Antelope Creek Wildlife & Ponds

Father/Daughter Hunting Trip

3/15/2023

It is always great to go on a trip, whether near or far, with my kids. On December 9th 2022, Kalli took the day off from school and headed out west to the ranch with me. She had asked to go out there once, and this was the opening weekend for the doe only season. I had one tag left for the ranch, and I figured what a better time to take her for a trip, just her and I.

That morning we started out making our way west. The drive from home to Chamberlain was not the most pleasant, as there was a snow storm that came through the night before, making the roads snow covered. That drive usually takes 2.5 hours and this day took close to 4 hours. Once we got to the west side of the river, it was time to stop and grab some lunch, one of Kalli’s favorite, Arby’s! Even though this was just a lunch at Arby’s it was way more than that, and I do not quite know how to put it into words to describe the bonding and the excitement for the trip in her eyes!

After eating, she of course wanted ice cream, but I said not then and we will get some the next day after hunting. We continued westward and now the roads were in great shape. We wanted to make it there in time to meet up with Bryce and Brantley, so we could get to the ranch and do a quick scouting trip before the mornings hunt. Arriving about 2 hours before dark, we unloaded the truck at the house and headed out to see what we could find. As expected, the deer were all over the fields, making everyone excited for the next mornings hunt. I could see the excitement on her face as she grabbed the binoculars and spotted deer in the fields!

The evening was spent with the kids playing and eating pizza. We gathered our gear, packed a lunch for the next day along with all the snacks you could think of, which she picked out from the local grocery store. Staying up way later than normal for her, we got to bed in anticipation for the morning hunt, as it would be an early morning with about a 40-minute drive from the house in Spearfish to the ranch.

Generally, Kalli is quick to rise for a morning hunt but I will never forget what she said when the alarm went off. “Dad, I will get up when you get up….” This was quite comical to me as we went to bed rather late the night before for a 5-year-old who had to wake up at 5am the next day. Kalli got up and dressed as did I, and she began to pack the breakfast, snacks and lunch into the blind bag for the day. We were a little behind but soon enough we were in the trucks headed for the ranch.

My favorite part of the day is walking to the blind with the kids, in the dark of night, well before sunrise. We often have a question-and-answer session at this time and small discussions. This continues as we get settled into the blind. As the sky begins to brighten the excitement for the hunt begins to build, along with generally getting into the snack bag! It was not long and Kalli began to spot movement up on the hill! She grabbed the binoculars and informed me that there were deer up in the pasture coming our way! She was so excited I could just hear it in her voice. However, those deer were actually some Hereford cows grazing!

Kalli and I discussed where the deer would come from and what we were looking for. She then asked about saying a prayer. I said, yes, we can say a prayer. So, we prayed to God asking him to keep up safe and healthy on our hunt. The watch over Mom, Rylee and Henry while we were away, and so we could see a whitetail doe to take off the ranch. Once we were done praying, Kalli started digging in for the pop tarts for the morning breakfast! Sounded pretty good to me too!

Within minutes of saying that prayer, the sun had not yet peaked over the horizon, and I looked up to see a doe standing about 100 yards away! Kalli was ready for me to take her! I on the other hand, was ready, but she was calm, relaxed and just browsing, so I told Kalli that we should just take in the moment and the beauty of watching her for a little bit first. She reluctantly agreed, and so that is what we did. I taught her more on watching with the binoculars and using the range finder. I even let her look through the rifle scope.

As the deer walked behind a big cottonwood, I told Kalli when she walked out, we would take her. She got her ear muffs on and got ready. As I watched the doe, she looked to be very old in my eyes, as I followed her in the scope. Once she stopped, I settled the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger, boom! Immediately the doe was out of site, which I figured she had fallen in her tracks, feeling nothing, just like I like to see. Kalli’s excitement level escaladed quickly and she wanted to go check out the deer!

To make a little time pass I first had her help clean up the blind, to be sure the doe had time to expire if she hadn’t immediately as I expected. Once cleaned up, we headed to where she was standing, and we found her laying right there. We thanked God for giving us this opportunity and the deer for her life and the food she would provide us throughout the upcoming year. I set up my pack, so we could get the timer on the camera set to get a photo of us, followed by Kalli carrying the rifle and I dragging the doe to the gate, where we could get the truck pulled up to.

I then showed Kalli how we field dress the deer and took some time to teach her about the organs. Once we got her hung up, I took my time skinning and boning the deer out to take any opportunity to teach her and answer questions along the way. After Kalli helped get the meat into the cooler, her and I did some chores to close up camp for the year. The tasks included, making sure the blinds were cleaned up and all windows shut for the year and trail cameras all got picked up. She really wanted to walk across the wood bridge and check out the river!

Once the chores were done, Kalli spent the day and early evening playing with Dane and Kristi’s kids, while we visited and made our way around the ranch. These trips are unforgettable for me, and I hope for them as well. Teaching them about hunting, introducing them to new lifestyles and meeting new people and visiting with old friends. I will be sure to keep this a part of each fall with the kids, and one day I am sure they will maybe take their first deer on this ranch. Oh yeah, we did stop and get our ice cream that night!

Fun note, I suspected that doe to be very old so I had her aged. She was 11 years old!

0 Comments

October River Bottom Whitetails

2/12/2023

0 Comments

After months of anticipation, a full weekend of blind and trail camera set up, and watching friends go hunt with success, I was finally headed out to hunt my favorite ranch I have ever stepped foot on. This ranch has the Belle Fourche River running through the heart of it and is likely the most game rich environment I have ever seen. You will see Antelope, Mule Deer, Whitetails and Turkeys in numbers beyond your wildest dreams. It is October 20th, and I am heading west, while the rest of the family is heading south, with no school for two days, they are headed to a Halloween party at the Omaha Zoo!

I arrived to the ranch around 1:30 the afternoon of the 20th. My plan was to go tuck my ground blind into the corner of an alfalfa field, where both Chris and Nick had seen deer crossing to enter the field. We knew we had a few shooter bucks in the area, but one exceptionally good Whitetail buck. As I drove the road above the river bottoms two things stood out. First, was that the amazing fall colors were simply amazing, I could not wait to get to hunt and observe God’s creation, with such a beautiful backdrop. Second, was that there were already about 30 deer in the field I had planned to go set up in.

I decided to just walk in and set up as I had planned, even though I would push the deer off the field. I didn’t think it would bother them too much this early in the afternoon, and they would likely come back. As I walked to them, the deer did move off, but they were not overly alarmed. I got the blind set up in the corner, positioning myself where I could shoot to both fence crossings that led to the alfalfa fields.

About 45 minutes after being set up, a few does and small buck started making their way back into the field. As the shadows crept in, more and more deer came through, however, instead of coming through my corner, they went past the banks blind set up about 150 yards away. That was the story of the entire night, aside from one doe and one nice young buck that worked past the blind. Although the deer did not come through, the turkeys provided good entertainment for the last few hours of the day. As the day came to a close, I started game planning for the next morning. My plan was to go hunt a Banks Stump 4 positioned near a fence crossing that led to a river crossing.

I was sure to get into the blind an hour before legal shooting light, to give adequate time to allow the area to settle down and hopefully not disturb any deer. As the sun began to rise, it was evident that I was about to have a really exciting sit. I could see deer scattered throughout the entire field, and the first ones were heading towards my direction. As the does started past me, they funneled on the other side of the river and instead of using the crossing past the blind, they used another crossing down the river.

