I finally punched out my buck tag last night. I had been holding out for a Muley Buck.
They seem to be increasingly hard to find this year. But I had this guy on my place
in the Bull Mountains, Montana. I have been chasing him around since the opener and
he was getting really good at giving me the slip and winding me. We had our first snow
yesterday (very late this year) and I knew it would be a great day to get out after him.
I figured the snow and a cold snap would kick start the early rut so I brought a grunt
tube along and grunted every half hour or so. Bout an hour before dusk I grunted and
sure enough he grunted back and came in pushing a doe and 2 fawns in front of him.
I had to be extra careful not to get busted by the does so I put my finger tab on the
string and raised up in ready. It was forever til they finally walked in to a reasonable
range. All the while gripping the string as they wandered in, putting him on the trail
roughly 10 yards away. I drew and as I released my tab stuck to the string and the arrow
didn't leave clean. Only thing I can figure is that the tab was wet and froze to the string.
My arrow did still make contact a little low and a little far back, and Although not a
completely text book recovery, I gave him plenty of time and then followed the tracks
in the snow. No blood showed in 100 yards so I did the responsible thing and backed
out til morning. I picked up the tracks the next morning and followed him through the
maze of deer tracks in the fresh snow. It really put my tracking to the test with no
blood to follow. A younger me would have given up after a couple hundred yards. Im really
glad I didnt! As I furthered my hunt I spotted some tiny specks of blood in the snow
and eventually it turned into a trickle. I continued with caution and then a raven flew
up off the ground and I figured "I bet thats him". I continued slow, ready for a follow
up but sure enough he was piled up already expired.
Not a huge buck by any means but I was plenty happy for my first Muley Buck with a bow.
3x3 stag horn. Took him with one of my "Twistedlimbs" Osage bows, a cane arrow and a
stone point I knapped out of Keokuk Chert. The arrow passed through both sides and
I recovered the arrow and point intact and still very sharp. so not only did I get my
first Muley bucK, but I also put another down this year with stone.
