Zeus
Blackhawk
Well, I was able to head out a little earlier than I planned and arrived at my buddy's on Thursday night. He had tagged a really nice 5x5 Thursday afternoon. About 24" wide on the inside with 15 and 16" forks. Really a pretty deer, not a record deer by any means but a very nice respectable deer. I was really excited to head out the next morning on my first outing for mulies. I have a few tags. My buck tag is a muzzleloader tag allowing me to tag "any deer", meaning its good for mule deer or whitetail does and bucks. I have a whitetail doe tag for this area also. We spotted a really large bodied deer with horns at about 900 yards on the top of a small ridge and he was heading south. At first, the way he acted, we thought he was a whitetail but he broke over the other side of the ridge before dummy here could find him in the binoculars (it definitely helps to remove the front lens covers in case you are wondering...) We drove down the next road to the south on the property and took off walking down a ridge that we thought would intersect with his travels. After about 3/4 of a mile, we caught a glimpse of him and tried to get close. We closed the gap to about 250 yards and watched him for about 5 minutes before we decided that we were just not going to be able to get closer before he would move. We were right, he was really spooky for some reason. All we can guess is that the pheasant hunters that we could hear shooting may have had him feeling a little uneasy. We knew that Warren's dad was on the next ridge and bottom to the south of our location and he was walking west so we were hoping that we could move him that direction. When I decided that I would pass the shot, I stood in the open and he decided it was time to leave. Luckily, the direction he chose put him within 300 yards of Mike. The deer was trucking along pretty nicely when I heard the 270 Remington sound off. The shot was true. These boys in west Kansas can definitely shoot a moving target. I've seen them do it several times and its pretty impressive to watch them follow a deer in the scope at 300-400 yards when its running and at the shot, they roll. Guess when you practice on running jackrabbits, a deer seems easy 
However, this one didn't do that. He acted almost like nothing hit him. However, his gait showed otherwise within about 50 yards. This action all was about half a mile from us but through the binoculars, it seemed a lot closer I did see the largest bodied doe I've ever seen though. She looked like my Ford with ears! There was a small 4x4 mulie with her and the other does but he was not what I was looking for. We let them ease off to the west at an easy shot of 70 yards by the time we closed the gap. I was hoping there was another buck with them but..no dice. We headed back to where we parked the truck and headed down to meet up with Mike. We took pictures and I dressed the deer and loaded him up on the truck. That pretty much took up the morning so I didn't really get to hunt by the time we took care of the deer at the shop to make sure the 68 degree weather didn't cause problems.
Yesterday afternoon was not super productive. The wind was pretty calm which was strange and the temps were pretty high. We tried to call coyotes in two really good places just after lunch and not a one showed if that shows how strange the weather was. We slipped in on two whitetail bucks but they were not really big. One was about 18" on the inside with pretty good tines but his G3 on the left side was busted off and the brow on the right was busted too. Must be a scrappy little fellow. Will probably be a nice one next year. The other with him was just a basket racked deer. In this area, I was really hoping to run into a large whitetail or either a whitetail doe. No such luck. In all of my looking yesterday, I never did see a whitetail doe when i was looking. Just before dark, we slipped within 20 yards of three nice mulie does and a small forkhorn. Was really neat to sit in the brush and watch them and then slip back out. There were no larger ones holding up in that group either On the way back to the house, I did happen to see a large coyote on near a yucca bush. For some reason, he decided to just stand there. Out the window of the truck goes the barrel of the 309 JDJ contender. I put a 165 grain slug through his lungs at 215 yards and he spun around and flopped then ran across the fence line about 40 yards and fell over. So...it wasn't a total wash for the day
Here is what the country looks like. Great deer habitat!
