Earlier this summer my good friend and hunting partner, Rick and I
decided to go back to our home state of South Dakota to hunt deer
and pheasant with my father and a couple of old friends. We planned
on taking off a couple of weeks, one to hunt pheasants, and another
to hunt deer.
We filled out the applications for the rifle deer hunts we were
interested in and waited for the drawings. Lady luck was not with
us and we did not get drawn for any of the hunts. We were bummed
but knew our fallback position was to purchase archery tags, which
fortunately were good statewide and you could take any deer with them.
Bill, a good friend and fellow archer, said he could get us in on
deer and that we should get several opportunities. Having hunted
deer in Arizona for several years with the bow, and being a glass is
half empty kind of guy, I knew how hard a bow hunt could be so I was
a little skeptical.
The road trip went fairly quick. We saw quite a few antelope in
southern Colorado and spent the first night at my sister’s in Denver.
One of the nice things about traveling to South Dakota is that there
is a Cabela’s store on the way in Sidney Nebraska. On the second day
of our road trip we spent several hours in the store looking at all
the neat toys and mounted animals. It was like kids in a candy store.
While in the store we also had a caribou sandwich for lunch . . . delicious!
We were really looking forward to this hunt. Along with getting to
hunt with my parents, we were going to hunt with some of our old
friends; Bill, Jimmy, and Brent S. from Rapid City, SD, Gene from
Denver CO, Brent R. from Seattle, WA, Todd and son Tyler from Pierre,
SD. Brent S. has hunted with Rick and I on several occasions here
in Arizona chasing elk and javelina so it was payback time.
We arrived late Saturday night and visited with my parents awhile
before hitting the sack. In the early part of pheasant season you
are not allowed to hunt them before 10:00 AM so you don’t have to
crawl out of bed before the rooster starts crowing -- kind of spoils
you.
It was a good thing that we didn’t need to get going early in the
morning. It was cold and windy and sometimes snowing on a majority
of the days we spent hunting pheasants. It didn’t really bother
you though, as you were always kicking up birds and getting in some
shooting. It took us a couple of days to key in on where the birds
like to hide and how to hunt them in that particular location. But
when we did, we had a great time chasing them. For those of you who
have never hunted pheasants their behavior is very similar to quail.
They prefer to run until they run out of options and fly. When one
bursts out of cover next to you it can give you quite a start.
The first day out we didn’t see a whole lot of pheasants but did see
some nice mule deer bucks in the river breaks along Lake Oahe of the
Missouri river. On our second day out besides pheasants, we ran into
several deer while pushing stands of trees next to the fields. We
were seeing enough deer and they were sticking to the trees that we
decided to break out the bows and let my Dad try and push them to us.
Both Rick and I got shots but missed. We were having so much fun we
didn’t know to hunt pheasants or deer, carry the shotgun or the bow.
The next several days we mainly concentrated on pheasants and had a
great time and got quite a few birds. It was nice to see old friends
and hunt with my Dad once again.
It was also nice to see that the geese were moving early this year.
We were very fortunate to see some flocks of several thousand on the
fields. We didn’t have licenses to hunt them but it was fun to watch
and listen. That is one of the best sights/sounds of fall in my opinion.
The next week found us hunting deer in the Black Hills area on the west
side of the state. We met up with Bill and Jimmy and stayed in a cabin
in the hills overlooking a huge meadow. My earlier skepticism about the
deer was squashed right away when we saw deer in the yard of the cabin
on our way in -- turkeys too.
We also saw around a hundred deer on the meadow when we arrived. That
got us really excited. Bill said he would take us to his other honey
hole out east of town that also had a lot of deer. He said there were
plenty of deer and provided we could hit them, we should be taking home
some meat.
The first morning we hunted around the cabin. We hadn’t placed our
tree stands yet so we more or less went scouting for a good place to
put the stands. We were kicking out deer all over the place. Too far
away to get shots but we weren’t too worried about that at the time.
We found a couple of good spots where the deer were moving between
their beds and feeding spots and picked out a couple of trees.
Bill and Jimmy met up with us later in the morning and suggested we
hunt in their stands at a place east of town for a few mornings and
afternoons. They felt we would have a better chance at a nice buck
there compared to hunting around the cabin.
That afternoon found us in the stands hunting a farm east of town.