Unfortunately, that was the path all 42 deer I saw leave the field also took. This was not all bad though. I saw two solid bucks I would be happy to harvest, especially with my bow. As I observed, I knew I had to go check out that crossing and look for a tree stand location on the other side of the river after the morning hunt. About an hour after the deer cleared the field, I noticed a small group of does and fawns working through the bedding area. I figured what the heck, I have a doe tag that needs to be filled, let’s go get it done!
I climbed down out of the blind and used the massive cottonwoods and tall grass to my advantage as I began to make a stalk. I slowly eased closer and closer finally reaching the first big cottonwood. I looked around and found the group, still about 70 yards away. I began to plan my next moves, when an itchy throat came on and a cough was inevitable. After I coughed, I looked around the tree again, and all of a sudden there was a doe standing there at 40 yards looking my direction. To my surprise, she began walk towards me.

I nocked an arrow and clipped on my release, observing and planning where my shot would be. I quickly ranged a gap where I thought she would go, 30 yards. As she went behind the tree, I drew the bow back in anticipation of the shot. As she cleared the tree she turned and faced me head on, motionless. She eventually turned and started walking giving me a quartering to shot. I focused on where I wanted that arrow to hit, with my pin floating over it as I followed her step by step, when the bow finally went off! A perfect surprise release just as I practiced all summer! The red nock disappeared right on the mark and she turned to run. She disappeared behind a massive cottonwood and I never saw her again.

I figured she had to of fallen over not far away. I went to the site of the shot to try to find my arrow, which I never did. Quickly finding blood, I followed it right to her about 20 yards away, a perfect double lung shot. I thanked God for the opportunity and for the quick clean kill I was able to provide, followed by a few pictures and dragging her to the fence so I could quarter her out and carry her back to the truck to get on ice. Once in the cooler, I scouted that river crossing and looked for trees to hang a stand in before I headed to town.

Once in town I called my friend Bucky to see what he had going on that evening. I bounced some ideas off of him for my evening hunt, and asked if he wanted to come out to sit on the glassing point and watch deer that evening. After much debate I decided I would sit the same Banks blind that afternoon, as I had not really disturbed the area and I had seen two solid bucks that morning. Meanwhile Bucky would sit up and glass the alfalfa fields to see what options there were for the next morning.

I got into the blind about 2:30 that afternoon, and I immediately started seeing does on their feet. The entire afternoon I saw deer filtering through the bedding area before they eventually started making their way back to the fields. With about an hour of daylight left, I saw a good buck step out of the bedding making his way towards the blind. He slowly fed through the river bottom, but as the does moved through it looked as if they were going to cross a little too far from the blind. This is what they did, they crossed about 80 yards away. Again, that evening I saw around 40 deer, but only that one buck was a shooter.

As Bucky and I met up to compare notes, I could immediately tell that he was pretty pumped up so I could not wait to hear what he had seen! I could hear and see his excitement, partly due to the number of deer he had seen, but also a few really good quality bucks. In the field near the blind I was hunting, he saw a giant buck! He saw a few others throughout the property as well, but this one was close to the blind, he just somehow got to the field without me seeing him. We decided we would hunt the same blind in the morning, even with a wind that was not from the ideal direction. We just figured we would keep the blind windows closed to contain our scent.

Anticipation was high on our way to the blind that morning! Bucky is sitting with me to observe the hunt and help in any way that he could. Again, we snuck into that blind to be in early to not disturb any deer and to let it settle down. However, as we got to the blind, I realized I was missing a vital piece of my gear. I had left my bino harness in my truck which had my binoculars, rangefinder, knives, scent checker and tags!

As I got back to the blind, I was not cutting it close to shooting light. It was not 10 minutes and our surroundings started lighting up and I could already see deer coming. I few does started working off the fields, coming past us. All I could think was, all right here we go this is where the entire herd is coming through back to bed this morning. I know more than thought that and I was scanning the field edge with my binoculars, when boom! My heart jumped out of my chest! There he was the biggest buck on the ranch, to our knowledge, 120 yards away and coming our direction right behind the does!

We had the trail camera photos of him and Bucky had seen him the night before in the spotting scope, but when he cleared the field and started walking through the timber, both of us were in high anticipation holding our breath every time he stopped. Remember, the wind was not perfect, it was a light wind but blowing in that direction, which is why we would not open the windows, and we kept shooting some nose jammer out of the vents. As he got to about 70 yards, straight behind the blind on the edge of the river, he seemed to be very cautious. The does flicked their tails and kept on coming, but he was not letting his guard down. He stood there for 15 minutes motionless, to the point I slightly considered trying a shot. I quickly decided against that, as 70 yards on any animal is a long shot, but especially on one already on edge.

That time of waiting was intense! We had does underneath the blind, the biggest buck of my life was standing there motionless, when suddenly, he flicked his tail. Alright I thought, he’s relaxed and is on his way. At that he turned and walked straight away back to the field edge, and the air went right out of the both of us. “It is over” I said. He’s gone and going back out to take another route to the bed. All I could think was, rifle season is about 3 weeks away and I will be back in this blind to hunt only that buck!

We sat there and discussed the deer and glassed for more deer coming off the fields. We couldn’t believe he had just walked out of our lives. When suddenly, after about 15 minutes, Bucky says “There he is!” My heart immediately began racing! I looked out and saw that wide tall frame walking down to the river crossing, following three does. As they got to the river I told Bucky, “This is the moment of truth. If those does turn right, they’re coming to us. Turn left and the hunt is over and they’ll head to the down river crossing.”

The lead doe turned right…. Working her way down the river to the tractor crossing that led to the gate, the others followed! I vividly remember that buck appearing from around the corner walking the riverbank towards the blind. That Giant Frame appeared from around the corner and it was go time! I got my release on the bow and ranged the does in the lead. I hit 3 spots with the range finder and put it away. Bucky could not see great out his side, but I had a perfect view of everything. I remember telling him, “Don’t move just don’t move this is going to happen!”

Those does worked up the river bank at about 40 yards. The buck again stopped behind tree limbs, being cautious, as mature bucks are, calculating every move. As he started to walk, I drew back, found my 40-yard pin and floated in in the crease of his shoulder. I grunted a bit to stop him, but my body took control and the perfect surprise shot went off again and I watched that green nock arch through the air and disappear right in the crease of the shoulder! As the buck bolted, I lost it! “I smoked him! I smoked him Bucky! He’s going down!” After that bow went off Bucky jumped out of his seat to look out the window at what had happened. We watched him run about 40 yards and tip over!

We both were shaking, hugging and celebrating in that blind! So much so, that it was shaking so much that you could hear the windows rattling! The biggest buck of my life was on the ground, in sight! We tried to gather ourselves, but the adrenaline was on overload! First thing we went to where he was standing to retrieve the arrow. Not that we needed it to verify anything, but the blood-soaked arrow sure did verify that shot was perfect. No need to follow the blood trail, we headed right to him anxious to get my hands on him!

It is always a great feeling harvesting an animal knowing you will remember the story for your whole life and get to consume the meat for the rest of the year. This one though was a little more special given it was the biggest deer I had every taken and I got to do it with a good friend at my side, who I don’t get to see often. To top that off, it was on my favorite property to hunt, on the first year that we decided to lease it so there was no more outfitter on the property.

The bright yellow fall colors, made for a great setting and awesome photos! We got the buck back to the truck and hung him up at the ranch, so I could skin, cape for mounting and get the meat cooled and into the coolers. We then headed to town for more ice and to grab some lunch before heading back out to the ranch. That evening was just about fun. We were going to sit in the other Banks blind to just scout and take photos of wildlife. To our surprise, we saw 30 head of elk that evening as well!

