After 45+ years of hunting, I’ve never been one to share my stories and photos. I feel it’s between me, close family and friends, and the Man upstairs. For some strange reason after this particular hunt, I did some in-depth self reflections on my hunting career and feel like I have something to share. I will get to that later.
Our hunt started with the usual discussions with biologists, acquaintances who had hunted the unit, and a few days of summer scouting. We loaded up the trailer to stay the entire season and arrived three days before it opened. Familiarizing ourselves with the unit, we saw several deer, elk, and even bison. We formulated a game plan for opening morning. After seeing several deer, we felt like we were in a great location.
Around 5:30 p.m., my wife, Lelani, spotted a great deer looking at us about 150 yards away. After looking at him closely, we realized he was a giant 3-point, at least 30" wide, so we called him “33.” Since he had us spotted, we decided to ease out and see if we could find him in the morning. After getting back to camp, we studied onX and came up with a plan to come into the area from the north.
While driving to the spot, Lelani spotted some deer just off the road next to a dirt tank. After looking them over, we realized one of the deer was 33. As it started getting light, we watched 33 and a smaller buck feed over a ridge and out of sight. We slowly made our way to the ridge to see if we could spot them. When we got to the top of the ridge, the country was slightly broken up, so we couldn’t find them. After searching for several minutes, I told Lelani with the wind direction and the rain from last night, I felt comfortable trying to sneak in and see if I could find them. She wished me luck and reminded me to stay focused. She stayed with the UTV, and I started working my way in the direction we figured they had traveled. Along the way, I spotted a group of does we had seen earlier that were fairly close to 33. They appeared to be unalarmed, so I stayed out of sight and kept going.
In about half a mile, I spotted the smaller buck feeding above me approximately 100 yards away. As I slowly stepped forward on a small rise above me, I saw antlers moving in my direction. I slowly crouched down and nocked an arrow. I could barely see the tips of his antlers above the brush looking in my direction at what I guessed to be 35 yards away. I slowly drew my bow back and stood up. To my surprise, it wasn’t 33 but a great looking 4-point. I knew I only had a second to decide what to do. I could tell he was slightly quartering toward me. His chest was somewhat covered by some tall grass, and I guessed he was 35 yards away. I adjusted for the distance, elevation, and body angle and settled my 20-yard pin where I felt it needed to be. After releasing the arrow, he disappeared. I heard what I thought was a solid hit, but I couldn’t see over the horizon to see what he did.
Now what? This is where we all start to doubt ourselves. The distance and elevation were a total guess, I didn’t really like the angle, my release felt great (but maybe not). Did I misjudge him? He was so close. Did he look bigger than he was? Crap! I started out to get a better look at deer we spotted on opening day, and on day two, I may have just ended my hunt I’d waited 16 years to go on.
After waiting about 30 minutes, I worked my way toward where the deer was. When I got to where I thought he was standing, I noticed the wet dirt was disturbed and scattered about. I glassed in the direction he would have gone but didn’t see him. I marked the spot on onX and started to look for blood, hair, and my arrow with no luck. I moved up the hill to get a better look up the canyon and spotted three bucks working their way to the top. I quickly sat down to get better stability with my binos and watched them. The back deer was the biggest, and at first I thought it was 33 because he looked so wide and didn’t appear to be hurt.
I continued to watch them, and as they almost got to the top, they turned and started working their way right. I knew the deer would have been hit on his left side, but because of his direction of travel, I couldn’t see that side. I continued to watch them, and just as they crested the hill out of sight, I thought he appeared to stumble. After a few seconds, one of his companions came back and looked as if he was wondering where his partner had gone. I thought it looked promising. I took a picture of the hillside and marked the area he had disappeared in.
