Caribou Gear Tarp

First Mule Deer, First Big Game Animal

elkwidow

New member
Joined
Oct 25, 2010
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26
Hello!

For the first time ever I have my own story to post. My Husband Lawnboy is always posting stories on here, but now I can share one of my own.

A couple of years ago I decided ....if you cant beat them....join them, and got a bow. I didnt go hunting the first year, because I wasn't sure of my hunting skills. I wanted to take my first animal with my bow, my awesome husband gave me several close encounters with bull elk but the darn things always hid behind trees or wouldn't come in close enough for me to shoot. It was exciting, but i didn't get harvest anything.

Bart kept dragging me out to take our guns for walks. He is a saint because he has to deal with my ever present fear of being cold. :p

This Saturday he convinced my daughter and I to take our guns for another walk in the morning. He had spotted some deer and some elk. I was looking for a deer, my daughter for an elk. We had a fun, cold hike that morning and got on a deer just as he went up into the trees to lay down. He said we would come back tonight and get him. I am pretty sure he was just tired of us making fun of him the whole time we were hunting.
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We came home....got in the hot tub.....took a nap....and were ready for the evening hunt!

We saw the mule deer right off, spotting from the truck. Bart felt like the buck we were looking at wasn't big enough for a tag you only draw "every 20 years". I haven't ever harvested anything so he looked great to me. The hunt was on!

We checked out the mountain, where the deer were, and made a game plan. We hiked the planned route...up down and all around. When we got to the spot where we thought the deer would be.....we couldn't see them! More hiking! We finally got to a spot where we could see them......but they could see us as well. Bart hit the deck so fast I didn't know what was happening. I squat down and crawled over to him, but the deer has already moved. We climbed up some more steep mountain.....and he caught sight of them again. Down we go again, but they moved off before we could get set up right. We headed up higher and Bart got us set up so that we would just wait for the buck to come into our line of view.

Waiting for the Buck to get out of the junipers and into my sites seemed to take FOREVER. The sun was starting to set, which puts extra pressure on getting a good shot before its too dark to shoot. Finally he stepped out to where I could see his whole body! How exciting....I pulled the trigger.....and......MISSED! Tragic! Bart told me to load another bullet in fast, cause the deer was just standing there looking. I did....pulled the trigger....and made a good shot. Bart told me I "rolled him"..... a heart shot.

He took off up the mountain to start tracking before it got too dark, I went to get my daughter who was crouched behind a juniper so she wouldn't scare the deer.

I was sooo excited! Finally! Almost 40 to get my first big game animal?? I had taken hunters ed as a kid. Better late than never!
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Thanks to my awesome husband for helping me to get my first deer. He is awesome!
 
Big congrats Elkwidow! He's big enough for your first, even on a tag you only draw every 20 years.
 
Very cool. Congrats and thanks for sharing your story!
 
Congratulations little lady!! Way to redeem yourself on the second shot!! I will be taking my daughter to SD for our first mule deer hunt this weekend. She is the only one with a tag. One like yours would be awesome for her. Congrats again, so cool to see the ladies out enjoying everything as well.
 
Super Mrs. May. Go easy on that husband of yours. If this hunting thing sticks he is gonna have his hands full packing you and your daughter's critters.
 
elkwidow: Seems to me that you may be living in the wrong state if you have an "ever present fear of cold". Congratulations to the whole entourage involved.
 
Congratulations. I bet you didn't have a problem staying warm after that and three people to pack it off the mountain is an added bonus.
 
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