Starting to See Some Action

October 21st, Matt and I headed out to a stand we scouted just before the season. None of us have sat in the location. We picked what we expect to be the perfect wind and both climbed the same tree. At daybreak, a flock of crows found an owl not far from us and went crazy. For no less than 30 minutes, we couldn't hardly hear each other talk as the crows scolded the owl. During this time, I spotted a deer coming down the hill toward us from the Southeast. I saw that it was a doe and shortly behind her, another doe appeared. They worked there way toward us and stopped at 40 yards. I could see they were getting antsy, and one flagged and trotted back up hill. A minute later, the second doe followed. We had a South wind at 5mph, but, with the air warming in the morning, and the wind being light, I could guess it was swirling some and the does picked it up. About an hour and a half later, a deer was heading our way from directly south of us. He ended up being a 3-point that offered multiple shot opportunities. I drew on him for practice and held for about a minute. In doing this, it helps me solidify my shot sequence when the opportunity presents itself. The buck fed on acorns at 12 yards for 15 minutes as Matt and I watched. He looked up at us a time or two and went back to feeding. He eventually turned around and retraced his original path as he left.

October 28th Matt was with his Dad muzzleloader hunting near Kansas. I stayed behind and hunted our usual areas with my bow. A cold front moved through and I knew the deer would be on their feet. The first hour and a half were uneventful and the tree rocking in the wind threatened to put me to sleep. Just after 9:00am, I heard something crashing through the woods heading toward me. 2 does explode from the scrub brush and into an opening 40 yards away, nervously looking behind them. I knew what to expect and had my bow ready. The does trotted another 30 yards to the East, but I was focused on where they'd come from. A few seconds pass, and I can make out a figure moving through the woods. A buck emerges on the same trail as the does, again, 40 yards away. He appears to be an 8 point, but slightly basket-racked. I'd imagine he was a two year old due to his size, build, and that he's chasing does early. The does continued off into the woods away from me while the buck finds some low hanging branches to thrash. I watched as he made a scrap, then I grunted at him. Even though he was marking his territory, he looked my way, then turned to follow the does. I grunted again, to no avail. 10 minutes later, I hear footsteps behind me. I turn and see a hunter attempting to "still-hunt" through the woods. I whistle at him and he stops. I wave to let him know I'm there and thankfully he turned around and disappeared the way he'd come. Another hour passes before I spot a doe moving to my Northwest. She eases by at about 45 yards and circles to my South without ever getting closer. As I'm watching her, I notice the same buck is about 80 yards behind her, but again, out of range. I grunted again, and he stops. After a few moments of glaring in my direction, I snort-wheeze. He's not impressed by this and follows the doe out of sight.

Matt successfully harvested a doe while muzzleloader hunting at 60 yards. No larger bucks presented him an opportunity. Mark, Matt's Dad, having already taken 2 does this year, was holding out for a buck. He saw several great bucks, but they were around 200 yards. The next day, he eased into the wood-line within 75 yards of where the bucks had been passing the previous 2 days. A few hours into his hunt, he caught movement in the woods and brought his binoculars up to check the size of the deer. He saw plenty of antler and prepared for the shot. The buck was in a hurry and was not going to slow down. Mark took care in his shot placement and pulled the trigger. The buck took off, but did not make it far before crashing. From looking at his teeth, he appears to be a great 2 year old, possibly a 3 year old.

The bucks are starting to move!

 

The Beginning of Deer Season

Opening day, I worked through lunch so that I could leave early and get in stand for my first sit of the season. I chose an acorn flat between two ridges on a dry creek bed at the small tract of private land we just gained access to. Apparently we are going to have a great squirrel season as they were all over the flat. The high was 85 and the sit was uneventful, until I started to get down. It was 10 minutes beyond shooting light and pitch black. I lowered my bow, released my safety harness from the tree, and got both feet on the ladder. Then, I hear footsteps and freeze. To my left, I see shadows moving at 30 yards. 3 deer jump the creek heading my way. Although they were only 20 yards away at this time, I could only make out the white hair of their bellies. After 5 minutes, my right calf is cramped and I'm shifting my weight around trying to not blow my cover. Another 5 minutes pass by, and it seemed as though the deer had fed off. I finally reached the ground, picked up my bow, and took 3 steps before I had a deer blow at me from 20 feet away. It caught me off guard and the deer took off. At least it was dark enough that they were unable to see what I was.