That was the end of the hunt and we spent the evening reliving the day’s events at Bucky’s house. Hunting is not all about killing, though killing is part of hunting. Seeing all of God’s creation is one of the most rewarding aspects. You never know what you will witness. Spending that time with a good friend is even better. Little did I know, a few short weeks later, I would again be sharing a great hunt with another great friend during the rifle season.

Remember to hunt hard, hunt safe, and enjoy the journey!

0 Comments

"The Field"

1/24/2023

0 Comments

After Antoine and I had been hunting nearly nonstop for two weeks, Rylee was ready to go get in on the action! As they got out of school for the Thanksgiving holiday, she made sure she was going to get to go with her first morning off. November 23, 2022, Antoine’s last day with us. We had time for a short hunt, about 1 hour that morning before we had to take him to the airport.

As always, when I went in to wake Rylee up, she popped right up out of bed and was quick to get ready. Not even quite fully dressed, she was sure to start filling the snack bag, while I made a thermos of hot chocolate for us. Of course, she only grabbed the healthiest of snacks and no candy for this outing. With the mornings snacks ready to go, we loaded up and hit the road to “The Field” for the mornings hunt. Antoine would hunt the bottom tree stand and Rylee and I would hunt from the Banks Blind on the field edge.

Morning walks in the dark have always been my favorite with both girls. The stars and moon are still shining bright and there is a sense of wonder and lots of questions, such as look at those stars, what was the noise, while walking in the pitch black. Once we arrived at the blind, I got Rylee settled in, while I pulled the decoy from the blind and went and got it set up in front of us. As normal the time waiting for daylight is spent in conversation, wonder and of course generally the snacks start getting devoured.

Now a quick back story on what deer we are hunting. I have been hunting this property for 5 years and it is really only a property I like to hunt for does. For no other reason than I never see bucks, at least any older than 2.5, both in person and on trail camera. Now in 2021 a buck grabbed my attention off the trail camera. He was coming to the water tank every few days, but always in the middle of the night. He was a heavy tall framed 8 point that was obviously mature. With no prior history, I figured he was 5.5 or older.

Come 2022 I was hoping we would again see this deer showing up, and he was the first deer on the trail camera this fall, after I set it out in early November. Now I had not been giving this property too much attention because even the does were not coming around like normal. The field did not grow and produce a crop due to the extreme drought, which is what I equate the reduced sightings to. When Antoine got here, we weren’t seeing deer at our primary spot like I had hoped, so I started running cameras just in case I was missing something. Turned out the day after I hung the cameras, Antoine was able to harvest a great buck out of my favorite tree in the area, and ultimately his favorite too, as this was his third buck from the same tree.

After Antoine tagged that buck, we headed west to Belle Fourche for the opening of Rifle season. As we got back, Antoine had a week of hunting left and still had a doe tag in his pocket. By law, we only had one place he could hunt for that doe and it was this field. Immediately he began seeing this buck. Now, this year he lost a tine and was now a 7 point we dubbed the “Big 7.” He would see the buck about every other time he went out and twice he was in bow range and twice in rifle range. Once I even grabbed the rifle and tried to make a play on him after the kids were off to school. That attempt did not work out.

So, on this hunt, the “Big 7” was who we were after, and I had no reason to believe we would see any other shooter deer. As the sun rose, we both started looking for deer while sipping on some hot chocolate. We were not seeing much of anything the first 15 minutes of daylight. Soon after Rylee was peeking out the window, when she tipped over our cup full of hot chocolate. Luckily our shelf in the blind caught most of it. Soon after, Antoine text and said he saw the “Big 7” and he was already in the neighbors heading to bed.

Well at this I said I will give it a few more minutes and then I will go to the truck to get napkins to clean up the hot chocolate mess, after all we were on a time crunch and had to be leaving at 8:30 am so we could get Antoine to the airport on time. Rylee and I observed our surroundings without seeing any deer for about another 5 minutes. I told her I was going to grab those napkins and I would be right back so we could clean up the hot chocolate and sit just a little longer.

I looked one more time and did not see a deer around. I grabbed my rifle and opened the blind door to head to the truck. As I looked out the open door, off to our side stood a wide heavy 8-point buck that I had never seen before! I slowly got back into the blind and as I shut the door, I told Rylee to get the window open on that side of the blind. She did so as I chambered a round into the .223. As Rylee opened the window the buck was still standing there, 30 yards away looking at us. He began to work off to the south as I got the rifle ready and eventually got behind a small rise in the field. I could see his antlers just above the rise.

Once the buck cleared the rise and was on the field edge, I did two loud grunts at him to gain his attention to hopefully get a shot. He turned and stopped as he then saw the decoy between us and him. At that moment I told Rylee to be ready and asked if she could see him. Her response was “Shoot the deer Daddy!” As I had the deer in the scope the wide, heavy frame stuck out and there were no questions. I settled the crosshairs just behind his shoulder going for a double lung shot and squeezed the trigger! The shot went off and felt good, however I did not hear a report back that sounded like a hit, yet I felt there was no way I could have missed.

Antione immediately texted asking what I had shot. I asked if he heard anything sounding like a hit and he said no he only heard the sound of the rifle firing. I told Rylee we were going to wait a few minutes, so I was going to run grab those darn napkins to clean up the blind, then we would go look, by that time Antoine would be back to us to help go look as well.

Once we began to look it did not take long to find the first blood, and from there it led us right to the buck laying 30 yards away in the cedars! Rylee and I had gotten it done with her first experience on a deer harvest! There was a lot of excitement with high fives and hugs all around! However, we were now really on a time crunch to get photos, gutted, loaded, home and the deer hung so we could get Antoine to the airport! We quickly drug the deer up and Antoine took some amazing photos!

After photos Rylee began to get rather emotional and I was not sure why. I equated it to all the excitement and emotions along with us being slightly rushed, I did not take it slow enough for her to process everything. Moments later as I tagged the buck and began gutting him, she began asking lots of anatomy questions as I field dressed him. This was more like her normal self.

Now this was not Rylee’s first-time out deer hunting, in fact she has been out many times and a few times we had deer right out the blind, we just couldn’t get a shot. She had been on successful turkey and antelope hunts, but this was her first time on a deer hunt with a harvest. At 3 years old, I know it is likely she will not remember this hunt, but I will never forget it. Having this written story and photos will be great for her to read back and remember the day.

I can’t be thankful enough to have the career I have and live the life we do. Being able to go spend times in the outdoors with my family, there really is nothing better for me.

0 Comments

A Black Hills Double

2/7/2022

3 Comments

Brady and I have been great friends since we were little. We went to school together from day 1. In high school we hunted together some, but we surely shared our stories and experiences with each other after every hunt. In college we roomed together for a year and always talked about hunting adventures. At that point it was hard to get together to hunt and only got harder after college.

Between me starting my business and guiding in the fall and him starting his nursing job, it was hard to get together to go on a hunt together. After I stopped guiding, we both were starting to have kids. Shortly after he went back to school, giving us less time to try to plan a hunt together, though we talked about it often. Finally, this year I didn’t have any out of state hunts planned and he, being done with school, had more time too.

We had originally planned to hunt mule deer in South Dakota. However, when that time arrived, inclement weather was rolling in with high winds and rain. The whitetail rut was starting to ramp up around home, so we decided to not make this trip. We both agreed that we would head to the Black Hills in November to hunt. Brady had a rifle tag and I my West River archery tag.

