Our South Dakota West River Rifle Hunt

Well, we are back from no doubt the best hunting trip I have ever been on with some of the best hunts I have ever hunted. Stacie and I are back from our South Dakota Rifle season and UNBELIEVABLE is all I can say. I have said it before and I will say it again, if you have never experienced and out West hunt, you owe it to yourself to experience one. Words or pictures can not even come close to describing our last weeks adventures and hunts together. The scenery, the different types of game and things Mother Nature has to offer can truly put things into perspective out there.

Monday after work we fueled up the truck, grabbed Rufus, and we headed out to Stacie’s parents house located in the South West corner of the state 10.5 hours away. We were going there to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with her family but also spend time with her family hunting the edge of the Black Hills of South Dakota for Whitetails and Mule Deer. We arrived @ 4:30 am Tuesday morning and were up before noon making sure our rifles were still on target. After doing that her Dad came home from work and we were on our first hunt of our trip. Now hunting out there is a little different then around here. Mainly you still hunt or slowly walk around until you see deer and then make a plan to get closer by Spot and Stalk methods. Honestly, I absolutely love this style of hunting out there. Once in awhile you will sit and glass big draws hoping something walks by or you spot something, but most of the time you are on your feet and walking these steep ravines, draws, canyons, prairies, ridges, plateaus, etc. Adding to the excitement this was also Stacie’s first ever hunt toting a Rifle and I think she really enjoyed that fact she was able to do it with her Dad on their land back home in SD.

The first night was a little slow but a great night to be out hunting this area as we watched a spectacular sunset from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Our goal number one was to get Stacie a Deer with her rifle. Number 2, we also had the camera gear along and were hoping to be able to also catch her first Rifle harvest on film. I was the designated camera guy the first few days which was fine by me. Stacie originally wanted to harvest a whitetail, but that soon would change in the first morning. Stacie, her Dad and I were out on our first morning hunt enjoying a beautiful sunrise from a rock ledge, when we spotted our first group of Mule Deer grazing in an open area. It was a cool crisp morning and as we were glassing that first group we spot a shooter in the group. We tried to climb a little higher on the rocks to get a better view of him as he was on ridge across from us and as quick as he appeared he slips off the back side as soon as we pick him up from our higher vantage point. This Mule Deer encounter soon had Stacie changing her mind from a whitetail and now wanted this Mule Deer bad. Around 10:30 am or so, as we were ready to call it quits for the morning and Stacie’s Dad spots a small buck that decides to get out of his bed less then 100 yards from us. That also caused a few does and fawns to rise also. With a doe tag burning a hole in Stacie’s pocket we decided to try to harvest one of those does as we get around on them and try to set up. Just as the Camera starts to roll Stacie asks if I was ready and just as I said I was, the does start to run. A little bummed out Stacie gets back in the truck and we head home for lunch. We ended that morning with seeing around 25-30 deer with a few bucks but only that one shooter right away in the morning.

The next few mornings and evenings hunts we encountered quite a few deer and saw a shooter every time out. Stacie got awfully close to pulling the trigger numerous times on some very good deer, but just could not seal the deal. So that brings us to Thanksgiving afternoon after a tremendous feast prepared by Stacie’s Mom we were out again in search of that Muley Stacie saw on the first morning of the hunt. As we pull into our spot and get ready to make our way up the hill we both notice a fairly large group of 20 or so deer over ¾ mile away out feeding already with a few big racked muleys in the group. We were getting a new game plan together when we flagged Stacie’s Dad and her brother Travis down on he road and make a new game plan together. We decided we are going to put a sneak on this group as we all jump in one truck and drive by this big group and notice 3 big shooters in the group with a few other decent bucks. Stacie’s Dad drops Stacie, Travis and I off and continues driving not to alert the deer close by.