There was a creek nearby with plenty of cover for beds and alfalfa
fields all around for grazing. About 2:00 in the afternoon the deer
started making their way to the fields to feed. I spotted three nice
bucks grazing in a field about a mile away and watched them with the
binoculars. I had several does and two small bucks come by my stand
at about 50 yards but no closer.
Later that afternoon, towards dusk, I saw a deer jump a fence about
300 yards out and start to head towards me. Even with the naked eye
I could tell he was a buck and knew he was nice one. He came by me
at about 50 yards and slowly walked by. He was a nice 5x5 whitetail
buck, but was beyond my comfort zone for a shot. I passed him up
hoping I might get a chance at him another day. Later I found out
that Rick had shot at him but missed high. That’s why the buck was
running when I saw him.
We hunted that farm for the next couple of days. We saw plenty of
deer but nothing came close enough to the stands for a shot.
On our next to the last day of our hunt we decided to do the
afternoon hunt back at the cabin after being unsuccessful at the
farm that morning.
We climbed into our stands around 1:00 and waited for the deer to
start moving. Around 2:00 they started to come out of the bedding
areas and make their way to the meadow. I had several does and fawns
come by me and decided to take a doe if one got close enough as it
was time to hunt strictly for meat.
At about 3:00 in the afternoon I had deer all around me. Most were
out in the 40-50 yard range and I was hoping for a closer shot. It
is amazing how keen their senses are, any slight noise and they were
on it. I thought I was a pretty quiet hunter. I got a good education
that week hunting deer. Deer are far more sensitive than elk and go
on high alert if something doesn’t sound familiar or smell familiar.
Just shifting your weight on your stand can cause the slightest noise
and the deer pick up on it right away. I’ve moved around quite a bit
before trying to get a good shooting position on elk and they never
gave it any thought. I felt I had a pretty quiet draw on my bow also
but not quiet enough.
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Finally a doe started working her way toward my stand and gave me an
opportunity. I drew on her, ranged her one last time and put my pin
on her. I let drive and shaved the hair off her back. I am
embarrassed to say she was only 24 yards away. I could have thrown
a rock and hit her. I checked my heart rate…nope… no buck fever,
what went wrong?
From my past hunting experiences I am beginning to feel that if I have
too much time to think about my shot I usually screw it up. Especially
with the bow, they are not forgiving at all.
Feeling dejected I sat down and waited for another opportunity. The
several deer that were around me moved off to about 75 yards after the
shot so I needed to wait for them to settle down. Later that afternoon
several more deer passed by me but all were about 50 yards out. I had
a little spike come by me and when he got about 40 yards out, I thought
I would take a chance. I drew and a doe picked up on the noise and
movement. She snorted and again the bunch moved out about 75 yards and
went back to grazing. With 15-20 deer around you it is very hard not
to tip one off that you are there. Too many ears, eyes, and noses to
try and trick.
It was starting to get toward sunset and I spotted several deer running
down the hill toward my stand. Something had spooked them as they were
working their way towards the meadow. The first one jumped the fence
and I could see it was a little buck. He was heading right towards me
so I stood up and got ready.
He stopped about 25 yards out, did an about face, and was looking back
at what spooked him out. I was already drawn when he got to me and
quickly ranged him. I let drive and nailed him. He bolted and went
about 30 yards. Within a minute he laid down and I knew I had him.
He lay there for about 15 minutes and gave his last struggle for life.
He was dead. I had my first deer with the bow. It was pretty close
to dark so I climbed down and we took care of the deer.
Rick never had anything come by him within bow range that afternoon so
we decided to move him to a better spot for the next day.
The next afternoon Rick climbed into the stand around 2:00. I stayed
at the cabin and waited for our friend Brent S. to arrive for the
afternoon hunt. At about 2:40, I looked out the window and saw Brent
pull up. He was getting his stuff out and so I didn’t pay much
attention. A few minutes later I looked up and Rick was talking to
Brent.
Rick had scored on a doe not more than 20 minutes after being in the
stand. Super! We both would be taking a deer home! We then put Brent
in the stand and he hunted the rest of the afternoon. Being a local he
didn’t want to shoot just anything so passed up on several does. He
knew he had until the end of December to fill his tag.
We left the next day to visit some of Rick’s family in Miles City Montana,
and left for home the day after that. Northwestern South Dakota, Montana
and Wyoming were full of deer and antelope. We saw several nice mule deer
and antelope bucks.
All in all we had a great trip, seen lots of family, friends, and got to
hunt to our hearts content.
