2009 North Dakota Muley 152"

2009 Colorado Mule Deer

173"

This season has turned out to be my best so far. Who could complain about harvesting 3 quality deer and a trophy class antelope in 2 months. I won this tag from Huntin Fool magazine in Febuary and I haven't been able to sleep since. Just like most muley hunters I've longed for the chance to hunt the third or fourth season in Colorado. This was my year. A good buddy of mine Mario Guisto volunteered to be my camera man and tag along for the ride.We hit the road running for Colorado on the 29th of October. After a long 12 hour ride and praying for clear roads we arrived at the ranch where we would be staying for the duration of the trip. My hunting season opened on the 31st so we covered the ranch on the 30th looking for a shooter. We found a great buck way off in the distance but he was at least a mile from the property that I could hunt. Opening morning was finaly here and we made our way out the door eager to find a shooter. As we made our way to the top of a ridgethat I had seen a couple of average bucks on the day before. I found this guy feeding in an open sage hillside. He had my number and started to leave the zip code. I quickly through down my bipod and took aim as he was making his way out of sight. I quickly sized him up and squeezed the trigger as I let my cross hairs settle in on his shoulder at 350 yards. He was standing on the skyline making his last mistake to see what we were. My bullet hit it's mark and he fell out of sight over the horizen. The sage was very deep and it took us a while to find him. he only went about 10 yards from where he was standing when I took the shot. Special thanks goes out to Weatherby for making such a fine rifle. My 300 WSM Vangard shoots like a dream.

Gear list:

- 300 WSM Weatherby Vangaurd

- Blacks Creek Barbarian Featherlight pack

- Storm Cloth II pants and jacket

- Zamberlan Boots

A Gift Only God Could Give

I’ve struggled over the last couple days trying to think of how I should write this story without some folks thinking I’ve completely gone off my rocker. After giving it much thought I’ve come to the conclusion that there is only one way to tell the story and that is just as it happened and let you draw your own conclusion if I’m loco or not. I hope you all see it the same way I do. 