This morning we headed out again in hopes of running across a whitetail doe. I am planning to use the 309 JDJ on the whitetail. It was a REALLY slow morning. We watched a group of mulies for about 10 minutes on a ridge near us. There were two bucks. A small 3x3 and then a decent 4x5 along with about 8 does. Nothing that we wanted to shoot so we backed out of the area and continued looking for a doe. Finally found three of them about 10:30. They were in a hurry to get somewhere so we just watched them run down a weed row and I didn't even try to follow them in the handgun scope at 200 yards We did get close on a nice whitetail buck about 10:45 though. I tried to get a picture of him but my photography skills are about as good as my hunting ones this weekend it seems. He was a pretty deer. Not overly wide, just to his ears but the tines were really long and his rack was heavy. He will be a great deer next year for sure! He finally saw us at about 100 yards and he got out of town. I watched him run for over a mile before he bedded down near some haybayles. Boy can they cover some ground in a hurry! We headed in for lunch. My buddy had a Bday party to go to for his niece and I needed to go and visit some family and drop off Christmas presents so we took a break. About 2:30, we headed back out. Looked for a whitetail again and finally decided to go back to the property that we had luck on the day before and just see what mulies we could find. We stopped on the quarter to the south and walked up two does but no bucks. We slipped along the bottom edge of a depression where they usually like to bed down. Nothing in the depression. BUT....we did find some. Unfortunately, they were about 1000 yards away. I watched them and decided to go over the next ridge to see in I could find anything in the small "valley" below it. I had almost made it to the top of the ridge when I spotted an ear behind a yucca about 120 yards ahead. I crawled about 50 yards farther up the ridge to try and get a better view. Warren was right behind me. I could make out the head by this time and they were starting to move around. By this time, I was just sitting on my knees and trying to keep a low profile among the yuccas. I'm sure I blended in very well. Sort of like a sumo wrestler in a kindergarten class or something like that. Within a few minutes, a few more heads started to emerge from the brush. Its amazing how well they can hide! The lead doe started walking in our direction sort of at an angle to my left. Pretty soon another followed by another. They came within about 40 yards of us before they noticed that something didn't look right. However, they never spooked, just kept a close eye on us. BUT, the wind was going to be a problem the closer they got. The wind was headed the direction that they were getting closer and closer to. I knew that we didn't have much time to waste and was hoping to see a nice set of antlers rise up at any second. We know there are a couple more nice ones in the area from the cameras but haven't seen them the last couple of days. Before it was over, I was looking at 7 does stretched about 100 yards from my left to just in front of me. The lead doe by this time got behind me and I heard her blow when the wind hit her. She bolted back in the direction she came and bunched up with two others at about 140 yards. Knowing that I needed to leave in the morning sometime and that I couldn't use the tag back home, I decided that it was time to take a doe. I had ample opportunities to shoot a buck but they just weren't what I wanted and besides, this 30 minute stalk had been a blast! I put the sights on the front edge of the front shoulder due to the angle and touched the ol' smokepole off. I saw the dust cloud fly up behind her and she tried to bolt off but she just couldn't keep up with the other two near her. After about 30 yards, she layed down and it was over. The 285 grain Barnes spitzer boattail entered the point of the right front shoulder and exited the back half of the left shoulder. I know that some may think it was crazy to hunt two days in the brush and shoot a doe but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I think it was the most fun I've had deer hunting in a long time! We made a lot of stalks and have watched a lot of deer but this one was just fun! My buddy was laughing because he said he's never seen someone so happy to shoot a doe She weighed 190 pounds, I had a reason to be happy, plenty of meat for the freezer! We went and got the truck from the gate and made our way up the ridge. Now.....here is the twist. I never knew that whitetail does were attracted to gunfire or I would have tried it two days ago! We just finished taking a few pictures when we look up and my buddy says there is another doe running towards us and the truck! I looked up and it was a whitetail doe! I couldn't believe it. I reached in the truck and she stopped at just shy of 200 yards down the draw. I grabbed the 309 and found her in the scope. These whitetails don't stay still long around here so I knew the decision had to be fast. I eased the hammer down and watched her run up the draw and across the next ridge. You'll see in the picture, she was a very young doe. I passed on her, I'll gonna try one more go in the morning before I head home. I just couldn't believe I've looked for one all day and then one runs to me of all things! Hopefully, the 309 or 454 can connect on one in the morning. We'll give it one last try at least! Will let you know how it goes Sorry for the long post but its been a fun weekend!
Here is the group that ran off after the shot.
Here is another doe that I snapped a picture of when I was hunting earlier in the day. There is another deer just under her in the picture to show how well they hide...
Here is the whitetail doe that decided to visit after I shot the mulie
Here is the lucky recipient of my first filled KS deer tag
However, this one didn't do that. He acted almost like nothing hit him. However, his gait showed otherwise within about 50 yards. This action all was about half a mile from us but through the binoculars, it seemed a lot closer I did see the largest bodied doe I've ever seen though. She looked like my Ford with ears! There was a small 4x4 mulie with her and the other does but he was not what I was looking for. We let them ease off to the west at an easy shot of 70 yards by the time we closed the gap. I was hoping there was another buck with them but..no dice. We headed back to where we parked the truck and headed down to meet up with Mike. We took pictures and I dressed the deer and loaded him up on the truck. That pretty much took up the morning so I didn't really get to hunt by the time we took care of the deer at the shop to make sure the 68 degree weather didn't cause problems.Yesterday afternoon was not super productive. The wind was pretty calm which was strange and the temps were pretty high. We tried to call coyotes in two really good places just after lunch and not a one showed if that shows how strange the weather was. We slipped in on two whitetail bucks but they were not really big. One was about 18" on the inside with pretty good tines but his G3 on the left side was busted off and the brow on the right was busted too. Must be a scrappy little fellow. Will probably be a nice one next year. The other with him was just a basket racked deer. In this area, I was really hoping to run into a large whitetail or either a whitetail doe. No such luck. In all of my looking yesterday, I never did see a whitetail doe when i was looking. Just before dark, we slipped within 20 yards of three nice mulie does and a small forkhorn. Was really neat to sit in the brush and watch them and then slip back out. There were no larger ones holding up in that group either
On the way back to the house, I did happen to see a large coyote on near a yucca bush. For some reason, he decided to just stand there. Out the window of the truck goes the barrel of the 309 JDJ contender. I put a 165 grain slug through his lungs at 215 yards and he spun around and flopped then ran across the fence line about 40 yards and fell over. So...it wasn't a total wash for the day Here is what the country looks like. Great deer habitat!
