This year my plan was to have an easy hunt to fill the freezer with a cow elk early and then have a challenge hunt to really push it trying to get a 3pt or better mule deer buck with my muzzleloader.   Well, the elk hunt didn’t quite pan out so that put a bit of pressure on the mulie muzzleloader hunt.   I knew if I’d done this hunt during rifle season I’d probably be able to take a deer but really I wanted the challenge of a true stalk and having to get in close, especially since I’ve been so lucky the last several years.   Given the difficulty of a buck with a muzzleloader I decided to do the hunt at Red’s in Ellensburg and got access to their 16,000 acre Mt. Baldy Preserve and was the only hunter during muzzleloader season there.

The trip started out with a two day scouting trip in mid-September.   My partner for the scouting and hunt was Lisa who is wanting to learn about hunting.   We spent an afternoon and morning driving the roads,  finding glassing spots and finding some a ton of sheep, some elk and a few groups of does but no bucks.  The second afternoon we got in a bit of pheasant hunting with Lira so Lisa could watch how bird hunting works with a dog and got her first few birds.  A bit discouraging that we saw no bucks but we knew they were in there and hoped it wouldn’t take too long once the season opened.

We headed back over to Ellensburg on the night before season opener to do some last minute scouting and see if we could locate a buck.   We arrived early afternoon, set up camp alongside the Yakima River and headed for an early dinner then scouting.   That evening we saw plenty of quail and chukar but only one lone doe along the road during the drive back down out of the ranch.

 

The next morning we headed up before dark and at our first spot found only a covey of chukar.   We then headed into the spring and there found three bucks who were leaving the spring and heading up the hill to feed.  We put the scope on them and found that none of them were legal bucks even though one was a very big deep forked buck.  Still, we had our first bucks in sight.  Much of the rest of that day was spent rescuing a dog that had somehow ended up on the far side of the river and had been barking all night long the night before.  That evening we returned to the spring but saw noting at all appear.

Day two dawned and we got an early start up to the spring where we’d seen the bucks.  We glassed it over an hour and saw nothing.  We decided to go down and walk down the side of the creek canyon then back up the creek itself just to see how much deer sign was down there.  Deer definitely use the creek bed as do chukar, quail and some rodents.  Found a few rattlesnake skin sheds on the hike back out too, kind of cool.   We went up to the next spring and there  found a few does a long ways off but again, no bucks.   We then took a long drive to another glassing spot and did a short walk up a canyon there which has a spring.  There was some deer sign but we saw nothing.

That evening we decided to start up at the highest (so far) spring and were immediately greeted by howling coyotes.  This got the attention of a group of deer who stood up on alert.   330 yards away was a legal buck and three does.  It was an easy rifle shot from where I was sitting but I had to plot a stalk to see if I could get close despite all the eyes and noses on alert to us.   I grabbed my gear and took off a bit too quickly.  After I got out of sight I moved up to start closing the distance then headed down into a gully.  I ended up coming out too early and upwind of them so the deer busted out and took off to the north.  Lessons learned from this first stalk:

• Take a picture of the stalk before you head out
• Try to mark the deer on the map before you head out
• Remember you have a freaking map on your phone and use it

OK, had I used the map I wouldn’t have made that mistake.  Still I would have run into an issue with a fence I hadn’t noticed when looking through the binos or spotter and I would have had three very alert does to deal with.  Evidently the buck had settled down but the three does just stood guard the whole time.   Still, our first legal buck and first attempted stalk, I did get about 100 yards from these deer before messing up.

Day three was going to be a short day, I had to get back home for a few days to celebrate our anniversary and to get Lira out bird hunting a few times.   We hit the area we’d seen the buck the night before and this time within an hour had two coyotes barking at us.  One just wouldn’t stop, he got up on a rock and barked non-stop at us until the other one who was over by the deer bedding area got into the act too.  We figured that area was blown so headed back down the road.  We spooked four does at the lower spring.   The rest of the morning we hiked into the third spring from the back way which was about a 1.5 mile hike. The canyon around the spring was amazing looking and a chukar paradise.  We saw lots of deer sign but no deer at all.  On our hike back to the truck we found several does had walked over our tracks, figures.

Went home for a few days.  Catherine and I celebrated 20 years together and 19 years of marriage on Tuesday night with a great dinner and concert.  I also got Lira out twice for pheasant and she found us a limit on Wednesday.   Then it was reloading the truck and heading back to Ellensburg for then last four days of the season.  We arrived in the early afternoon, set up camp again, ate an early dinner and hit the road to get up to the areas we’d at least been seeing some deer.   We were greeted by a group of sheep at the entrance and four does up at the one spring but again, no bucks.

