Got out on the first real bow hunt of the season out in desert Saturday. Saw one nice buck and snuck up, oh, 60-70 yards away before one of his girlfriends winded me. It's kind of unfair--mature bucks really aren't supposed to be hanging with does this time of year. Ignorant deer must not have read the book on mule deer behavior.
I came through a big draw, sort of an oasis with no surface water but lots of riparian vegetation, with some of the biggest and best-tasting chokecherries I've ever seen. Also, some enormous piles of bear scat, which is very unusual in the desert. I'm not the only one who likes chokecherries!
Walking back to the truck, I spotted two little bucks bedded under a lone juniper. One of them was just barely legal (3 points/side) so I pulled a sneak on them and got 30 yards away--just a little too far for my bow; needed about another five-ten yards. Had to cross an open space and one of them saw me. It would have been nice filling my tag, but I'm OK letting them live to bust me another day.
I was hunting one of my old favorite areas that I haven't been to for several years. It was like the Serengeti up there--deer everywhere! It was fun to see so many and to get a couple good stalking opportunities in one morning. Good day!
Went back out Sunday night to the same area. A big, long slope about a mile long and a mile high, with private irrigated hayfield and water at the bottom. Sunday evening found me down near the fields, waiting in ambush. Didn't see any legal bucks, but I got in front of a herd of does, hunkered down behind a juniper, and waited. They almost stepped on me! Pretty fun.
I've never killed a deer during one of these desert bow hunts--it is HARD hunting--but there's nothing more fun. I think the thing I love the most is just watching the deer, unspooked, seeing their natural behavior. They are such interesting animals. I love 'em. Watching them, hunting them, eating them. All good.
