OYOA Goes to ND for Mule Deer
- Thread starter Big Fin
- Start date
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
Just Kidding.............Ran into these guys on the way home. They were happy hunters returning to North Dakota???? What was I doing up there???
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
Do not approach bucks from down wind
Sneaking over
Wallaaa
Wish I was ALOT closer.
Sneaking over
Wallaaa
Wish I was ALOT closer.
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
Fun trip. I hope Bushy scored today. Even if he didn't I am sure he will be back up there chasing them bucks into submission very soon.
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
I guess I meant from upwind.
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Awesome pictures Dink.
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
After the wind stops beating you in the head with the tent, it is fine in weather like that. I would guess if you didn;t use wood heat you would end up a little wet.
This had to be the most difficult hunt I have had in a long time! The weather conditions were absolutely brutal and I am simply at a loss for my inability to locate the big deer that I know are in this area and had seen only 3-4 days before Big Fin arrived.
We were able to locate great numbers of deer, but for the most part they consisted of doe/fawn groups and small to medium bucks??
It was a great hunt and it was an absolute treat to sit back and watch Big Fin do everything right to connect with his buck. It is some great footage that will make a fantastic episode.
Meeting Khunter and Dinkshooter was a blast. When you meet some guys you just know they are hunters!! These two guys fall into that category and know how to get it done.
Five days of hunting in that weather have me tired. I am going to rest up and head out the next two weekends and try to put a good buck on the ground. Never say die!!
We were able to locate great numbers of deer, but for the most part they consisted of doe/fawn groups and small to medium bucks??It was a great hunt and it was an absolute treat to sit back and watch Big Fin do everything right to connect with his buck. It is some great footage that will make a fantastic episode.
Meeting Khunter and Dinkshooter was a blast. When you meet some guys you just know they are hunters!! These two guys fall into that category and know how to get it done.
Five days of hunting in that weather have me tired. I am going to rest up and head out the next two weekends and try to put a good buck on the ground. Never say die!!
hardscrabble
Active member
Buschy,
Deffinetly sounds like a brutal hunt! Keep your head up and stay possitive, it will happen. Good luck!
Deffinetly sounds like a brutal hunt! Keep your head up and stay possitive, it will happen. Good luck!
Ridge Runner
New member
Good job to all that were involved. That looks like brutal conditions to be doing anything in. Keep after em Buschy I am sure you will stick a toad.
Moosie
Grand poopa
And that is why a High power Rifle is AWESOME !!!! :~)
elk_hunter
Active member
Very cool; that's why it's called hunting and not 'guaranteeing' since every time we go out, we hope to get into animals, but don't expect it. It's always nice being out with friends.
Just came in the door from the drive home. Glad we left before it got really cold. Was -11F when we left this morning and the wind was howling. And the forecast is for even colder this week. Was only -7F when I pulled into the driveway.
Wish Buschy would have had the chance to take a good buck. He tried hard. We all tried hard. This five days of hunting were the most draining and brutal five days I have ever spent.
When you are filming, the meter is running, so to speak. So, you hunt all day long, everyday, no matter the conditions. Buschy was probably happy to see us leaving.
Those of you who have allowed us to impose on your hunts and film them know how cumbersome the filming process can be. Your setup is first and foremost for the benefit of filming, with the hunting considerations of the setup being secondary. That makes the tactics you normally would use, and are probably most effective, much more difficult to implement. In this instance, Buschy is a master at the spot and stalk, but trying to do that in crunchy/squeaky snow, along with a cameraman and tripod over your shoulder, makes the difficult task of spot and stalk all the more difficult.
Now that we are "out from under foot," I have no doubt that in the next two weeks, Buschy will be posting his normal late year ND Mule Deer pics that he shot with a bow.
I suspect Dinkshooter and KHunter will agree that spot and stalk archery hunts under those conditions at the tail end of the rut are about as difficult as you can look for. Every night I thought about how cold it must have been in that tent, even with a good wood stove. Tough guys, no doubt.
I am very excited to see this episode air. I do think it is the best episode we have filmed, when considering the context in which it unfolded. That being archery mule deer, post-rut, after two weeks of rifle season, in air temps and windchills that never got above 0F, and to take a buck on public land, is something I don't think we could replicate.
As hard as these conditions are on the hunters, it is even more brutal for the cameraguys. Troy was the sole cameraman on this hunt. He has to operate that camera bare-handed or with very thin gloves, whenever the camera is running. And when you are trying to keep up with the footprints of Greg "Cross Country" Busch, you will be carrying all that clumsy camera gear for a lot of miles. Thanks Troy. You are a machine.