            This story starts on Monday September the 7th. I’ve had a great run of hunting success already this season as I’ve managed to harvest a nice 4 point mule deer in velvet and a great hard horned whitetail both with archery tackle. Most people including myself would call that a great season all together. However this year has just begun.
Monday morning found me cleaning my gear from a long trip to North Dakota and back for whitetail. Just like always, I was thinking about the next weekend already and what I should do. I had promised my wife that I would take her antelope hunting this year. So my decision was to offer her a chance to stick a goat over the weekend. She kindly declined do to a massive amount of school work on her plate so I decided to extend the offer to my father-in-law who had been wanting to go for a long time. Once again my offer had been declined. I guess his season tickets to the BSU Broncos were far more important. I had fulfilled my promises by making the offer and now I had the weekend to myself to give it one last hurrah for speed goats before the season closed. I asked my eight year old son who thinks of nothing but hunting 24-7 if he would like to spend a father and son weekend with the old man and he eagerly obliged.
            The work week went by very slowly and all I could think about was having a great weekend in the Idaho desert with my son. I’m pretty sure his school work took a little nose dive as well. I spent the week preparing for the trip as we planned to rough it and leave the camper behind and sleep in the truck. We gathered our groceries and buttoned up our gear on Thursday night so we would be ready to leave the next day after I got off of work.
            The four hour drive went by quickly as we swapped stories and caught up on life. It was dark when we arrived at the water hole and our headlights brought hope to the next days hunt as we watched 2 doe antelope spook from the water and run. My son (Wyatt) was eager to jump out and check out the area so I parked the truck and started unloading some of the gear. He helped me set up the blind and get the other gear inside and ready for the morning. Now it was time to get settled in for the night and get some rest.
            I tossed and turned all night trying to get comfortable. I don’t think that GMC was thinking of the overweight guy like myself sleeping in the cab when they designed the truck. I could feel every lump in the seats and the seatbelts clips were digging into my sides. There was no way I was getting any sleep. I wish I was 6 inches shorter and about 40 lbs lighter and I might be able to get some rest. The night went on and I didn’t shrink or loose any weight so I hardly slept at all.
            As the sun started to blend the black sky with a hint of orange we sprang from the truck and gathered our gear. I had given Wyatt the choice to come with me as I parked the truck three or four hundred yards away. He declined to come with and I worried how he must be feeling as I drove away into the darkness. I hurried back to the blind to find him calmly sitting in the dark. I asked how he was and his only reply was, “What took you so long”. I chuckled a little inside and felt proud that my eight year old son was beginning to mature.
            Dark turned into light and the frigid morning started to warm as the sun began to rise. The day was finally here. We watched the horizon carefully looking for movement or some sign that a thirsty goat would pay us a visit. It wasn’t long before we spotted a couple of does off in the distance. They fed out of sight and we were once again waiting for our first visitors to arrive. As the morning wore on I started to feel the lack of sleep from the night before. I was just starting to dose off when Wyatt nudged me and said he had seen a goat. I looked out the window to find a small herd of antelope working their way into the waterhole. We sat patiently while they took their sweet time closing the distance. There was only one small buck in the herd and I wasn’t going to fill my tag with him so we sat there enjoying the show. They came within 40 yards of our blind but would not come to the water. I was starting to think we had set the blind up to close to the waters edge and they didn’t feel comfortable coming in all the way. Soon an average buck came in  over the skyline from a couple of hundred yards out in front of us. He worked his way to the herd and scooped them up and pushed them away. We watched as they slipped out of sight.
            Once again I was starting to dose off when Wyatt spotted another goat off in the distance. It was a small buck and he was feeding 500 yards in front of us. He disappeared to our right and it was 45 minutes before he would show up again on the radar. Wyatt and I discussed his size and agreed that we would pass him up.
            It was noon now and the action was starting to slow down. We spent the afternoon conversing and telling jokes as most fathers and sons do while hunting. I was enjoying the time with my son and the opportunity that the Lord was giving me to educate him on the outdoors. We laughed at our next visitor, Fredrick the Friendly Field Mouse. He had made his way into the blind and found two new friends. We watched him as he kept busy picking up our scraps from our snacks and rooting around. He was as cute as a button and Wyatt was itching to pick him up to pet him but I knew not to let him. I was curious to see how friendly he was. So I picked up my arrow and turned it over and started to pet him with the nock. We chuckled while he scratched his head on the arrow and looked as though he was enjoying our company as much as we were enjoying his. He visited us several times throughout the day. Probably because Wyatt was feeding him his lunch. I was starting to think I should have bought groceries for three instead of two.
            This is where the story really gets good. You’ll have to bear with me as I feel it’s necessary to give you all the details.  It was 4:48pm when I decided that I had had enough of the heat and was ready to get out. Wyatt wanted to come with me to get the truck. So I sat up from my chair and looked out of all the windows scanning the area around our blind. The coast was clear and there were no goats within eye shot. I reached down and unzipped the blind door stepping out all in one motion. Three seconds hadn’t gone by since I looked out the blind to see nothing. I raised my head while coming out of the door and there he stood at the waters edge. He and I saw each other at the same moment. He bounded a few yards and came to a broadside stop not 35 yards from me. I whispered to Wyatt to hand me my bow and my arrow that were leaning on the wall of the blind. I knocked my arrow and started to draw as he walked right towards me. He stopped as soon as I came to full draw. I placed my thirty yard pin on his chest and released. The arrow penetrated his chest and exited his hind end cutting both lungs and heart along the way. He turned and jogged 15 yards and fell over like a wall. He was done within 5 seconds. It was amazing. I turned to my son as he stood in the blind watching it all unfold and said “Did you just see that”? He answered yes and we discussed the fact that he was NOT there just three seconds before and there was no way possible that he could have gotten to the water hole without us seeing him. I explained to my son that he was a Gift from God and he said “I know dad, I know”. Now I want you all to understand that I’m a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ. So I understand how that goat got to be there and there is no question in my mind. I believe God wanted my son and I to have a very special hunt together and that’s why that animal was there and that’s why he expired so quickly. You draw your own conclusion. For my son and I, it was a Gift only God could give!

The season started on Saturday August 29th for Pro-Staffer Dusty Bourasa and myself. We had pre-scouted several nice bucks in the area we had chosen to hunt in opening day. Saturday morning found us creeping into a few open breaks and glassing over the same country we had seen the bucks in before. As we slowly slipped around a small rock formation we spooked this buck and his buddy. They ran over the next ridge and disappeared. After a few disappointed words and cooling off we decided to let them settle down for a while hoping that they would stop in the next drainage where we may find them again. An hour later we spotted them about 400 yards below us as they were starting to bed down for the day. The wind was perfectly in our favor so we waited for them to get nestled into their beds. We made our plan of attack while keeping a close eye on them for the next hour. The bucks couldn't have chosen a worse place to spend the afternoon. It was a picture perfect stalking location. Dusty and myself started our decent into the small drainage where they layed. It took us about 20 minutes to get within 100 yards of the bucks. From our location we couldn't see them but we new they were there. I took my boots off and slipped on a heavy pair of wool socks to start my sneak. It took me several minutes to close the distance to 55 yards. Just as I was starting to take another step I saw his antler tips in front of me. He had gotten out of his bed and started to feed down the drainage. He must of known that something was wrong as he turned his head and looked right in my direction. All I could see from my crouched down position was the top of his head. Like every archery hunters dream he turned and looked the other direction allowing me to draw my bow and settle my pin on his vitals. The arrow penetrated right through him and buried into the hillside. He jumped and ran about 60 yards and stopped to see what had happened. The shot had hit it's mark and he walked around the corner out of site where he expired. It was a great trip.