We begin our way up the hill in hopes to go around and get on top of these deer. This time I brought my gun along in case I needed it as Travis carried my gun, I had the camera & gear and Stacie was carrying her borrowed .243 from my brother Ron. We spot a few other deer and try to make it so we spook them away from the big group as we continue getting around on this group of shooters. Coming around on top the sun was starting to get a little low in the sky. Travis spots some deer in our group through a small opening and we decide that Stacie and I needed to get down about 20 yards to a rock where Stacie could possibly get shot off and use it as a rest. We make it almost to the rock there and see one shooter instantly as we are trying to close the distance to the rock. I quickly range the wide 5×5 Muley and he is 94 yards from us and we are quietly trying to get Stacie in position as he is grazing below us. Stacie starts to get settled on this guy and I start to try to set up the camera but just then the shooter goes to the left behind a rock and out of sight on us. Stacie and I look at each other and I signal we need to try to back out with out spooking the other 10-20 deer that are still 70—120 yards from us. We make it safely back to Travis and he has a confused look on his face and asks Stacie why she left? She said the shooter took off and she continued down to get around on the deer again, but I could tell by the look in Travis’s face, I needed to glass that area again. I could instantly see why Travis was in disbelief as I saw the super high racked non typical Muley Stacie had encountered the first morning standing broad side looking back up at us. Somehow both Stacie and I were so focused on that wide 5×5 we missed the other shooter.

So, I call Stacie back and we again try to get back down to the rock we had just left. We again get down to the rock but this time as Stacie is getting settled in I was having trouble getting the deer in my camera because of the sun shining directly right at us. The high racked Mr. Funk Muely was 104 yards out and I could tell Stacie was struggling to get settled on him. Not thinking she would have sun issues also I started to tell her to shoot thinking she was waiting for me to give her the green light. She then angrily whispers back she can’t see him in the scope because of the sun. He must have heard or felt us because he moved off to the left as some of the other deer had already done. We retreat back up the hill to Travis again and move down a little further and catch a glimpse of him again and try to get set up on a rock 30 yards from us. Again we make it down to our rock. However, this time we did not go unnoticed as a small buck 60 yards from us knew something was up and started to come our direction. Mr. Funk Muley was down there as Stacie got set up on him but he was covered up by does and small bucks at about 90 yards. I caught some video footage of him but the uneven terrain and the watchful eyes and ears of all those deer made it impossible for me to set up my tripod. He would clear in and out of does just for a few seconds at a time and not enough time for Stacie to settle in on him. He again moved out behind some rocks and Stacie wanted to move, but that little buck knew something was up as I told Stacie to hold tight because the “Scout” would end the game for us if he picked us up. The “Scout” went behind some trees so I backed out. Stacie started to, but the Scout caught our movement and the gig was up as he ran down the hill to alert the others. We ran for the top of the hill and get further down to the big Rock Ledge. We bumped into two other groups of other deer with bucks in that we had to stop, glass, and verify it was not our group before proceeding.

With the sun setting below the horizon as we are getting to the rock ledge, Travis spotted the group again as they were directly below us when we got there. They must of heard us as the herd took off with the big bucks in tow. There was a good 20 plus deer in this group and I immediately tried to get Stacie set up on the rocks as the deer were quickly making there way away from us. Stacie finally picked them up but they had traveled a good distance before she could pick the group up in her scope. We started to give her directions to what buck was the one she should shoot by telling her facing up hill, chasing that doe, low end of the group etc. She finally shot a round off at around 275 yards. This echoed through the canyon and you could tell they did not really know what way it came from, but was like little ants running around and even some bucks dogging does in the process. Travis and I started our directions to the buck again as Stacie started to locate the buck in her scope again. I told her the new distance as being it was 350 plus yards she gave up and said for me to shoot. My adrenaline that was already quickly flowing increased as I quickly went back to Travis and got my gun. I asked Stacie and Travis for the same information on the buck and through the chaos, low light, we were not quite sure where the high racked MR. Funk went, but did agree on what looked like a good buck as I bared down on my 7mm Magnum and put the 400 yard ballistic reticle on his center of mass. I squeezed down on my trigger and “CLICK”. I jacked that shell out with my bolt action and put in another as they relayed the info to me again where this buck was again. I again put my reticle on him and sent a shot across the rocky hillside and hit him what appeared like in the leg as he had a big gimp to him and you could tell he was hurting. Over the next few minutes I sent off a few other rounds in attempt to put this buck down but to no avail. I finally gave up after he hit the 560 yard mark. Looking at the horizon and knowing we did not have much shooting light left, I told Stacie to take the camera and head down to the road where her Dad was watching this whole deal from below.