I made my way back to the UTV, and we drove around the mountain to get a little closer to where I last saw him. We parked and waited about an hour before working our way to the area. We slowly started to search the spot where I thought he was. After several back and forth searches, I started to get concerned. I told Lelani I was going to work my way down to where I had marked his location to reestablish my bearings. When I got there and looked at the photo I had marked, I realized I was searching in the wrong spot. We were about 200 yards too far to the west. I waived Lelani down, and we spread out, working our way to the spot I had marked. As we slowly hiked, looking for blood, tracks, and/or my arrow, I noticed antlers sticking above the grass. Where I thought he had stumbled, he had actually laid down and expired. After looking at my shot placement, I was very surprised he was able to travel as far as he did. He turned out to be a great deer, and we feel extremely fortunate and blessed to have had the opportunity to harvest him. It was very lucky circumstances, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
Now back to the start of my story where I mentioned I had something to share. I have had the privilege to hunt in most western states, the Northwest Territories, Canada, and Africa. Not all my tags were filled; actually, a larger percentage than I care to mention are sitting in a box. I wish I could say, “I wouldn’t have changed a thing,” but the truth is I often failed on my execution and attitude. I got so consumed with finding the biggest animal that I missed the fundamentals (attitude, preparation, patience, gratitude, and focus). Oftentimes, we put so much pressure on ourselves that we forget why we love this sport.
I want to thank my wonderful wife and best friend. When we got married 15 years ago, I introduced her to hunting, but really, she reintroduced me to hunting. Because of her, I have become a better, more appreciative hunter. After swallowing my pride and ignoring my ego, she has taught me the importance of living in the moment and not getting ahead of myself. Because of her attitude, patience, support, and participation, I have learned to appreciate hunting in its entirety. She holds me accountable to the mission, whether it’s at home or in the field. She is an exceptional spotter and never complains. Every hunting day is a new day with new opportunities, new adventures, successes, and even failures.
I feel that whether hunting or in life, it’s important to surround yourself with positive-minded people. I wish I would have had her as a hunting partner several tags ago. These are my personal observations and opinions. They are not intended to discredit anyone’s values or strategies. I wanted to share a picture of a card she gave me after 12 long, cold days on a deer hunt in a great limited-entry unit in Wyoming a few years ago. It hit home with me the real importance of hunting.
Our hunt started with the usual discussions with biologists, acquaintances who had hunted the unit, and a few days of summer scouting. We loaded up the trailer to stay the entire season and arrived three days before it opened. Familiarizing ourselves with the unit, we saw several deer, elk, and even bison. We formulated a game plan for opening morning. After seeing several deer, we felt like we were in a great location.
Around 5:30 p.m., my wife, Lelani, spotted a great deer looking at us about 150 yards away. After looking at him closely, we realized he was a giant 3-point, at least 30" wide, so we called him “33.” Since he had us spotted, we decided to ease out and see if we could find him in the morning. After getting back to camp, we studied onX and came up with a plan to come into the area from the north.
While driving to the spot, Lelani spotted some deer just off the road next to a dirt tank. After looking them over, we realized one of the deer was 33. As it started getting light, we watched 33 and a smaller buck feed over a ridge and out of sight. We slowly made our way to the ridge to see if we could spot them. When we got to the top of the ridge, the country was slightly broken up, so we couldn’t find them. After searching for several minutes, I told Lelani with the wind direction and the rain from last night, I felt comfortable trying to sneak in and see if I could find them. She wished me luck and reminded me to stay focused. She stayed with the UTV, and I started working my way in the direction we figured they had traveled. Along the way, I spotted a group of does we had seen earlier that were fairly close to 33. They appeared to be unalarmed, so I stayed out of sight and kept going.
In about half a mile, I spotted the smaller buck feeding above me approximately 100 yards away. As I slowly stepped forward on a small rise above me, I saw antlers moving in my direction. I slowly crouched down and nocked an arrow. I could barely see the tips of his antlers above the brush looking in my direction at what I guessed to be 35 yards away. I slowly drew my bow back and stood up. To my surprise, it wasn’t 33 but a great looking 4-point. I knew I only had a second to decide what to do. I could tell he was slightly quartering toward me. His chest was somewhat covered by some tall grass, and I guessed he was 35 yards away. I adjusted for the distance, elevation, and body angle and settled my 20-yard pin where I felt it needed to be. After releasing the arrow, he disappeared. I heard what I thought was a solid hit, but I couldn’t see over the horizon to see what he did.