As we headed west on Black Friday, anticipation was high, yet we were just happy to be finally heading west on a hunt together. We would stay in Brady’s uncle John’s cabin, and hunt from there. The plan was to do a run a gun style hunt. Walk ridges and benches, when we saw sign or a deer, we would sit down, rattle and grunt for anywhere from 5-15 minutes depending on responses.

As we arrived Friday afternoon, we went a picked out a spot, as we had about an hour and a half of daylight left. We found plenty of good sign. Rubs, scrapes, tracks and scat was not hard to come by. Our first three sits did not yield any responses. However, on the 4th, I had barely stopped rattling when I could see a deer running through the timber. Brady got his gun up as the deer stopped about 30 yards away. It was a spike coming in to check out the commotion.

I jokingly told Brady to shoot it. He responded with “You think so?” As I looked at him, he had the scope on the deer and had flipped the safety off. He decided not to shoot, but was thinking hey we are very limited on time maybe I should consider it. Luckily, he didn’t for it paid off for him the next morning. We went and made one more stand and then headed back to the truck and to the cabin for the evening.

The heater was not working properly in the cabin, so we spent some time working on that. What was done nobody really knows, but after Brady did some tapping on this and that with a screw driver, the heater kicked on and worked the rest of the weekend. The rest of the evening was spent eating good food, and sitting around visiting and telling hunting stories of the past. Just like hunting camp should be.

The following morning, Brady had a plan to check out some new area he hasn’t hunted in the past. As we started our trek in, it was hard to miss all the elk and deer sign. The road had tracks and scat all over it. We made our way to a nice vantage point, where we would sit as shooting light came and the sun would rise. We rattled and grunted with no luck. As the sun hit the horizon, we decided to keep moving to the next spot.

We got into an area with rubs and scrapes all around. We decided to give this spot a try. The first round of calling yielded nothing, but the area looked too good not to try again. The second round of calling a doe and a fawn made their way through about 75 yards away. We waited about 5 minutes hoping a buck would be on their trail. Again, we did another calling sequence on rattling and grunting. This time with much more exciting results.

Shortly after the antlers were laid down, I looked off in the distance and could see antlers cresting the hill. At first, I thought it was a mule deer with the dark, tall antlers in the shadows. As the buck crested the hill, I could tell it was a whitetail and told Brady to get ready. The buck was around 75 yards out, and I had a clear shot for a rifle, but from Brady’s point of view, he could not see the buck. The buck stood there looking around for who was doing to fighting. He knew where the sounds had come from, now he was looking for who had made the commotion.

I took my grunt call as he went behind a pine. I gave it a few deep grunts and he immediately started coming towards us on a trot. He stopped once at around 50 yards but Brady couldn’t get a shot. Again, I grunted and this time he came on a sprint right to us. I had my bow in hand, but this was happening extremely fast and I acted to help Brady get the shot. I grunted as loud as I could to stop the buck in the next opening. He put on the brakes, turned to look at us and Brady squeezed off the shot!

Immediately, we both saw the impact and blood coming out. As the deer ran off, you could see the blood spray out. We celebrated with some loud yipping and hollering, high fives and a hug! I had done a lot of this style of hunting as a guide, but this was the most exciting calling sequence I had ever experienced. We gathered our stuff and began to take up the blood trail knowing he had to be down.

It quickly became evident that the shot was as we expected. There was no searching for blood, we could just walk the path. As we found the deer, it was everything I expected it to be, and he was larger than Brady had anticipated. We admired the buck, took photos, gutted and tagged him. We discussed what our next move was from there. Do we take him back to the truck or leave him there? We decided to prop him open in the shade so he could continue to cool, while we continued the morning hunt, for it was only 8:30AM.

We moved about 200 yards down the ridge to the North. Set up and made a few rattling sequences with some grunting. These yielded no results, so after fifteen minutes, we gathered our gear and took a look at the map. We looked for a good area with thick cover nearby. We found our spot and headed towards it, just another 200 yards down the ridge.

As we arrived to the spot, we found the perfect place to tuck in to try and get a shot with the bow. A group of 4-6ft pines with an opening in the center and small clearings all around for shooting lanes. We got settled in and the bow ready. I ranged a few spots to know some ranges before we started calling. Brady started out with a few grunts followed by a snort wheeze.

As he began rattling, I immediately saw antlers cresting the hill through the pines to the Northwest. I told Brady to get ready one was coming! I clipped on my release as the buck jumped the fence. He immediately bristled up and laid his ears back ready for a fight. He was walking right towards my first opening at 18 yards. I drew back as he approached, grunted to try to stop him, but he stopped one step outside of the small shooting lane.

The buck looked through the pines in our direction, but they were thick enough that he could not pick anything out. Brady actually still had not seen the buck to this point. Now his aggressive behavior was down and now he was more curious and on alert. I stayed drawn back waiting for him to continue walking. As he began again, I could no longer see him but Brady was now able to see him, as he coached me to stay drawn back. I do not know how long it had been but I finally had to let down for a bit.

I had no more that let down and the buck began to walk again and I could now see him. He was certainly alert as he started to walk quartering away. I drew back and Brady grunted at him. He stopped and turned, slightly back towards us. I settled the pin on his last rib and the arrow released. With his alertness, he started to wheel away at the sound of the bow. The arrow connected and I immediately knew the shot was back. Too far back in my mind.

I was certain the arrow connected on his hind quarter. As he ran away, I could see I only had 6 inches of penetration and it looked to me as if his left rear leg was broken. He ran around 100 yards, slowed to a walk and went into a small patch of thick, young pines. We observed the area of about 20 minutes while we devised a plan on what to do.

Deciding to head back and take care of Brady’s deer, we looked for blood and the arrow on the way out, while keeping an eye on that patch of pines. We found neither, so we headed out. Brady went to the truck and I to his deer to drag down to the road, so I could keep an eye out for the buck I had shot.

After we got Brady’s buck back to camp, skinned out and hung up, we grabbed some lunch and headed back out to look for my deer. We had the patch of trees marked on OnX, so we hunted our way in, just as if hunting a bedded buck. The wind was in our favor and we tip toed in. As we arrived to where we could see the small stand of trees, we would take 3 steps and scan with our binoculars. We were within 30 yards, when Brady signaled me over to him.

He thought maybe he could see some hair. I looked and thought yeah it could be, but we were not confident. We took three more steps and glassed again. It was then we could see the white hair of the belly too! We knew it was him but weren’t quite sure he was expired. A few more steps showed his head lying flat on the ground and the was no sign of breathing!

Upon recovering the buck, we admired him while knowing we just had one of the best mornings of hunting, either of us had ever had! We could not have been more excited! Two bucks, rattled in from the ground and both within an hour of each other! This is certainly a hunt that neither of us will forget anytime soon!

3 Comments

Our First Family Antelope Hunt

12/22/2021

0 Comments

Throughout the summer of 2021, Kalli started telling me she would like to go antelope hunting with me sometime. I thought that sounded fun, but thought just maybe she would be too young for that just yet. My buddy Andrew and I were already planning to go on an antelope hunt together in October. He lives in Minnesota, so he had to draw a non resident tag, and I had drawn a buck tag last year so I figured I would not draw again. I decided to apply for buck as first choice and doe as second choice. This way, I would have a tag if he drew and if he didn't, just maybe we would make a family trip out west.