The first weekend of deer season was uneventful for Matt and I. Neither one of us saw a deer, however, his dad, Mark, shot two does Sunday Morning with his crossbow. I had two other hunters walk in on my stand by 8:00am Sunday, so I got down and we headed over to help Mark, trail, drag, and gut the does.

This last Sunday, Matt and I sat in our favorite stands which happen to be only 200 yards apart. We rarely see the same deer even with sitting this close. Around 9:00am, two does came crashing through at 30 yards and didn't stop until they were out of site. I wondered if another hunter was about to walk in on my hunt. I wait 15 minutes and hear something coming from the same hillside the previous does left. I spot a doe moving through the brush. Another doe and a spotted fawn follow not far behind. The does were trying to hurry, but the fawn was unable to move at their pace, thus causing the does to be on high-alert. I locate an opening in the direction they are heading and get ready. The first doe bounds through the shooting lane, and as the second attempts the same, I stop her with a bleat. I settle my 30 yard pin on her lungs (she was at 32 yards) and release. The second my bowstring left my release, she double back on her trail and I missed. All 3 deer disappeared into the brush. I felt good about the shot, but knew I missed. After I got out of the stand, I walked my arrow path. I could see where she planted her hooves to spin and found my arrow in line with where her vitals had been. A clean miss, but something that will happen as you bow hunt.

Sunday night we headed to our small section of private land. Matt headed to a ladder stand, Charles sat in his pop-up blind, and I went to the acorn flat. I was still setting up the camera arm on the tree when my phone starts vibrating. Matt is texting me to say a small buck is on his way. As I’m reading the text, the 4-point comes running in, obviously spooked by something. He stops behind my tree at 23 yards, broadside. I’m being picky this year with bucks as you only get two buck tags a season. As he stood there, with my bow still on the ground, I grabbed my gear string and hoisted my bow into the tree, knocked an arrow, put on my release, and drew on him. I held the pins on his vitals, envisioning the shot. He walked through the dry creek bed and left me with a quartering away shot. I continued to hold my pins on him, strictly for mental practice. In doing this on a deer I have no intentions of shooting, it allows my mind to process my shot form, bow is level, breathing, visualizing the vitals and the path of the arrow. In holding this position for about a minute or so, it assists with forming good habits and making them second nature. He eventually walked up the hill and jumped the fence. The buck had come from the west of Matt, and with the wind being northwest, we don’t know for sure what spooked him.

Around 5:30 I hear leaves crunching and notice a skunk making a B-line for my stand. I unintentionally held my breath as he wondered by at 10 feet, then stopped at 20 yards to clean himself. I just let him continue on his merry way. As shooting light fades, I was packed up and about to let my bow down when I heard leaves crunching behind me. It was quite a racket and I expected it to be the does I’d seen opening day around the same time. In the darkness, I spot 4 small bodies heading through the creek. It’s a family of raccoons, with the largest probably being around 20+ pounds. Just like the skunk, they walk to within 10 feet of my stand and start milling around. These critters can be nasty to deal with and one starts eyeballing me. I see the white ring of his face looking in my direction and let an arrow fly. He growls and takes off. It looked like I skewered him. The other 3 coons immediately climb up 3 trees nearby with the closest being 10 feet away. He gets to eye-level and starts staring me down. Bad move. I nock another arrow and send it through his ball of fur. He falls half way down the tree, catches himself, and takes off. Knowing I connected on both of them, I get down and look for the critters. Matt and Charles showed up and we scanned the woods for a minute, but not wanting to leave our scent all over the area, we backed out without finding either coon.

