I went hunting Wed/Fri with a friend last week. Boy it was a super time. We didn’t see any game the first day. Kind of just set up camp. We had a full moon so decided to be lazy on Thurs. It paid off big time. We got up about 9am, yea I know that’s way late. We had a full moon & just didn’t feel like getting up early.
Well we got coffee made, ate breakfast & were sipping coffee trying to decide what to do, when my partner whispered game. I looked where he was pointing & saw only antlers, BIG ANTLERS. My first thought was Elk the antlers were so big. Nope it was a VERY large Moose. Of course neither of us had drawn a Moose tag. We watched & glassed him. I got a picture how I don’t know as I grabbed my camera turned it on & it said DEAD BATTERY! Grr, I changed batterys & he was still there about 250 yards out of camp.
Snapped a picture. & watched through my glasses. He was NICE.
Well we decided that pretty well made the day. Went scouting in the rest of the morning. Got up to a stock tank & my partner went 15 yards up the hill without his bow looking for sign. He whispered Frank. I looked up & he was franticaly motioning for me to come up. Thinking he’s seen a deer or Elk I grabbed my bow. I was hunting with a current SuperK that morning. I walked up to where he was & he was pointing towards the ground about 13 yards from me. Now I thought it’d be a pretty small deer to be that low. It wasn’t it was a Franqulin Grouse. I pulled a blunt out of my quiver, the Ace Hex Blunt, picked a spot on it’s chest drew & released. The arrow flew like on a string & centered the breast. He was facing me. It made a very audible thwaaak when it hit. The Grouse stumbled about 5 yards with that arrow in it up to the fletching, & died.
It had a mate & Bob said shoot that one too. I said I only had one blunt & didn’t want to use a BH on it. He went back to the Jeep got his bow & two flu flus. The Grouse flew into a tree & Bob shot it out at about 15 yards. Well we had Grouse for dinner. Good day.
We cleaned the Grouse & scouted our way back to camp & put them on Ice. We decided to hunt a draw we’d seen that had a creek & lots of Willows in it. We waited till about 5pm & headed up the draw. We’d gone about a hundred yards when Bob motioned to be still. He was looking at something about 25 yards in front of us. It was a small forked horn buck. Bob didn’t want to use his A tag on a small deer, & motioned did I want it? I motioned yes. So I went in front. I was trying to be really carefull as I kind of wanted this deer. I closed to within about 20 yards, but he was screened by brush. He started moving to my right & Bob signaled he was moving right. I’d liked to move right to get into position, but there was a large muddy trail I’d have had to cross & knew I’d make noise. I moved left & the deer saw or heard us & moved off. We thought it was a pretty good day.
We worked up the draw to where it split & decided Bob would take the left fork & I the right. We seperated & planned to be back at the Jeep at 8pm. Legal shooting light would be gone then. I worked farther up the draw & saw some large trails comming down off the hill into the draw & crossing it. I wanted to see what was farther up the draw so went a bit farther. The trails petered out so I came back down a bit looking for a good log to sit on & watch. It was now about 5:45pm. I was moving so I put my arrow back into my quiver. I don’t like walking with a sharp broadhead in my hand or on the string. I’d snuck about 5 minutes back towards the trails I’d seen when I senscd & heard something comming towards me. I saw it was a nice 3X3 at the trott. I was fumbling for an arrow when he skidded to a halt about 13 yards away, he sniffed, looked, & took off to the left. No chance for a shot darn. Well that’s a Moose we’d seen, a Grouse we’d shot, & two legal deer we’d seen. I was thinking it a pretty good day. I notticed more movement & a Coyote was chasing that deer. At first I thought Wolf, nope nose too long & too small by 100lbs. I tried to get a shot, but he was moving pretty fast & didn’t stop till he smelled the deer had crossed the creek. He turned & lopped off never giving me a shot closer that 35 yards. That’s farther than I’ll shoot at an unwounded moving animal. So I let him go. Let’s see, A Moose, Grouse, two legal deer, & a Coyote. I’m having a VERY Good day. I’m thanking our Lord for allowing me to see so much game.
Well It’s I sit on a log till about 7:30 & start working back hardly able to wait till I can tell Bob what I’ve seen. We met almost to the Jeep & he says do I have a tale to tell you! Wow it’s going to get better! He says he found a log to sit on & watch his side of the creek. He got uncomfortable so kind of slouched down on the ground with the log as a back rest. Now he hears something comming out in front of him. It’s a nice 3X3, he’s trying to get his bow into position when he hears the sound of grass being pulled & chewed behind him. We have been seeing cattle all day & he thinks shoot a cow has snuck in behind me & is going to good up the deal. He slowly as in mollasses turns & there is a 4X4 comming right toward his back. Two deer 4 eyes, & so close ANY movement will draw attention. The deer behind keeps comming closer & closer, the deer in front keeps feeding. The deer behind comes closer still & is now about 5 yards away. Bob can now see him out of his periferial vision. Still the deer behind comes closer, now he’s stretching his neck to try to smell what’s in front of him. Another step & he’s within touching distance. He stretches out his neck, smells Bob’s quiver, gets a snoot full of man scent, & stamps his foot once. The deer in front snappes to attention, makes eye contact with Bob, & turns himself inside out leaving. Of course the one behind does too. Wow what a day. Bob & I were having more fun than should be legal. We hashed over what we’d both seen several times & decided we’d just had one of the best days hunting we’d ever had.
Oh yes we are going back to that draw!
Well thanks for reading, hope it was enjoyable to read, it sure was enjoyable to experience. Oh yes the Grouse tasted REALLY good that night. We stayed up till 11pm going over the day.
Thanks
Frank