2016 ND Badlands hunt

wrkn2hunt

FNG
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
52
Location
Cooperstown ND
To start I will say drawing a mule deer tag in the badlands of my home state of ND is a tough deal. Took me six years of not hunting with a rifle to draw this tag. Little did I know my hunting partner and my wife all drew this tag on the same year! My buddy and myself planned a 10 day stretch after opening weekend to hunt. My wife on the other hand had a busy schedule and with only 3 pts didn't plan to draw so she only had one day to hunt. I hunted the first day alone and counted 28 bucks but nothing I wanted to go after. Day two my buddy showed up and we glassed a ton of ground and seen a lot of deer and finally around sunset I got eyes on one. I glassed him up for about 20 minutes before deciding to pull the trigger. I laid down and dialed in the 628 yard shot. Richie had the spotter and phoneskope set up and I let it fly. Tipped him over right in his bed! Now the area we were in was extremely rough so we hustled to get him out before dark as it was in a steep nasty hole so pics are on the fly.down deer.jpgpack deer.jpg

Day 3 we went to an area I bowhunt a lot and first light we had a buck chase a doe right to us. I wanna say 30-40 yards. Richie didn't hesitate and took the shot! Buck down!Richies deer.jpg

So now we are tagged out on Sunday and wife won't be out until Friday. This leaves us a week to bowhunt and scout. During this week we watched a ton of good deer and failed a few stalks. We even found a 190" typical which we have video of but couldn't get it to load. Friday finally rolls around and the wife is rolling in. I sent Richie to glass and I went to pick her up. We got to our glassing point and were seeing deer right away. After about an hour we spotted a decent buck and she wanted to go after him. Took us about an hour to close the distance and she was able to make a perfect 200 yard shot. 3 ND mule deer tags filled! stephs deer.jpg

I love reading others stories so I thought I would share this one. I have many more including my kids being able to take some great deer that when I have time will have to write about.
 

slick

WKR
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,799
Miss the grasslands. Used to chase Muleys around grassy butte. Great country.
 

Boomtakem2

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 18, 2017
Messages
162
Location
North Dakota
Great story! I bow hunt the Badlands of N.D. each fall for a couple weeks...love that place! Just hate that it takes a resident a few years to draw rifle tag! I guess that's why we appreciate the opportunity, and make the most of it when our time comes!
 

Azone

WKR
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Messages
1,537
Location
Northern Nevada
That is some awesome looking country in the background of those photos. Congratulations on a great week of hunting.
 
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