The next morning we hiked into the one spring again and glassed for about 1.5 hours but found nothing at all.  It was cloudy still so we headed up to the two higher springs and positioned ourselves in between them.  As we were heading to the glassing spot a doe walked by so we froze and let her pass.  Turned out it was two does who had gone by.  Lisa was looking to try and find the does when instead she found a bachelor group of bucks on the backside of the hill by the lower spring.  I got out the scope and sure enough at least two of them were legal bucks about 400 yards away.

Second stalk of the trip.  Learning my lessons from the previous attempt I took a few pics of the area and figured out more or less where the deer were at on the map.  I walked back to the road to get out of sight and then worked down to an opening between the sage.  There I got on the edge and removed my boots and began moving to the base of the hill in the sage.  The wind was still coming downhill but getting a bit swirly since it was getting close to noon by now.   I quietly approached and evidently the wind shifted just enough and the bucks all busted out without me even seeing them, I was still just around the corner but within 100 yards of them.  Closer but still no prize.  The socks worked well, I just put on another heavy pair over the pair I was wearing, totally quiet.

Rain was supposed to be coming in mid-afternoon so we still had some time to spare and headed up to the last spring that we’d yet to visit.  I should have known it would be bad when the road sign on the highway by the parking spot was for The Die Hards who evidently clean the highway and the area was called Rock Slides.   Yes, it was indeed a 1500′ climb up a loose rock slide filled gully in about 3/4 mile with a very steep slope waiting once the gully portion was through with.

With a full pack and a heavy muzzleloader it was a ton of fun.  We were both pretty hot and tired by the time we got to the top and then the drizzle began.  We had a great approach into the wind though and ended up having a bighorn ram stand up about 40 yards away.  He looked over at us none too happy, got up the rest of his small herd and headed away very fast.  We watched the sheep run down to the spring and up the steep hillside across from it which chukar were chuking it up like crazy by the spring.   Unfortunately no sign of mule deer at all and once the drizzle turned into real rain we started down the now slippery rock filled gully.

We got back to camp and found it totally drenched and we were beat, we had been on our feet for over 12 hours and hiked about 12 miles.   I’d forgotten to close the stove so it was a pool and wouldn’t light.  We decided to head into the Canyon Grill to eat dinner and sat there for hours trying to dry all our clothes out and not really wanting to go back to the wet camp.   Finally we got back and I had to dump and clean the muzzleloader since it wasn’t going to fire all waterlogged.   Luckily the rain ended at some point in the night and the stove finally lit in the morning.

The next day was totally uneventful.  I thought everything would be out and about after the rain but instead we saw almost nothing.  One doe walking along the road on our drive in and one coyote who did not bark or yip at us.  In the evening we chased some quail on the way up since the season had just opened and Lisa got her first one.   These little guys are fast, it will be interesting to see how Lira handles them when I get her over there next week, not quite the same as these local pheasants.

Our last morning dawned with a beautiful sunrise and with it our last hopes of a deer.  At the high spring I spotted a buck clear across the valley up near the top of a ridge.  It was about 3/4 mile away but clearly a legal buck in the spotter and the only game in town.  I took my photos of the area and set out for a long stalk.   It took me about 1.5 miles to get to the draw that the deer was in and the wind was still in my favor.  I knew the deer was on the right side of the draw and about 40 yards from the top of the ridge.  I worked through the thick sage slowly having to go a bit left then a bit right to get through without making too much noise.  When I got about 40-50 yards from the top I began slowly moving to the right.  Evidently this was my mistake, I should have just stopped and waited because I took one step too many and  the buck blew out of his bed 30-40 yards away running downhill at full speed.  I tried grunting but he never stopped at all.  It was over.

Three stalks and I was out.   I started back down the ridge and suddenly four deer appeared at the top – the buck and his three does from a few days ago.  I froze but they were onto me and went down the backside.  I got up on the ridge and down to the creek gully below just in time to see them bounding across the flat away from me.  Now it was really over.   I made a beeline towards Lisa who I could barely see with binos.

We chased a few coveys of quail to no avail down the hill then loaded up and headed home.  While the cooler was not full of buck meat it was still the best hunting trip I’ve ever had and I learned a ton about stalking close to deer.  Each stalk got better and I learned lessons from each one that I’m unlikely to forget.   I think had we had a few more days that we would have been successful and I will probably try to do the same hunt again next year this time with the knowledge I gained on this one.   I’m confident now that I can indeed get a buck with my muzzleloader (or a bow, taking archery this winter).  I asked for a challenge hunt and that is exactly what I got.   Special thanks to Lisa for being such a great deer spotter and partner on this trip, she kept me going when I was tired and discouraged.

Now to get ready for late seasons and get some birds in the freezer…