The beginning of the year has been a bit slow thus far. Once the October-lull gives way to the pre-rut in the coming weeks, I'm sure things will pick up.

Pronghorn Draw Hunt - No Easy Task

Back in May, I entered my first draw hunt application. I applied for several of the coveted hunts like elk, but often times, those take decades of preference points to draw, if ever. I looked at the pronghorn options. Two counties offer pronghorn with both buck and doe tags as options. I apply for both buck options and a doe. Pronghorn rifle draw hunts are once in a lifetime draws. Once drawn, you will never have another chance at public land pronghorn with a rifle unless you hunt private land with land-owner tags.

In mid-july, the draw was completed. I checked the site, and had been drawn for the rifle pronghorn doe hunt! I was excited as I have never hunted an animal that solely inhabitted flat-lands where they can see for miles. I made arrangements to travel to the panhandle of Oklahoma for the hunt. I opted to wait until the weekend the season was open to not take as many days off of work.

My wife, 18-month old, and I hit the road at 8:30am. Once you are 2 hours northwest of Oklahoma City, the terrain is flat. You begin to wonder how far you really can see. Then you keep driving another 5 hours. Your definition of flat has been rewritten by this time. We pulled into Boise City, Oklahoma around 3:30 and got settled into the hotel room. There were 3 other hunters in the parking lot cleaning a doe they had just harvested that morning. My confidence is now much higher. After a brief chat with them, I headed to the Rita Blanca WMA to start glassing.


The first 6 units I checked were barren, not even a prairie dog. The Rita Blanca WMA is not one large section, but rather broken down into 30+ sections spread across the entire county. I drove back by one of the units on my way to another area and spotted a group of pronghorn on the horizon. The wind was blowing right to them and by the time I got my rifle and started their way, they showed why they are referred to as "speed goats."

As I arrived at the next section, it was shaped much like a "T" between private land and several hundred acres in size. I spotted two pronghorn heading east from my southwest. I got on all fours and proceeded to crawl 300 yards to a barbed-wire fence to setup for a shot. After trying to avoice cactus, and not always successfully, I was within 200 yards of the buck and doe. I steadied for a shot and double-checked my map. I then realized that the doe I had dead to rights was on private land. It was a disappointment, but a rush as well. As I walked back to my truck, the sun had started to set and I saw a piece of bone 50 yards away. I noticed it was a vertebrae and found several other ribs and leg bones. I then spotted the skull, confirming it was a pronghorn. Closer inspection showed the bases where the horns should have been. As I scoured the area for another 30 minutes I found both horns with one of them being 100 yards from the rest of the skeleton as I was headed to the truck. This had me pretty excited.

The next morning I head back to this same unit as it had a water tank and I was hoping the pronghorn would wander back by for a drink. I was not expecting the 43 degree temperatures that morning as the forecast showed mid-50's. About 8:30am, I was packing up to warm up in the truck. No pronghorn were within 2 miles and it's rather pointless to sit when pronghorn are not visible while other hunters chase them around.

I had to drive into Texas twice, just to turn around, while glassing the land that Rita Blanca had to offer. I also noticed a bluff appear to my west while checking out unit 102 and 101. The bluff was in New Mexico. By lunch-time on Saturday, I had seen 6 pronghorn and driven 150 miles. Those pronghorn were on a section of private land 400 yards from a very small unit of Rita Blanca. They didn't move more than 100 yards in the 3 hours since I had seen them the first time that morning. I went back to the hotel and picked up my wife and daughter for lunch. We headed to the Rockin' A Cafe there in Boise City. After we ate, I got to talking with the owner. He asked about my luck during the hunt. I told him the pronghorn were scattered and I was unable to even find any on public land that day. He picked up his cell phone and made a couple of calls. A few moments later, he told me to head to Keyes, Oklahoma (about a 20 minute drive) and meet a gentleman by the name of Mr. Stewart. I thanked him and headed to the hotel to grab my gear. My wife wanted to go with me even after I warned that we would most likely be gone for the next 8 hours hunting.