This morning we headed out again in hopes of running across a whitetail doe. I am planning to use the 309 JDJ on the whitetail. It was a REALLY slow morning. We watched a group of mulies for about 10 minutes on a ridge near us. There were two bucks. A small 3x3 and then a decent 4x5 along with about 8 does. Nothing that we wanted to shoot so we backed out of the area and continued looking for a doe. Finally found three of them about 10:30. They were in a hurry to get somewhere so we just watched them run down a weed row and I didn't even try to follow them in the handgun scope at 200 yards
We did get close on a nice whitetail buck about 10:45 though. I tried to get a picture of him but my photography skills are about as good as my hunting ones this weekend it seems. He was a pretty deer. Not overly wide, just to his ears but the tines were really long and his rack was heavy. He will be a great deer next year for sure! He finally saw us at about 100 yards and he got out of town. I watched him run for over a mile before he bedded down near some haybayles. Boy can they cover some ground in a hurry! We headed in for lunch. My buddy had a Bday party to go to for his niece and I needed to go and visit some family and drop off Christmas presents so we took a break. About 2:30, we headed back out. Looked for a whitetail again and finally decided to go back to the property that we had luck on the day before and just see what mulies we could find. We stopped on the quarter to the south and walked up two does but no bucks. We slipped along the bottom edge of a depression where they usually like to bed down. Nothing in the depression. BUT....we did find some. Unfortunately, they were about 1000 yards away. I watched them and decided to go over the next ridge to see in I could find anything in the small "valley" below it. I had almost made it to the top of the ridge when I spotted an ear behind a yucca about 120 yards ahead. I crawled about 50 yards farther up the ridge to try and get a better view. Warren was right behind me. I could make out the head by this time and they were starting to move around. By this time, I was just sitting on my knees and trying to keep a low profile among the yuccas. I'm sure I blended in very well. Sort of like a sumo wrestler in a kindergarten class or something like that. Within a few minutes, a few more heads started to emerge from the brush. Its amazing how well they can hide! The lead doe started walking in our direction sort of at an angle to my left. Pretty soon another followed by another. They came within about 40 yards of us before they noticed that something didn't look right. However, they never spooked, just kept a close eye on us. BUT, the wind was going to be a problem the closer they got. The wind was headed the direction that they were getting closer and closer to. I knew that we didn't have much time to waste and was hoping to see a nice set of antlers rise up at any second. We know there are a couple more nice ones in the area from the cameras but haven't seen them the last couple of days. Before it was over, I was looking at 7 does stretched about 100 yards from my left to just in front of me. The lead doe by this time got behind me and I heard her blow when the wind hit her. She bolted back in the direction she came and bunched up with two others at about 140 yards. Knowing that I needed to leave in the morning sometime and that I couldn't use the tag back home, I decided that it was time to take a doe. I had ample opportunities to shoot a buck but they just weren't what I wanted and besides, this 30 minute stalk had been a blast! I put the sights on the front edge of the front shoulder due to the angle and touched the ol' smokepole off. I saw the dust cloud fly up behind her and she tried to bolt off but she just couldn't keep up with the other two near her. After about 30 yards, she layed down and it was over. The 285 grain Barnes spitzer boattail entered the point of the right front shoulder and exited the back half of the left shoulder. I know that some may think it was crazy to hunt two days in the brush and shoot a doe but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I think it was the most fun I've had deer hunting in a long time! We made a lot of stalks and have watched a lot of deer but this one was just fun! My buddy was laughing because he said he's never seen someone so happy to shoot a doe She weighed 190 pounds, I had a reason to be happy, plenty of meat for the freezer! We went and got the truck from the gate and made our way up the ridge. Now.....here is the twist. I never knew that whitetail does were attracted to gunfire or I would have tried it two days ago! We just finished taking a few pictures when we look up and my buddy says there is another doe running towards us and the truck! I looked up and it was a whitetail doe! I couldn't believe it. I reached in the truck and she stopped at just shy of 200 yards down the draw. I grabbed the 309 and found her in the scope. These whitetails don't stay still long around here so I knew the decision had to be fast. I eased the hammer down and watched her run up the draw and across the next ridge. You'll see in the picture, she was a very young doe. I passed on her, I'll gonna try one more go in the morning before I head home. I just couldn't believe I've looked for one all day and then one runs to me of all things! Hopefully, the 309 or 454 can connect on one in the morning. We'll give it one last try at least! Will let you know how it goes Sorry for the long post but its been a fun weekend!Here is the group that ran off after the shot.
Here is another doe that I snapped a picture of when I was hunting earlier in the day. There is another deer just under her in the picture to show how well they hide...
Here is the whitetail doe that decided to visit after I shot the mulie
Here is the lucky recipient of my first filled KS deer tag