When the drawings came out, Andrew had not drawn a tag. However, I did draw my second choice doe tag. A new excitement came over me as I told the kids we were going antelope hunting! Not sure who was more excited, them or me! Laura however, looked at me like I was crazy. She said, "You actually think you can take me, Kalli who is 4 and Rylee who is 2, on an antelope hunt and actually get close enough to shoot one?!"

I like challenges and I told her, you bet and we will have it done by noon the first day. She still thought I was crazy, but went along with it and said lets go see what happens. We planned to leave Friday after school. This way we could get out there that evening and hunt opening morning. The entire week leading up to the trip, Laura just kept asking how I actually thought this was going to work. I just said, don't you worry we got this and Dane has been updating me with a scouting report.

The girls, they were pretty excited to go on their first hunting trip. Was that for the hunting or for the truck ride with lots of snacks and a two night hotel stay with a pool, I am not sure. 3:30PM Friday October 1st, 2021 came and we were on the road after picking Kalli up from school. The road trip went rather smooth, and we were in Belle Fourche to the hotel around 10:30PM.

Given antelope are fairly active during the entire day, and this trip was about getting the girls out there, we were in no big hurry in the morning. We took our time waking up and getting ready. Ate a good breakfast, well as good as it can be for a hotel meal. We headed out to the ranch shortly after 8 to meet up with Dane's dad, Frank. He wanted to take us around and show us where the antelope had been hanging out and feeding throughout the day. It did not take us long to find antelope and make a game plan.

Along the edge of the alfalfa field, there is a corral of hay bales. We would make our way to those bales to set up in. This way the kids could move around, if it took some time for me to be presented with a shot. That did not prove necessary. We were just getting the kids set up, and the rifle ready, when a herd of antelope worked out into the alfalfa field. As I prepared to get ready for a shot, a few does started to walk around the hay bales only about 75 yards away.

As they saw us getting ready, they trotted out to join the herd in the middle of the field. They quickly calmed down and went to feeding. I got set up with the rifle as the girls observed and told me where the antelope were at. I settled the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger. By the sound of the bullet, I knew I had a clean miss. The antelope jumped but soon settled down back to eating. I again settled the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger.

She dropped in her tracks right there. The others had no idea what had happened. We talked about what had just happened and we headed out to retrieve her. Along the way, Kalli found some baling twine to take along on the walk. This proved very useful for the drag back to the truck. As we got to the antelope, the girls had some questions about what happened to her now. We answered those questions and told them that we don't kill unless we have a use for that animal. This one was going to be our food throughout the fall and winter.

As I gutted the antelope, Laura gave the girls an anatomy lesson as they had more questions. We took photos, high fived, hugged and talked about the mornings hunt before dragging her back to the truck. From there we took her to the ranch so that we could skin and bone out the meat to get it on ice and cooled down quickly. This ensures that we will have great meat to enjoy.

The rest of the trip we enjoyed spending time with our friends, Dane and Kristi and their family. The kids eventually warmed up to each other and got to play and we could visit and catch up. This is what I like most about hunting. Making memories with family, catching up with friends and many times meeting new people and making new friends.

This was our first trip hunting together. Everyone enjoyed it so much, they said they want to do it every year! Sounds good to me!

0 Comments

A New Meaning to Turkey Hunting

11/13/2020

0 Comments

As winter faded and spring came, I continued to get one question asked of me from my daughter. "Daddy can we go turkey hunting"? Of course we an go I would tell her. How could I say no?! Of course taking a 3 year old and being successful seemed like a stretch to me, especially knowing we were going to do this with a bow and arrow. I wanted to be sure the weather was good and of course we at least had turkeys around to keep her excited.

One Friday as I picked her up from day care, she asked me again on the way home, and I said yes lets get home and grab our stuff and go to the blind tonight. It was awesome to see her excitement level grow and the smile on her face. As we got home, her mom asked what we are doing. After she said we're going turkey hunting, mom said great lets all go! I thought to myself, well lets grab some drinks and snacks cause there is no way we are getting a shot at a turkey with four people in the blind, one of which is 3 and the other 1.

As we got into the blind, there were already turkeys in the field. I got them set in the blind I crawled out and placed the decoys, of course not without direction from Kalli on where they must go. Once I got to the blind, I tried some calling, but the turkeys really were not interested, and I had two kids giggling and playing. About the time snacks were about gone and Rylee about had enough, three jakes started working to us.

Kalli settled right down and Laura tried to keep Rylee quiet. I thought there was no way this would happen. The trio eventually made there way to about 30 yards before they thought something wasn't right, maybe it was the little heads popping out of the blind window but I am not sure.

I pulled back settled the pin and released the arrow. I was lucky enough to snag a wing feather for Kalli to take home from the hunt! That night she asked if we could go again in the morning.

At 4:30 am the next morning, she rolled out of bed and was ready to roll. Of course we had to be sure to grab some snacks and her water bottle for the mornings hunt. The morning weather was not ideal. Winds were steady and increasing throughout the morning. It was also cold and shortly after sunrise it started to spit rain. We decided we would go get some good breakfast and spend the rest of the day at home and come back another day.

A week later we again headed to the blind in the evening after daycare. That evening, we again had the whole family, and saw about 30 turkeys, but none would come close that evening. I decided to ask a friend of mine if we could go hunt his farm in the morning. After gaining permission, I knew it would be a good day, for his farm is loaded with turkeys and we would be sitting in a ground blind on a food plot.

As we arrived at the farm the next morning, we were running a little late. As soon as we got out of the truck, the birds were already gobbling on the roost. As we got settled into the blind, it was non stop gobbling until they flew down. Kalli was not sure she liked all that noise in the dark, but settled right in eating her snacks.

Shortly after we heard the birds fly down, about a dozen hens worked their way out into the food plot just 10 yards from us. Kalli's eyes sure got wide and a huge smile was on her face. She says "Daddy shoot one!" I told her we could not because they were hens, which she did not understand. As they began to work away she said, "Dad hurry they are getting away!" I told her, just be patient Kalli the big toms will be coming out shortly.

I had no more than said that and the first tom stepped out and gobbled his head off. I made sure she could see and told her to watch them. I drew back, settled the pin and released the arrow. SMACK! A perfectly placed arrow and the bird went about 10 yards, laid down and expired.

She looked and me smiling from ear to ear and yelled "We got one!" We got down to retrieve the bird and she was jumping with joy continuing to say that she was so happy we got a turkey! She said this all the way home and even for a few days after.

That was my last tag of the season, and she kept asking to go again. I told her we can't hunt but we can go watch the turkeys. She would ask why we could not hunt and I would tell her because I did not have another turkey tag. She would take me down stairs, walk me to my bow and point to my quiver of arrows and say, "Dad you have all those tags left we can still go!"

She remembers this hunt yet today, but will she remember it in 10 years? I do not know, but I know that I will never forget this hunt. This has now given me a whole new meaning and purpose to turkey hunting from here on out. Now this will be my time to spend with my kids to harvest a bird with them and continue to expose them to the outdoors, hunting and teaching them the circle of life.

Get out there and take your kids hunting and fishing, it will be the best experience you can ask for. Kalli is now always wanting to go turkey and deer hunting.

This hunt took place on May 27th, 2020.

0 Comments

Our First Deer Hunt

10/24/2020

0 Comments

Our quest for our first deer hunt together started in the summer of 2020. In June Kalli was helping me pick up rye bales in the field. As the sun began to set deer started to make their way into the field. As we drove around in the skid loader picking up bales, she was amazed to see the does and their babies walking so close to us. Since it wasn't too long ago we got our first turkey, she started asking about hunting deer.