I looked at Travis and said I wounded this deer and I need to do everything I can to put him down. I do not think we will catch up to this deer before dark, but I need to try. He said he was in and grabbed Stacie’s gun as we started our decent off our rock ledge to the rocky hill side below. As fast as our legs and body would allow us, we ran across that rocky hill side. With the threat of turning an ankle and or landing flat on our faces with every step we proceeded quickly across the rough terrain. I came over a ridge and could see some deer on the next ridge over. Travis and I ran down, across, and back up to that ridge and I could see more deer as I quickly glassed. Again, we went down, across and back up and I noticed a big rock on the next ridge that looked good to possibly shoot off of so I kept telling myself, just make it to that rock, just make it to that rock. I got up to the rock and could see about 4-5 deer in the waning light of the day. I pulled up my binocs and I could see what appeared to be the buck I was chasing across the rocky terrain. He looked like he was struggling to make it up the very steep rocky wall he and two does were climbing. I instructed to Travis to the location of the buck as we both bared down on him and Travis said on the count of 3. Ready, 1-2-3 “Click” goes Travis’s gun. That made me hesitate even a little longer as I again tried to bare down and remember thinking in my head, less then 200 yards and I was surprised how steady I was with the aid of the rock and I then told myself hit him in the shoulder as I started to squeeze down on the trigger again. BOOM… SMACK is what I recall hearing, thinking I hit him perfect. Travis informs me he did not drop as I thought he did and he said he jumped up in the air and took off up the hill. Confused, I glassed the opposite ridge and saw the two does come around but no sign of the buck??

Travis and I try to catch our breath and our emotions and figure out our next step. I told Travis I thought I was on him and tried to bust his shoulder with my ballistic tips. Being tired, I must of have pulled to my right (my tendency) I told him. I wanted to leave the buck overnight, but we were along ways up the hill and it would be along hike back up in the morning. Neither of us had thought of grabbing my flash light in our haste to leave my pack with Stacie. So we went down the steep ridge up the other one and tried to figure where my buck could have possibly went and hopefully he would just be lying somewhere close. The last Travis saw the buck was still going up hill. So, about 30 yards further up the hill from where I shot him was a little saddle. I went down in the saddle and I saw a deer 50 yards from me. However, by this time even with my binocs I could not make out this deer or even if it had horns. So I watched it take off and do something unbelievable. This deer climbed the steepest, longest hill out of this saddle, the whole time kicking rocks up. I could hear Travis approaching from behind me as I instructed to him what I was seeing and to see if he could see horns when the deer approached the top and silhouetting itself on the skyline. Neither of us could see horns and after talking about it, we decided that in no way was that my deer as both of us were still in awe watching that deer make it up that hill so fast.

So with next to no sleep that night as I was playing the scenarios through my head of that buck the entire night, the next morning finally came. Stacie went out with her Dad hunting that Friday morning and saw some does. Myself, I headed back up the giant hill in hopes of finding my buck or at least a blood trail to my buck so I could track it. Before even making it to my spot of my last shot, I found drops of blood and started tracking my Muley up the hill to the saddle I was in the night before. This is where it got weird. He went across the side of the saddle, stopped, double backed and went up to the top of the saddle. He bedded down, got up made three circles up there and started to go down the saddle on the back side. As I’m bent over looking for blood going down the hill, I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. It is a BIG Muley. The same wide 5×5 Stacie first tried to shoot the night before. This buck has no idea that I’m 145 yards above him. As I am glassing him I notice he is moving just fine and definitely not the one I shot the night before. All I could do is watch the biggest Muely I have ever laid eyes upon in the wild walk right by me with Rifle in my hand. As soon as I lose sight of him here comes another decent Muley that Stacie passed on a few nights earlier. This one was trying to come up the saddle I was in and got within 70 yards below me before not liking what he saw or smelled???. So, now I’m back to tracking my deer. This buck has stopped numerous times and leaving puddles and puddles of blood. About 6 of them were 2-3 feet long. I started to feel pretty good about finding my deer with all the blood I was seeing. Like I said previosuly, he went down the hill and as I was tracking him I came to a spot and then it hit me. I was standing exactly where that deer was standing last night when I first spotted it, before taking off up the steep bank. I said no way, but the blood trail didn’t lie, it was him. Unreal! I tracked the blood trial to the top of the ridge where it dried up and there was no more blood. I was devastated again. I continued to look for 3 more hours walking the ridge down and back glassing each side of the hill. Not knowing the properties boundaries too well, I did not want to walk below the back side of the ridge, but I walked a little ways down from the ridge and found nothing. Not another single drop of blood.