I would like to thank all the sponsors for their devoted support and fantastic gear. What a way to get the season started. Now it's off to North Dakota for whitetail with Pro-Staffers John Arman, Kurt Schirado and Jason Wright. I can't wait.

Here's a list of my gear that I used on this hunt

Bow - Mathews Drenalin

Broad head - Muzzy MX3 100grain

Arrows - Easton Axis FMJ

Boots - Zamberlan

Pack - Blacks Creek All American Fanny pack & Alaskan backpack

Camo - Realtree Advantage Max1

Sight - Black Gold (Red Zone Flash Point)

Arrow Rest - Rip Cord

Quiver - Tight Spot

Stabilizer - Doinker (7" multi rod hunter)

String - Winners Choice

September 3rd found Sandy Caster and and myself heading east for North Dakota to meat with the guys from Team UOA (John Arman, Kurt Schirado, and Jason Wright). We had decided to leave at 2am our time so we would have plenty of time to rest up after our 16 hour drive before the season opener. Just as most of my trips go, we ran into some speed bumps along the way and ended up turning our 16 hour drive into 20. Oh well, at least we made it there safely. After a good nights rest at Kurt's house we headed for John's ranch to get ready for our hunt. John has spent countless hours working on his place and I can't thank him enough for that. Our accommodations were top notch with a very nice cabin with all the amenities and premium hunting land to boot. Our hunts got started on Sept. 4th at 5:30pm as we made our way to our blinds that sat over food plots that John and the guys had planted just a couple months before our arrival. The winds were not in our favor at all and I could see the concern on John's face as we sat there waiting to see what the evening hunt had in store for us. As the sun began to fall and the shadows became longer the crickets started to sing. It was about 8pm before our first visitors arrived for their evening snack. A doe and a fawn had suddenly appeared from the brush straight in front of our blind not 50 yards away. This would be a great test to see what our swirling winds would have in store for us. We watched with anticipation as they approached the blind and closed the distance to 30 yards and slowly walked into the corn without winding us. Maybe there was some hope now as we felt a little better about our wind. It wasn't long after our first visitors until john nudged me on the arm and pointed out the window to our left. John said "There's that lopsided buck I told you about Marc". Since this was my first true Whitetail hunt and I really had no experience sizing them up before, I left it up to John to let me know if he was a shooter or not. John had told me about this buck prior to our trip but had said that he was a just an OK buck. He quickly had changed his mind as we looked him over while he sat surveying the food plot from his position 75 yards away. After a quick assessment I told John I would take him if he gave me any opportunity. We watched patiently as he turned to walk away and quickly another small buck took his place and the larger buck sat behind him as the watched the field. We joked as it seemed as though the older more mature buck was going to let the smaller buck enter the field first to see if everything was OK. Five minutes went by and they started to move towards the field. It was starting look as though it was going to go as planned as long as our wind held up in our favor. Just like they had read the script, they started to walk across the food plot in front of us at 15 yards heading for the corn field. This was my chance. I just needed the smaller buck to clear my sight before I could draw my bow on the larger buck. My opportunity had presented itself as the smaller buck moved into the corn and the larger buck stopped to munch on some soy beans in front of us. I slowly drew my bow as he started to walk again. John whispered that he had him in the camera and to shoot whenever I was ready. A half a second later my arrow was off for it's mark. I placed the arrow right behind the shoulder and it pierced both lungs as it exited out the other side. It was short tracking job into the corn where he lay expired. Now it was time to head to the cabin to celebrate and relax.

Many thanks to John Arman and the guys at Tea UOA for making this hunt possible. I owe you one my friends.

Here is a list of gear that I used on my trip.

Bow - Mathews Drenalin

Broad Head - Muzzy MX3

Arrows - Easton Axis FMJ

Boots - Zamberlan

Pack - Blacks Creek Guide Gear (All American)

Bow Sight - Black Gold (Red Zone Flash Point)

Quiver - Tight Spot

String - Winners Choice

Arrow Rest - Rip Cord

Stabilizer - Doinker (7" Multi-Rod Hunter)