I explained to her that deer season was not open just yet but we could surely go in the fall. Early August the millet was cut and baled. Again she wanted to work with me and help to pick up and load the trailer with the bales. As in June, the deer began to feed into the field as the sun began to set. After we were finished, we just sat and observed the deer for a few moments. Her and grandpa even had a few walk right past them in the truck!

The next week I got the new Banks Outdoors blind assembled and loaded onto the trailer. Kalli wanted to hunt so she wanted to go help get everything ready. We took the blind to the field and used the skid loader to get it set into place. The perfect corner of the field where deer often preferred to enter the field. Fifteen yards from the blind we also set up the Banks water tank.

With the dry weather we were experiencing, we knew the deer would like the water. Aside from a nice close shot, I figured it would be a good way for her to observe the deer in close proximity. We were all set to go for fall and season was just a few weeks away. Although season opened in September, we never got out to hunt until October.

For one reason or another, Kalli loves to go hunting "in the night" as she calls it, or waking up early before the sun and getting to the blind for a morning hunt. This area never has served well for morning hunting so I did not expect much. My expectations proved to be on point that first morning. We did not see a deer day one.

Given the dry weather and fact that the field had dried up, I expected this years hunting to be a little slower. Our trail camera was telling us that we needed to make an evening sit for our best chances. The deer were coming to the water trough shortly before dark.

October 16th, 2020 was the day we decided we were headed to the blind. I picked Kalli and Rylee up from day care and we hustled home. I told Kalli we had to get dressed pretty quick and to be sure to pack the snack bag. She did both as soon as we got home while I grabbed the bow and binoculars.

Shortly after arriving in the blind, she was digging into that snack bag! Wrappers were crinkling, water bottles being dropped laughing, giggling, talking and a 3 year old head kept popping out of the blind window. With less than an hour until shooting light was gone, I thought there was no way we were getting a shot off on a deer that night, even if we did see one.

As the sun set she was starting to lose interest a bit. The snacks were gone and the water bottle wasn't entertaining anymore. So what was a little girl to do? Skip around the blind in circles around my chair! I told myself there is no way we will see a deer now. Shortly after that thought, Kalli stopped tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Dad there is a deer!"

This caught me way off guard and of course as I looked where she was pointing, sure enough there was a deer standing about 30 yards away heading for the water tank. I whispered that she now had to be quiet and could not jump or talk anymore, just watch out the window. Of course that meant go pop my head out the window so I can see better! I still thought there is no way!

The deer cautiously walked toward the water, continually glancing over at us. Kalli would look out and then turn back in to me and say, "Dad a deer is coming are you going to shoot it?!" Finally the deer gets into my window at 7 yards! I could not believe this was happening. Kalli turns and says "Shoot it!" I told her I couldn't for she was standing in the corner of the window I had a shot out of.

The deer finally sensed something was not right and turned to walk away. I grabbed Kalli, moved her to the side window, asked if she could see and I opened the other side window for a shot. The deer stopped as I drew back. I settled the 20 yard pin on her shoulder and squeezed it off. The arrow hit its mark and made a complete pass through. I could not believe that just happened.

Of course she acted as if it were no big deal, tried to open the door and said lets go get her! After explaining we needed to give her some time just to be sure, we decided to call Uncle Geoff to come help us retrieve her. That was the longest 30 minutes of her life waiting for him to come with a flashlight!

Upon arriving we took up the blood trail. Kalli helped find flood the whole way. A short 30 yards later we found her laying in the grass between some cedar trees. She was pretty excited, looked up and said "Now we can eat her!" Kalli enjoyed watching me gut her and asked many questions about her organs. That was the best evening of hunting I have ever had.

This was a hunt that she may never really remember, but one that I will never forget.

0 Comments

2019 Public Land Whitetail Hunt

1/13/2020

November 7th, 2019, I headed down to the boat ramp for the third time this season. The first two times I never even left the dock. Once, it was windier than forecasted and the lake was too rough for boat travel, along with the wind being the wrong direction. The second time, I realized when unloading the boat, that I had no power to start the motor. After some investigating, I found that my battery cable had corroded and broke off. I had the perfect light NW wind for the stand I wanted to hunt. This stand produced for my buddy Antoine in 2018 on November 8th. In 2016 this stand produced a lot of bucks chasing a hot doe on November 7th.
This would be the first time the stand would be sat this season and I was planning an all-day sit. I hit the water about an hour and a half before shooting light. Rounding the corner of the bluff into the wide-open water, all you can see is the stars in the night sky and the glow of the chalk bluffs. This is one of my favorite parts of taking the boat to this hunting location.

Upon landing the boat, I gathered my gear and headed up the path to my tree. After a 20-minute boat ride, I have about another 30-minute hike to get to this tree. As I got all my gear up and I settled into the tree, I had about 30 minutes until shooting light. This is the time of the day, you can’t help but feel the anticipation build as shooting light approaches. This stand sits on a bench with a saddle in the ridge nearby, creating a great location to catch rutting bucks. It took my 3 seasons, moving the stand maybe 20 yards at a time, to find the right tree that would give the highest percentage chance of a shot.

This stand usually doesn’t have action first thing in the morning, it is a long way from a food source and is just some doe bedding around, making it ideal for an all-day sit to catch cruising bucks. In fact, it is usually an hour to hour and a half after sunrise, before the does and fawns work through themselves.

Shortly after 8am I could hear some leaves rustling up on the hillside. Soon that rustling turned into chasing. I could never get a good look through the timber, but I knew there was at least one doe, a fawn and a buck. I could not tell how big that buck was. They chased back and forth for 10-15 minutes, never having a good look, before they worked their way off. All was quiet again. About 930 I could hear a deer walking my way from the west, when suddenly the timber exploded!

A flash of a buck weaving through some cedars right on that does tail. They again worked their way back where they had come from, after a short chase. It was obvious this doe was in heat. After they worked their way off and everything settled down, I reached into the pack, grabbed a drink, snack and my book. I figured I would do a little reading to pass the time before the next round of action. The sun was now in a position that it was shining on me from around the tree. This was a welcome feeling for we had a good cold front and the temperatures were in the low 20’s that morning.

As I was sitting there reading a chapter in my book, I again heard the sound of a deer making its way through the timber. I scanned and found a doe and fawn coming again from the west. I was sure a buck would be in tow, so I grabbed my bow to be sure I was ready! They both passed by at less than 20 yards. Although a cool experience, there was no buck that followed suit, unfortunately. After they passed, I looked at the time and it was just after 11am. I settled back in, grabbed my sandwich for a quick lunch.

As I sat there I was answering a few emails and texting a few buddies and my brother Geoff, who wanted to know how the hunt was going. In the middle of texting a friend, about where to dump a load of rock on a client’s farm, I heard “crunch, crunch” in the leaves! As I turned to look over my left shoulder, all I saw was tines standing 25 yards right in my shooting lane! Sure, enough I had been caught with my phone in my hand.

As I kept an eye on the buck, I scrambled with trying to put my phone away. It was incredibly difficult to find my pocket in that instance. I let the buck walk off to the north, and once he got behind some brush and began to head away, I reached for my bow. Once the Hoyt was in hand, I reached for my grunt tube.