Later that Friday afternoon I came off that hill side totally bummed out. With my head down, I quickly got ready and grabbed the camera and gear to film Stacie that evening as I was dejected and still in total disbelief. I had him within 50 yards and he ran up that steep draw and I did not find him dead on top????. That evening Stacie and I actually just set up on a hill side again as I was in no shape to be walking all night again after no sleep, and the previous 24 hours of exercise. That evening we did not see as many deer as we normally do, but we saw a few whitetails make their way out to the field. We were enjoying the sunset when I was glassing to our right and caught just a quick glimpse of a deers back down in a draw below that ended right in front of us. I tell Stacie to get set up at the end of the draw and tell her it was 260 yards. This distance is a pretty good poke for anyone much less someone that has limited rifle experience. However, being seated, ready with a steady rest, and a ballistic reticle a shot that is doable. I tell her to get set up and just like clock work about 2 minutes later and a nice Muley buck appears. She tries to get on him but not feeling comfortable with the shot she elects to pass him up. A very mature decision, but not surprising one to me from her. As the buck hits the water hole and joins up with a muely few does, the light disappears and we again have a great hunt with an encounter with a good buck.

Still unable to sleep from not finding my buck, Saturday morning comes awfully slow for me. Being our last day I ditched the camera equipment and I grabbed my rifle and fight some emotions inside as I decided that if I get another chance at a buck, I will attempt to shoot it. I figured after spending 7 plus hours the day before plus 2 hours the night before that looking for him I sort of gave up on him, but didn’t want to. Travis, Stacie, and I headed out on this cooler morning and what was suppose to be our last day of our hunt. We pop up on our first hill and spot what seems to be a whitetail doe and a buck off in the distance and decided that we wanted closer look at the buck and with Stacie still holding her doe tag open possibly she could get a shot at the doe. As we get closer and see the buck is pretty good, we make plans to get closer yet. Travis tells me he just took off to the North off the hill so Stacie and I head to the South side and see if we can’t get around the side of it and glass for the buck. Well we come over the edge wouldn’t you know it, the buck is back on the South side as he and the doe take off to the East and over the edge. However, this time I get a real good look at him with my optics at less then 150 yards and there is no doubt in my mind he is a shooter and appears to be a 140” 4×4 or 4×5. This was the biggest whitetail I have seen on the hoof out there in my 5-6 years of visiting and hunting out there.

I start a mad dash to get around the hill on this buck and hopefully he will stop when he hits the cover across the field at the bottom of the hill. I start making my way around the hill side about ¾ the way up so I don’t skyline myself when I spot him in the cover. I sit down and glass him and yes it is him for sure. Now I’m stuck and do not know where I left Stacie at??? Not sure where she is, I try to make my way back around the hill towards her, but he catches my movement, so I sit back down and make the decision that I need to try to take him myself. I range him @ 308 yards and he is looking nervous, like he is going to run. He hears traffic up on the road as I see Stacie’s Dad and another car happen to be driving by. So the buck holds tight but the traffic causes me also to wait until I have a clear shot behind the buck. He is standing there quartering to me and after the trucks go by, I squeeze down on my trigger and come up empty. My shot causes Stacie’s Dad to turn back around, which holds the buck in the cover as the buck looks over the edge and sees a truck coming back. I adjust my sling sticks (rest) and really get comfy on this buck. He again has to hold tight along with me for the traffic to pass by one again. The buck is now standing broad side to me with head held high and attention away from me as I settle the 300 yard reticle in on his vitals again waiting for Stacie’s Dad to clear in the truck. He clears as I’m surprised at how steady I am on the biggest whitetail I have ever had a chance to pull the trigger with my rifle. I squeeze down again and same result. I come up empty and now the ill feeling really settles in as I lose sight of the buck. The feeling of wanting to vomit as I struggle to hold it down as I stand and ask for confirmation from Stacie who I now see is about 75 yards back from me and she tells me the buck is up and over the road and in the pines.

