For simplicity I just took this straight from my blog......
Introduction
I would like to start this blog by apologizing for not doing live day-by-day updates like I had hoped while in Nebraska. The cabin where I stayed had Internet but it was dial-up and it was very slow causing me much aggravation. It did not help matters that my Verizon phone had no service almost the entire trip. I was able however to do some updates on several of the forums I frequent and the Trophypursuit.com Facebook page. I hope some of you were able to follow along via those sites.
I’ll sum up the entire trip by saying the sting of a miss hurts but Nebraska 2013 was a huge success and I hope to return next year! Yeah, more on that later.
Here We Go
The hunt started with a 22-hour drive from central Ohio. We arrived at our destination, a few miles north of Crawford, Nebraska around 4 am opening morning. The last couple hours before legal shooting light were spent taking a quick scent free shower at a primitive campsite and grabbing a couple hours of sleep in the truck. You would have thought after a long drive and limited sleep we would have taken it easy on day 1 but we were so eager and excited to hunt, we got right to it!
Opening morning was cool with a wet, misty rain. Not conditions I was expecting for the desert like region of Nebraska. We started in the pre-dawn light trying to hike to a high point in the pine forest, but not being able to see and not having been to this area for two years, I was unable to find the way and soon backed out in fear of bumping deer and doing more harm then good. After returning to the truck, Zach and I went for a quick ride in the truck to gain our bearings and see how many other hunters were in the area. On that quick drive we saw a bachelor group of four big muley bucks. They did not like the big diesel pickup truck rolling through their staging area and soon bounded away in the near bye canyon.
The rest of day one and most of the days after that sighting were spent searching for those four big muleys. If I had to guess, on average, we walked 10 “drunk” miles everyday. Through canyons, sand hills and prairie flats. If I have learned anything from hunting mule deer in the last three years, it is that good boots are a must. Many guys will tell you the key to harvesting mule deer are good binoculars and they are important, but I think walking will help you find more deer that glassing.
The other key aspect to finding mule deer is knowing what mule deer terrain looks like. This means being able to identify preferred bedding areas, food sources and finding water. Using lots of boot leather and knowing theses key elements helped us find several shooter mule deer in only five days of hunting.
The Big Miss
On day two of our hunt, we walked a unit I had never hunted. This unit was primarily a prairie flat with a small creek. The winding creek created the occasional sand hill erosion bank where mule deer like to bed. In one spot however, there was a dried pond full of cattails (not your typical mule deer bedding area). On one end of the pond their was a high wall and on he other, a pond damn. I walked the high wall and jumped a nice mule deer buck in the cattails and watched him run across the dry pond and over the damn. Thus on day four, we returned to that unit and attempted the same stalk. This time however, Zach was to guard the escape route.
As I neared the area where I had jumped a buck on day two, I spotted a doe and mule deer fawn feeding on a willow tree. They soon spotted my silhouette on the high wall and bounced out of the pond towards Zach. Zach watched the mule deer does exit the area and moved into a better position. I then stalked farther up the high wall and spotted a nice buck bedded in the cattails. Not having a range finder, I guessed the yardage, drew my bow, settled the pin and let the arrow fly. I still have no idea how I missed that buck. I watched the big buck in my binoculars bounce away and stop on the pond damn. I was praying Zach was in position! Upon reaching the pond damn the big buck looked back to see what had spooked him from his bed. That’s when Zach smoked his first mule deer at 30 yards!
The moments after watching Zach’s arrow zip though that big muley buck was very bittersweet. Here I had just missed what would have been my biggest buck ever but Zach smoked him. I was happy for him but very disappointed at the same time. The sting of a miss hurts and It will take a awhile for the feeling to go away. But walking away from Nebraska with a 50% success rate and killing a 180 inch mule deer on public land, on a do it yourself hunt is a pretty amazing feat if you ask me. Congrats Zach and thanks for starting off my season with a lot of fun and some success. The year of “Deep Forks” has started!
In Closing
I don’t want anyone to walk away from this blog thinking that Nebraska is the premier destination for mule deer. It’s almost the exact opposite. The mule deer in this region are pretty scarce and only thrive in a few public land locations. Matter of fact, mule deer does are off limits to help increase the population. Zach and I walked several miles a day just to see 5-10 deer. Of these few deer, only a couple were bucks. But the opportunity does exist and at a very reasonable cost. If you have never done a hunt like this, I highly recommend it. I hope to return next year or possibly hunt a more established mule deer area. All though we did not get the harvest shot on video, Zach and I compiled some neat footage from our hunt and hope compile a montage of video footage to share with you later this week. Stay tuned!
Thanks for reading
-Corey