I grunted once with no response, a second time stopped him and I had his attention. One more grunt and he turned on a dime and headed right for the tree. As he was behind the brush, I clipped on my release and as he cleared the brush I prepared myself for a shot. This buck had my tree pegged, he knew exactly where that grunt came from and he was looking for a buck. He held up right behind a tree with no shot. As curiosity got him he took a step and again his vitals were blocked. One more step was all I needed and I could feel my heart pumping through my throat!

As he took that step I was already settled in for the shot. Before his foot ever hit the ground, the Spitfire tipped Maxima Red was already on its way! As the arrow disappeared and buried into the ground on his off side. I could tell the shot was back slightly yet it should get the job done. My heart was again racing sending adrenaline through my body. The buck ran about 15 yards stopped and stood there looking around. I grabbed the binoculars and could see the entry hole, I expected to watch the buck fall over quickly. However, he started walking toward the fence, stopped and then jumped it.

It was at the moment, excitement went away and a slight worry set in. Was the shot where I thought it was? How is this deer still on his feet after an arrow passed through both lungs? As the deer walked I tried to keep tabs on him with my ears. By this time, he had walked out of sight and soon I couldn’t hear him walking anymore. I thought to myself, had he walked far enough that I can’t hear him anymore or did he just stop? Shortly thereafter, I heard him fall. The way he fell I could now see him lying in some brush.

I watched through the Nikons, waiting for him to lay his head down. As he finally did I sat back in relief, and just decided to give him 30 minutes and keep an eye on him. Shortly into the wait some turkeys began to walk through, right past the buck, no movement from him told me he was likely done for. I began to gather my gear and started lowering it all to the ground. Feeling pretty confident, it was at this time I let a few people know that I had just punched my East River tag!

Once on the ground I walked over to the arrow to examine it. I quickly found out why the buck didn’t go down like a double lunged buck should. There was trace of gut matter on the arrow and what appeared to be liver blood. Although I didn’t need to track him, I did, just to stay fresh on tracking a blood trail. It was a great feeling reaching down and grabbing him by the antlers to pull him from the brush to get a better look. This is always a bitter sweet moment.

It was sweet because this was the first buck I harvested with my bow since 2008! I had been hunting hard that whole time trying for that right buck. Although during that time I had many chances at bucks, I just never had the right buck come by, this one got my adrenaline going like no other in recent past.

The bitter part was for a few reasons. First, it hit me that the hunt was now over. It was November 7th and my tag was filled. Having not harvested a buck since 2008, I have been used to hunting right down to the last day. Second, I had just taken the life of this buck. I always feel a slight bit of remorse when taking down an animal. It is something most will not ever understand, but I think about these animals nearly every day of the year. My job involves me making the best habitat possible to give them the best life possible. I greatly respect these animals.

Sitting alongside the buck, I thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to take the animal, and the buck for providing some great meat for my family and his head gear that will always be cherished by me and stories be told to my kids from that day.

I pulled out my tag, notched it and wrapped it around his back leg. I then proceeded to field dress the deer. It was here that I found I had hit liver and only one lobe of both lungs. Once completed, I gathered a few items and started the drag back to the boat. I had my camera and tri-pod on the boat, and knew right where I wanted to take some photos with him. Overlooking the lake, a grass meadow meets the cliffs of the lake. It was here I had dreamed of taking pics of a buck since the day I started hunting here back in 2016.

Once I had my photos taken, I got the buck down and loaded on the boat, this was one of the best feelings I have had! This was the third deer taking a ride home with me on that boat. The first was a doe. The second was my friend Antoine’s buck in 2018. Finally, it was my buck taking a ride back home on the boat. I don’t know why, but this was one of the most rewarding experiences for me. Maybe it was because of the process, it often is with hunting. It is the process and the adventure that tell the story, that shot is just a split second. The extra early mornings to take the boat ride, driving the boat in the complete darkness, and getting to the stand all adds to that experience.

That boat ride back, I couldn’t help but smile and thank God for giving me the ability to hunt this style. Although I have a few pieces of private ground I also hunt, this public land boat hunt will always be a special one for me.

Spring Turkey Preperation

3/8/2019

For many parts of the plains and midwest, this winter has been a winter we have not seen in a long time. Many of you reading this maybe haven't see a winter like this in your lifetime. It is cold weather and one snow storm after another. With that said spring is right around the corner. While you are waiting for the snow to melt, now is the perfect time to make sure you are prepared for this springs turkey season!

Farmers are nearby the farmsteads feeding cattle and working on equipment, getting ready for spring. Therefore they are easy to track down and gain permission to hunt their ground. Even if you have been hunting the same piece of land for years, it is good to go in and visit with the landowner. Show that you appreciate them letting you hunt their ground. Don't just assume that because you have hunted it for years, means that you can still hunt it without asking permission.

I often offer some labor or trade of work in return for hunting permission. Give up a weekend to help fix fence, help with chores or whatever the landowner may accept help on. In a time when gaining permission is getting harder and harder, offering some labor in return can go a long. The landowner may not even accept your offer, but I am sure they will certainly appreciate the offer.

Now is also a great time to be sure your equipment is ready for the season. Shoot your bow to be sure it is dialed in and tuned well to have the most accurate set up possible this spring. Shoot from inside a blind, sitting on a chair. Imitate the situations you will be presented this spring. Try to even shoot 3D targets if possible.

Many people don't think about it, but pattern your shotgun. Grab the shells you plan to use and set up targets at 20, 30, 40 yards or farther if you feel you will take farther shots. With today's ammunition and available choke tubes, harvesting a turkey at 60 yards is a very real possibility. Maybe even further. Experiment with different loads and different chokes, until you are satisfied with how the gun is patterning.

Many people, including myself, often overlook other turkey hunting gear. Decoys, calls, blinds, chairs etc. Be sure everything is in tip top shape or not lost since last season. Paint may wear on decoys. Call can need maintenance or get lost. Blinds may have holes, broken hubs and the chairs may also have issues. You hate to discover these issues the night before your first hunt, or even worse, setting up in the morning.

Take some time and make a quick checklist. Make sure you are prepared for a smooth going turkey season. It will be here before you know it. This also gives you a reason to get out of the house for a few hours.

Good luck this spring and happy scouting! Remember to Hunt Hard, Hunt Smart and Hunt Safe!

Brett Kleinschmit

First Elk!

2/20/2019

As the deadline for the South Dakota elk drawing drew nearer, I had a decision to make. Apply again for a bull tag that was very unlikely to draw or burn my points to draw a cow tag? The second option was only a thought because my wife and I were looking at purchasing a Nebraska farm that we would move to. If we did I could no longer use my points anyway. Well the purchase looked promising, so I decided to use the points up and be sure I would be hunting elk during the 2017 season.

Upon receiving confirmation of a successful draw, I started doing my homework for the hunt to take place the last two weeks of December. I began talking to others who have hunted that season and unit. I also talked with the local biologist and my good friend Dane who ranches in the middle of the unit. I collected a few forest service maps to learn the roads and look for potential hotspots. Finally, In November after a mule deer hunt on Dane's Montana land, he and I did a quick trip through the area he runs cattle. He showed me the areas the elk typically where so I would know for the December hunt.

It was planned Jordan and Matthew Miller of Run2Gun would join for the hunt, to film for their show. My cousin James and friend Lee would also join for the trip. Lee and I hunted multiple times together in Montana. We were hoping this would be the tag to finally harvest an elk. My brother Tyler would also join to help as a scout, while he also hunted deer.