Travis meets back up with us and we make a new plan for the rest of the morning. I was going to go walk a big draw and in hope that I would push any deer out of that draw into an adjacent smaller draw where Stacie would be and could get a crack at a couple of good Muleys that usually hang out in the two draws. So her and Travis head back to the truck and plan on going around to the other side of thier draw and wait for me to make my long walk around. The next part of the story is Stacie telling you what happened next, in her own words.

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Travis & I headed back to the truck to drive to the other edge of the property, to walk and eventually meet up with Rob around the West side of the property. As we were getting in the truck we heard a gun shot that sounded like it came out of the East. We headed out and decided to go check out where and who the shot came from as we thought it sounded all too close. After driving pass the area where we thought the shots came from we didn’t come across any vehicles or hunters, BUT we did come across something else… As we drove back towards the property where Rob was, my brother Travis asks if I saw the deer bedded down along our property edge. We pulled off to get a closer lookat him.. It was a nice Mule deer buck bedded down no more than 120 yards from us. We debated on what to do…Should we go after the buck, or stick to the plan and meet up with Rob???? Well, let’s just say Rob didn’t get the vote. Travis decided he’d climb up the nearby edge to get above the buck and I would get set up below. Once he was on the upper ridge (75-100 yrds away) he broke branches and made all sorts of noise and the buck didn’t budge. We were both baffled… After a few futile attempts of making noise to get the buck up, I joined up with Travis to get a better set up. Now we were both about 50 yards away…I’m set up on some broken down trees, and Travis again tries to break branches and such to get the buck up. The buck only slightly turned its head (At this point we both can’t help but think this is all quite funny). I move in a little closer adn now I’m 25-30 yards away and Travis then moves and breaks branches when the buck finally decides to get up. I squeeze my trigger and get my shot off, the buck moves a bit. I shoot once more, the buck jumps the fence, falls on its chest and starts to attempt to run, plowing his front end. a she goes. Travis then proceeds to chase down the buck. He tries heading off the buck as it is hit good, but still not willing to give up. Did I mention Travis doesn’t have a gun on him? Well, I sit about 75 yards away watching in awe as my brother shuffles back and forth with this buck, each not willing to give up. I hear the buck making grunts, snorts and trying to get past Travis shaking hsi antlers back and forth adn I can’t shoot because they are so close to each other, Finally the buck expires and lays down. I run down the hill to see there lies my buck and my big brother standing tall. I ask him what he was doing down there & he said he knew it was injured good, but didn’t want it to run. I told him he was crazy, and gave him a big hug. I don’t think I’ve had that kind of adrenaline rush in awhile. As I check out the rack we see it’s a nice 5 x 5. I look to see how good of a shot I made and see I hit the front neck, chest, shoulder area… but there’s another wound on the other side, not from my shot. After figuring his location and looking back to where he was bedded down earlier, we see that he had probably been down in this area for awhile. Maybe a day or so as there were 4-5 bed spots with light blood spotting. That’s why he hadn’t moved when we made all the ruckus. It was then and there that we figured that this was the buck that Rob shot a day & a half before. What amazing animals these deer are.

We loaded it up in the truck after a few pictures and headed back home to drop him off and go meet up with Rob. Well let’s just say Rob got in a bit of a walk that day Travis & I met up with Rob and shared the news. Rob was super happy I got my buck, but in just as much disbelief as we were that it was the buck he shot at and tracked the day and a half prior. It was truly a hunt I will never forget.

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Well, I was extremely happy not only did Stacie get a nice Mule Deer buck, but that the buck I had shot at about 40 hours ago was harvested and found. After seeing the damage I put on this deer I was absolutely stunned that he was able not only make it up that steep ridge but also make it almost a mile on the back side of that ridge and bed down. They are one tough hombre Stacie sure was a trooper and did things right on this pretty physically demanding hunt. The rest of that morning I had some good encounters as I was trailing a mule deer buck that I wanted to get a closer look at that Stacie and her Dad encountered a few days prior. The closest I got was 400 yards and with my confidence shattered, I elected to pass on this deer two times at that range.

