My greatest Elk hunting experience ended with no shots fired. 
I'll never forget it, one of those moments, that when it's over, you look around to see if anyone else saw what just happened.

[TC_outdoorsman]

I am sure it was a great time. Thanks for sharing with us.

[DOUBLELUNG]

Great hunt!

[cbond3318]

Awesome stuff that I'm sure will resonate for years! I too have had the greatest outdoor experiences without ever taking an animal!  A win/win!

[REHJWA]

Thanks for sharing. And best wishes for more Successful hunts.

[elkboy]

Well, last night was a lot quieter on the deer activity front, but I had a herd of four mature does walk by a quick prone setup I did on a field edge.  This was in GMU 142, where does may be taken during early muzzleloader season, and I had meat on my mind.  I had a feeling that the deer would come out on a certain field corner, based on observations a few nights prior.  After setting up my hunting student over a pine and hawthorn-covered draw a few hundred yards away, I walked over the hill, tore a bunch of the tumble-mustard and medusa-head grass away from the weedy fencerow, and laid in the space created in prone position, facing west.  I laid there for two hours watching the field corner, watching deer a canyon away with the binoculars, and listening to the magpies talking among the pines on the hillside. 

At 5:50 PM, four does popped over the hill, grazing on the loose garbanzo beans lying among the tilled furrows.  I waited until they were no longer skylined, which put them at about sixty yards.  The largest whitetail doe had a yearling, and I let them pass by to my right at about seventy.  The next two were fairly mature young does, good size, and I waited until one turned broadside.  My Knight Mountaineer was resting on my hip-pack, my body was prone, and I was as still as a rock.  The top of the red front bead was placed 2/5 of the way up her body behind the front leg, and the trigger was squeezed rearwards.  At the shot, the other three deer ran off to my right over the plowed field, the doe I had shot whirled and ran the eighty yards to the field corner.  She stopped at the barbed wire cattle fence, hesitated, and fell.  (My shot had taken the top half of the heart, and impacted both lungs)

My hunting student got a nice lesson in field dressing, and we packed the deer over the ridge to the truck in the light of the rising moon.  We returned to town for a dinner of fresh venison tenderloin (my girlfriend approved heartily of the deer I brought home).  There were several pounds of fat on the doe's rump, and around the internal organs.  I had a hard time finding the kidneys, as they were so hidden by pounds of fat.  This doe, like every deer I take, is a great blessing to be enjoyed through the months to come.   My only regret is that I took the shot, and not my hunting student.  His time, I tell him, will come.  Above all, patience takes the day in the world of the hunt.

Good luck with all of your continuing hunts!  -EB

[Sabotloader]

Congrats! it is nice when a plan comes together!  Our season opens 10/9 hope to be out there some place on the Idaho Palouse looking for some luck myself!

mike

[lokidog]

 

[erk444]

Awesome story! What kind of bullets are you shooting?

[elkboy]

I am shooting Knight Bloodlines, .50 cal, 300 grains. Amazing bullet. I have taken six or seven deer with them now, and they perform beautifully.

[elkboy]

Nice story, buddy. Well done on the pass, too. My last day of archery deer, I spotted a doe and started a stalk. After more than an hour and about a half mile, I got within 15 yards with an opportunity of a broadside-looking away shot. She was tiny and I passed. But it was good knowing my skills haddn't completely left me yet.

Awesome, Piano!  That is every bit a win in the world of hunting.