Thanks Buschy for offering me the first shot when an opportunity arose. You put up with a lot of unusual accommodations for the sake of filming. You hunted as hard as a person can hunt in five days. I hope you like the final product when it is edited.
Wish Buschy would have had the chance to take a good buck. He tried hard. We all tried hard. This five days of hunting were the most draining and brutal five days I have ever spent.
When you are filming, the meter is running, so to speak. So, you hunt all day long, everyday, no matter the conditions. Buschy was probably happy to see us leaving.
Those of you who have allowed us to impose on your hunts and film them know how cumbersome the filming process can be. Your setup is first and foremost for the benefit of filming, with the hunting considerations of the setup being secondary. That makes the tactics you normally would use, and are probably most effective, much more difficult to implement. In this instance, Buschy is a master at the spot and stalk, but trying to do that in crunchy/squeaky snow, along with a cameraman and tripod over your shoulder, makes the difficult task of spot and stalk all the more difficult.
Now that we are "out from under foot," I have no doubt that in the next two weeks, Buschy will be posting his normal late year ND Mule Deer pics that he shot with a bow.
I suspect Dinkshooter and KHunter will agree that spot and stalk archery hunts under those conditions at the tail end of the rut are about as difficult as you can look for. Every night I thought about how cold it must have been in that tent, even with a good wood stove. Tough guys, no doubt.
I am very excited to see this episode air. I do think it is the best episode we have filmed, when considering the context in which it unfolded. That being archery mule deer, post-rut, after two weeks of rifle season, in air temps and windchills that never got above 0F, and to take a buck on public land, is something I don't think we could replicate.
As hard as these conditions are on the hunters, it is even more brutal for the cameraguys. Troy was the sole cameraman on this hunt. He has to operate that camera bare-handed or with very thin gloves, whenever the camera is running. And when you are trying to keep up with the footprints of Greg "Cross Country" Busch, you will be carrying all that clumsy camera gear for a lot of miles. Thanks Troy. You are a machine.
Thanks Buschy for offering me the first shot when an opportunity arose. You put up with a lot of unusual accommodations for the sake of filming. You hunted as hard as a person can hunt in five days. I hope you like the final product when it is edited.
van franke
Active member
Those are tough conditions even with a rifle let alone a bow. Great post it was enjoyable following along. Thanks
Khunter
Well-known member
Those were some tough conditions for sure. I recall on one day I said to Dinkshooter " I hope this frozen sandwich does not turn out to be the highlight for the day". A few hours later.. it turned out to be the case.
Kudos to Buschy for being so generous with his knowledge of the area. Was great to meet you and spend part of a day in the field. I just hope you tag one of the big bucks we found and filmed in 'your' area (if we did not chase them all the way to South Dakota).
Enjoyed seeing Randy again and meeting Troy and sure appreciated the unexpected dinner.
The hunt was really a tale of two hunts. Tons of deer and good bucks heavy into the rut on clear low-wind days, and miserable glassing conditions with I presume holed-up deer on the bad-weather days.
Till next season get to think about the nice buck I "passed" at 400 yards in a very stalkable position. In retrospect that was an opportunity I should have recognized as too few and far between to pass up. Dinkshooter tried to convince me to go for that buck...
Kudos to Buschy for being so generous with his knowledge of the area. Was great to meet you and spend part of a day in the field. I just hope you tag one of the big bucks we found and filmed in 'your' area (if we did not chase them all the way to South Dakota).
Enjoyed seeing Randy again and meeting Troy and sure appreciated the unexpected dinner.
The hunt was really a tale of two hunts. Tons of deer and good bucks heavy into the rut on clear low-wind days, and miserable glassing conditions with I presume holed-up deer on the bad-weather days.
Till next season get to think about the nice buck I "passed" at 400 yards in a very stalkable position. In retrospect that was an opportunity I should have recognized as too few and far between to pass up. Dinkshooter tried to convince me to go for that buck...
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Well-known member
I will have to find a friends house when this episode airs. To this day I've not enjoyed hunting more than the solo late season muley hunts in the badlands of North Dakota. I can empathize with the conditions, with the wear and tear on ones body and spirit, and relate to the awesomeness of the country. And if you say it is the best episode yet, I can't wait to see it.
Congrats to you Fin and good luck to you Buschy.
Congrats to you Fin and good luck to you Buschy.