I met Mr. Stewart who provided me a map of all of his land. He must've had 40 different sections scattered across Cimmaron County. He also called a neighbor who owned the land he had just seen a group of pronghorn on and secured permission for me. He said "you'll have a doe dead in 30 minutes" when he got off the phone. I thanked him for giving me permission and rushed to the area. There was a heard of about 15-20 bedded in a field of knee-high milo with 3 standing as sentries. I parked the truck 600 yards from them and started crawling through the field to close the distance. When I got to within probably 350 yards, I noticed several pronghorn standing up and acting skittish. I prepared for a shot, but could not single one out that didn't have another right behind it. When I finally located one by itself, the group took off at a run before I could squeeze the trigger. I dust myself off and watch the heard disappear over a rise. I jump back in the truck only to spot them 2 miles down the road. I had my wife drop me off to start my stalk of them and had her drive around them in an attempt to spook them toward me. Before she could circle them, they took off for another 2-3 mile run. At this point, I decided to try and locate another group. After checking another 10 sections, we ended back near the same group. I parked the truck behind some brush, closed the distance by 400 yards, and estimated they were still at 500 yards. I steadied my bipod and waited for the pronghorn to settle down. I place the crosshairs roughly 2 1/2 feet over the back of a large doe and fired. A cloud of dust kicked up 100 yards short and they didn't stop for probably 5 miles.

As we continued to drive, I spotted a lone doe in a field. I was able to get up on the fence post for a rest. I estimated her to be at 250 yards, then she trotted another 50. When she stopped, I placed the crosshairs a foot over her and fired. Another dirt clod was misted. It was at this point I knew my scope had taken a lethal knock at some point. The scope rings were still tight and the scope was wiggle-free.

At another property, about two hours later, we spotted another group of about 15. My wife drove behind an oil rig and dropped me off before she drove off to keep their attention on her. I kept the rig between them and I and got to within 200 yards. I thought "this is it, I'm going to make it happen finally." I see one doe poke her head around the oil rig so I sit down, prop up my leg, throw the sling around my elbow, and get ready. As the heard steps out, I settle on a doe, place the crosshairs behind her shoulder and pull the tripper. Another dirt clod is sent to heaven. As the pronghorn trott off, I reload and fire twice more at the slowest doe, each time killing dirt successfully.

We spend another 2 hours trying to get shots on this group, who had by that time joined 30 more pronghorn, making it impossible to get anywhere near them. Just as we were about to head back to the hotel for the night, I spot a pronghorn not 100 yards off the road. I pull the truck over, jump out, slide into the ditch, and get ready to fire. I double-check the head only to see antlers that were previously hidden by the ears and a black patch on it's cheek, confirming it is a buck. Going from fever to let down in 5 seconds is a harsh reality at the end of a long day of chasing pronghorn.

The owner of the diner had told me to come back on Sunday morning if I wasn't able to harvest one. Sunday morning, at 7:30 like he had said, I was there drinking a coffee. The farmer that he had arranged for me to meet with didn't show up. I figured I would head back to Mr. Stewart's land and try one more time as the drive home is 7 hours and I wanted to be home by dinner. As I was getting ready to leave, the owner tells me to jump in his truck and we'll go look around. We hit all the land he has access to for about 2 1/2 hours, before seeing a lone doe at the last spot. He slowed down and I jumped into a ditch and took cover near a fence line. Just as I settled my scope, she started to trot. I didn't feel comfortable with taking the shot. With that, I watched my last chance at a pronghorn disappear out of range.

Although I had a wonderful meal of tag soup, the experience was great. Hunting big game in the west is a whole different game and something I'm interested in trying again, but for now, bring on deer season.

2012-2013 Oklahoma Hunting Regulations Available Online

Although only in draft form, the 2012-2013 Oklahoma Hunting Regulations are now available online. They have a section dedicated to the changes for this season which are worth looking at to avoid any possible issues in the field this year. You can view them here: 2012-2013 Oklahoma Hunting Regulations