Now what? This is where we all start to doubt ourselves. The distance and elevation were a total guess, I didn’t really like the angle, my release felt great (but maybe not). Did I misjudge him? He was so close. Did he look bigger than he was? Crap! I started out to get a better look at deer we spotted on opening day, and on day two, I may have just ended my hunt I’d waited 16 years to go on.
After waiting about 30 minutes, I worked my way toward where the deer was. When I got to where I thought he was standing, I noticed the wet dirt was disturbed and scattered about. I glassed in the direction he would have gone but didn’t see him. I marked the spot on onX and started to look for blood, hair, and my arrow with no luck. I moved up the hill to get a better look up the canyon and spotted three bucks working their way to the top. I quickly sat down to get better stability with my binos and watched them. The back deer was the biggest, and at first I thought it was 33 because he looked so wide and didn’t appear to be hurt.
I continued to watch them, and as they almost got to the top, they turned and started working their way right. I knew the deer would have been hit on his left side, but because of his direction of travel, I couldn’t see that side. I continued to watch them, and just as they crested the hill out of sight, I thought he appeared to stumble. After a few seconds, one of his companions came back and looked as if he was wondering where his partner had gone. I thought it looked promising. I took a picture of the hillside and marked the area he had disappeared in.
I made my way back to the UTV, and we drove around the mountain to get a little closer to where I last saw him. We parked and waited about an hour before working our way to the area. We slowly started to search the spot where I thought he was. After several back and forth searches, I started to get concerned. I told Lelani I was going to work my way down to where I had marked his location to reestablish my bearings. When I got there and looked at the photo I had marked, I realized I was searching in the wrong spot. We were about 200 yards too far to the west. I waived Lelani down, and we spread out, working our way to the spot I had marked. As we slowly hiked, looking for blood, tracks, and/or my arrow, I noticed antlers sticking above the grass. Where I thought he had stumbled, he had actually laid down and expired. After looking at my shot placement, I was very surprised he was able to travel as far as he did. He turned out to be a great deer, and we feel extremely fortunate and blessed to have had the opportunity to harvest him. It was very lucky circumstances, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
Now back to the start of my story where I mentioned I had something to share. I have had the privilege to hunt in most western states, the Northwest Territories, Canada, and Africa. Not all my tags were filled; actually, a larger percentage than I care to mention are sitting in a box. I wish I could say, “I wouldn’t have changed a thing,” but the truth is I often failed on my execution and attitude. I got so consumed with finding the biggest animal that I missed the fundamentals (attitude, preparation, patience, gratitude, and focus). Oftentimes, we put so much pressure on ourselves that we forget why we love this sport.
I want to thank my wonderful wife and best friend. When we got married 15 years ago, I introduced her to hunting, but really, she reintroduced me to hunting. Because of her, I have become a better, more appreciative hunter. After swallowing my pride and ignoring my ego, she has taught me the importance of living in the moment and not getting ahead of myself. Because of her attitude, patience, support, and participation, I have learned to appreciate hunting in its entirety. She holds me accountable to the mission, whether it’s at home or in the field. She is an exceptional spotter and never complains. Every hunting day is a new day with new opportunities, new adventures, successes, and even failures.
I feel that whether hunting or in life, it’s important to surround yourself with positive-minded people. I wish I would have had her as a hunting partner several tags ago. These are my personal observations and opinions. They are not intended to discredit anyone’s values or strategies. I wanted to share a picture of a card she gave me after 12 long, cold days on a deer hunt in a great limited-entry unit in Wyoming a few years ago. It hit home with me the real importance of hunting.