Jordan had a muzzleloader deer tag he was trying to fill, so we planned to meet them out there after the conclusion of his hunt. Saturday morning of the opening weekend, we hit the road heading west. There had been snow falling in the hills and fresh snow was in the forecast for that day. This would be perfect for any sign we would come across would then be fresh. Shortly after meeting up in Rapid City, we made a quick game plan for the last few hours of the day.

We hit up a couple of nearby spots that I had marked on the map. We came across many deer but no fresh sign of elk was anywhere to be seen. At dark we headed back to town, got a room for the night and a hot meal. There wasn't much planning for that night. I knew right where I wanted to go and felt very confident about it. I thought for sure it would be where we would find the elk and likely get an opportunity.

In the morning we headed south to the area Dane runs his cattle. Working in from the North side, we made our way to the corrals in the center of the area, looking for fresh tracks the entire way in. Arriving at the corrals, we set out on foot through the timber, making our way to a few of the spots Dane had showed me where the elk would likely be.

After hunting most of the morning in this area, we came across not one fresh track nor heard or seen an elk in the area. This was crushing to me for I felt so confident in this spot. That is hunting though and it doesn't alway go as planned or as we think it will. Especially elk hunting and during the late season when they are all herded up for the winter. Elk will move many miles in a day. Being here one day and 20 miles away the next. So we decided to head to the next place on the map, which Jordan had actually hunted in October, and see what we could come across.

I couldn't help but think there had to be elk in the area as we got nearer. We were consistently running into more and more vehicles either going to or from the spot. As we started through the area we began to see a few tracks here and there. Coming upon a small group or tracks, looking like a few cows and calves, we decided to pursue them through the timber.

As we made our way through the stand of pines, 4 sets of tracks turned into more and more as the herd grew. We felt confident that we would eventually run into the. the wind was in our face and we figured they would be bedded down by now. Suddenly the the tracks were scattering going every which direction. Then we came across boot tracks. Did we circle back around enough to come across our own tracks again? Then I saw it. Drops of blood and not far away was a gut pile. Only hours old, someone else had beaten us to the herd.

With all the traffic in the area, and sign we were seeing, we knew the elk were in the area. So we decided to try to hunt the area but get to areas other had not hunted yet. This led us to a fun adventure on forest service roads that had not been traveled since the snow had begun to fall. Although a fun afternoon with amazing views, we never came across any other tracks in the area. With a few hours of daylight left. We decided to run back to the corrals to see if elk had moved in or through since the morning. Tyler also headed to the area we saw lots of deer and the first place we took a look at. Hopefully one of us would find elk.

Although Tyler found deer, no elk tracks were found in either area. Jordan and Matthew had to head home that night. Tyler had decided he'd stay the night but head for home in the morning. After grabbing a hot meal at a local restaurant we devised a game plan. The next day was Monday, we hoped that would mean most of the hunters had gone home for the work week. So we planned to head to the last area we hunted, where we found elk sign and the gut pile.

Heading out early we began to make our way to the area we had found the tracks. As we got nearer we started seeing elk tracks. Lots of elk tracks. There was one problem. They were all heading south across the road. This road was the southern boundary of the unit, which meant we could not head after them. To Lee and I this hunt was starting to look like many of the other elk hunts we had been on. We started to feel as if we wouldn't harvest one on this trip either.

With the thought in mind, it came to me that I just need to enjoy this trip with good company. We had fresh snow, a beautiful sunrise behind us making the snow covered pines glow and heavy fog in the distance. We took the time to appreciate these amazing views. We came across some whitetail deer and got to watch and admire two mature bucks browsing through the timber. I realized, as I have in the past, that filling a tag is not the only reason we do this. It is the adventure and the opportunity to witness God's creation that we at times take for granted.

It felt as if the pressure was off the kill an elk. It was not long after this that things took a turn for the better during the hunt. Coming around the point of a ridge, I caught movement up in the pines. I quick look and I realized there was about 10 head up there. They either saw us or where on their way out anyway but they moved deeper into the timber. At this point we were going to pursue until I heard cows mewing on our side of the meadow just down the ridge from us. I got up just inside the tree line and headed towards them. I could see two cows on the edge of the trees about 500 yards away. All I wanted to do was cut the distance in half.

As I slowly made my way to them my heart began to race. Was this really going to happen? I began to hear more cows mewing and bulls bugling up inside the timber on the top of the ridge. I had no idea how many elk were in there but I was about to find out. I got to 250 yards on the two cows and they looked as if they were going to start heading across the valley. I set my shooting sticks, layed the rifle in and began to settle for the shot.

I could feel my heart racing as I pulled the trigger. I thought for sure I was right on her but I never heard a bullet hit and she didn't act hit but I had no idea. Right after the shot the valley became alive. About 200 head of elk trotted through the valley. I couldn't believe it, I had never seen anything like that. Unsure of the shot I elected to let them go through and work their way off. They all settle down once they got into the timber and had no idea what had just happened. We let them slowly work their way off before heading to investigate.

Our investigation proved to be no shot was made. We never found an blood, hair or a dead elk anywhere. So after the search we decided we would pursue the herd. By now they worked over the ridge and we could barely hear them. The sun was out and behind us, snow was soft, and the wind was in our favor. The perfect conditions for s stalk.

As we made our way through the timber, the cow and calf calls got louder and and louder. We almost blew our cover as 4 bulls were off to the side of us that we were unaware of. After a few minutes they worked way off not affecting the rest of the herd.

Once we go to where we started see glimpses of elk, we knew we had to slow ourselves way down. If we blew this stalk the hunt was likely over. We took considerable care in the placement of each step, stopping with every step or two to glass our surroundings. Some were bedded others loafing and browsing around. We finally got ourselves into a position that we thought we would be able to get a shot. The elk we could see were bedded just over 100 yards away. It was now a waiting game.

I had one cow picked out I just needed her to stand. There were small pines all over so a small shooting windows would be the option. Soon two calves stood and walked past they cow, she then stood up and started following. I picked a shooting that the calves had walked through. She soon stepped into view as well.

I flicked the safety off and slowly squeezed the trigger. I felt good and we all were fairly confident it had hit its mark yet we were unsure. Lee stayed behind to be sure we went to the right spot where she stood, while James and myself headed to scene. Approaching I saw drops of blood in the fresh snow! A few more steps and there she was laying next to a ponderosa pine! If you were a bystander you would have thought I just shot a boone and crocket bull!

That wave and yell at Lee, stating we had found her never felt so good! I had put many hours and miles in trying to harvest an elk over the past 4 years that this was certainly an exciting and well earned moment! We took a lot of pictures, notched the tag and started the process of getting her back to the truck. We had come out and made it happen! We accomplished our goal.

This trip taught us a lot. First off we learned more about elk especially at a time of the year we had never hunted them. As I realize on most hunts, I just need to remember to enjoy the moment and it will all play out the way it should. Take in the scenery, sounds, and smells in God's creation. Take a moment to even listen to him. Enjoy the time with the company in your presence and never give up or lose faith. This can be said for all aspects of life. Keep a positive attitude, your head down and strive to meet your goals and great things can be accomplished.

Remember to Hunt Hard, Hunt Smart and Hunt Safe!

Brett Kleinschmit

<<Previous

Father/Daughter Hunting Trip

October River Bottom Whitetails

"The Field"

A Black Hills Double

Our First Family Antelope Hunt

A New Meaning to Turkey Hunting

Our First Deer Hunt

2019 Public Land Whitetail Hunt

Spring Turkey Preperation

First Elk!

Brett Kleinschmit

Archives

Categories

Enter your Email Below to Learn What, Why and How of What we do!