So with Stacie’s permission, I got an extra morning to hunt on Sunday as we delayed our departure time a few hours so I could hunt. The morning started off fast as I saw that same mule deer buck I encountered the day before @ 400 yards. However this time Stacie’s Dad and I saw him at about 40 yards from the truck on some adjacent land. Knowing the draw he was probably heading to, her Dad dropped me off and I headed up the rock ledge and tried to get down the fence line to intercept this buck on his path to his bed. As I was making my way down the fence line I encountered a few muley does and one small buck to my left. I then spotted what I believe was the same whitetail I missed the day prior about ½ mile away on the edge of the draw and started my way towards him and his doe. All of the sudden out of no where to my right up pops that Mule Deer buck out of the draw that I had just seen a half an hour ago from the truck. I quickly range him at 120 yards as he is going to cross right in front of me and he is going to jump the fence line I’m using for cover. I glass him and my optics stay up on my eyes as I see that he is wider then Stacie’s buck she shot, but missing the deeper fork I wanted in the 5×5 frame he was sporting. So I just watched him jump the fence and now cross right in front of me and join the group off to my left. I then proceed my way down the fence line in attempt to get on that Whitetail that has been haunting me since yesterday. However, the noise I was making was too much for that Mule Deer buck, as he gets nervous and leaves his group behind and jumps back over the fence again and heads directly towards the whitetails. I knee and belly crawl a very very long distance to get set up on the edge of the draw the Muelys and Whitetails both went into and I start to glass. I find that the Muleys are now on the opposite side of the draw and 3 other whitetails are also over there within 170-350 yards, including the Mule Deer buck I passed up on earlier that morning. I ranged him at 170-268 yards through the next 20-30 minutes. With my hunt time winding down and no sight of the big Whitetail I was chasing. I began to walk the top of the draw out to the East in hopes of seeing that big heavy whitetail. I was almost at the end when 2 whitetails pop up behind a vertical ridge and sure enough it is him and that doe from earlier in the morning. After a quick glass to confirm it was him, he was about 180 yards out on the run and I made the decision to try to run around the hill, stay high and get a shot on him similar to what I had done the day before. Out of breathe I make it to my spot and I sit down as the doe pops out from around the corner. I range her @ 110 yards and get my rifle ready for the buck to come popping out. However he does not appear?? I get up and walk the remainder way around the hill top and do not see any sign of him. He must of double backed into the draw or went over to the next draw???? I guess I will never know.

Well, that is the short version of our awesome South Dakota Rifle Hunt. Like I stated previous, words can not describe this hunt or what we saw and encountered along the way. Doing this by myself would have been un real, but sharing this passion and this hunt in particular with my best friend and wife is out of this world. Being able to share it with your wife’s brothers and Father is just icing on the cake. The sheer number of deer we saw was unreal and we would pretty much see deer all day long as long as we wanted to hunt. I learned the lay of the land better for next time, learned a few lessons on Hunting out West from this trip and some things I knew already reared their ugly head again. One of those being that one really needs to focus and practice on these 300-400 yard shots if they expect to be rewarded. I spend a lot of time dialing in and practicing with my bow, but not so much with my rifle and it showed on this hunt. I was in decent shape for this hunt but could always do better. Trying to put a sneak on a group of deer and getting within 100 yards of 3 shooters is hard to do, but do it with 2-3 people and camera gear I have a new respect for those that film bow hunts like this. It really makes me think on different ways of doing things. However, I’m already looking forward to next year and our 2010 SD Rifle Hunt. Did I say next year?? I mean this year. In a month Stacie and I will be back out there during the Holidays and there is a late doe season out there during that time. Her brother Tyler made me promise to leave my doe tag open until then. It just happens that now I have 2 doe tags as I did not fill my either sex deer tag.

Well that is it. This coming weekend I will be at the R&G / IDO Goose Hunt down by Rochester. Then I will be slipping over to the Honey Hole to pound some pheasants with my buddy Rufus and some others. I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day! For now I’m outie!

**CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE**