Sarah's determination buck.

As most of you know, Sarah and I have been together for almost 2 years. One of our first conversations was about hunting. She showed me pictures of bucks that she had killed with her rifle over the years. She also told me that she was a bow hunter. She likes to sit in a grove of trees with just her bow and ghillie suit. That is awesome. That is how I like to do it, be up close and personal to the game you pursue.

Over the last year and a half her shoulders have really been giving her trouble. So much trouble that she couldn't pull back her regular compound bow. I could tell this really disappointed her. She couldn't do something anymore that she loved doing. So I mentioned the idea of a crossbow. I told her about the crossbow permit application she would need to fill out and bring to a doctor in order to be able to shoot a crossbow during hunting season in the state of North Dakota. Evidently the Game & Fish think using a crossbow is cheating or something. There are many states that allow crossbows during regular bow season or have their own seasons altogether. But I digress.

Once we started the paperwork for the crossbow permit, we started looking at crossbows. I found some online that I knew would fit her and would have a cranking device for cocking. This makes it a lot easier than using a rope cocker. I even contacted my friends at Scheels to see if they could help. They gave me some good info, we decided to go up there and have her put her hands on some. As soon as she grabbed one of those crossbows it seemed natural. It looked good on her. But what wouldn't. She grabbed it and held it to her shoulder just like she had done it 1000 times. She looked down the scope and the fit was perfect. Everything was great except the price tag. Crossbows are expensive, especially if you want the new lightweight, fast shooting, easy maintenance, accurate right out of the box crossbows.

I looked all over the internets for the best deal on one of those crossbows that worked perfectly for her. But we wanted to wait before we pulled the trigger on purchasing a new crossbow just in case the crossbow permit paperwork did not go through. It was just about this time when we were about to give up on this year's hunting season when I received a big box in the mail. I had no clue what was in there. When I opened the box it said Barnett Crossbows. I was a little confused. I didn't order anything. Once I got the box open there was a brand new Barnett HyperGhost 425 crossbow with the new micro-diameter Hyperflight arrows. I was in shock. Where did this come from I thought to myself. So I decided to check my e-mail and I found out that I was given this crossbow for free to test out and use. You see Mossy Oak who I have been a pro-staffer for and Barnett partnered up to put together this awesome crossbow. What are the odds I would receive this free crossbow right at this time when we were looking for something just like it? Sometimes things happen for a reason. This is one of those times. Un-freaking believable.

I believe I received the crossbow around October 15. The next day I had my dad put the crossbow together which is pretty easy. It is just one bolt tightened with an Allen wrench. The next day I had my friend Tito come out to help sight it in. I would normally do this myself but this crossbow isn't like mine. It is built in one solid piece. My Carbon Express Intercept crossbow is built on an AR platform. Everything is adjustable. I could use this new Barnett HyperGhost crossbow but I would have to put it in my rifle mount system that hooks to my wheelchair. I look forward to doing this this summer.

Anyway, Tito and I set up a couple of targets. My Block target and my Big Shot Ballistic 450 X bag target were set out at 20 yards. Tito cocked the bow, placed an arrow and clicked the safety forward onto fire. He held on the center target and squeezed the trigger. The next thing I knew I heard a "snap." I didn't hear the crossbow fire I just heard the sound of the arrow smacking the bag target. Holy shinto this thing is fast I thought to myself. We both looked at each other and said wow. We had to adjust the scope a couple clicks higher and a couple clicks to the right and it was dead on. Tito fired about six shots after we got it dialed in just to make sure it was on and just because it is fun to shoot. This was actually his first time ever shooting a crossbow. He is also left-handed and it doesn't matter which way you shoot this crossbow, it is ambidextrous. That is neat.

I was excited. I sent Sarah a text and told her that the crossbow was dialed in. Now all I needed was to find a broadhead that would work well with these micro-diameter Hyperflight arrows. I contacted FeraDyne Outdoors, makers of the finest broadheads and they gave me some options. A couple of their options included mechanical broadheads. I was a little leery of this. I don't like shooting mechanicals out of my crossbow because I am worried about them opening prematurely in-flight because of the high speed that these crossbows produce. But the lady assured me that these Muzzy Trocar HBX crossbow broadheads wouldn't deploy prematurely. So I decided to give them a whirl. Three days later they were in my mailbox. So I called up Tito again to have him come over and help me test out the new broadheads.

The hardest part about testing these broadheads was opening the package. Good grief these things are almost impossible to open. I was worried about Tito slicing more of his fingers off but we managed to do it without incident. Tito spun on the new Muzzy Trocar HBX broadheads, set up the Block target at 20 yards and lined up the scope. He squeezed the trigger and the arrow sliced the bull's-eye. It almost also blew right through the target. The new Hyperflight arrows really do have +25% increased penetration over the competition. I was totally impressed with the accuracy of the combination of these broadheads and arrows. I knew they were going to be a deadly combination.

Now all we needed was for Sarah to come shoot the new crossbow. We had to wait a while for everyone's schedules to line up. I believe it was a weekday night and it was windier than heck. Cold too. So we decided to set up the targets outside of the shop and opened the door about a foot and a half. We would sit inside enjoying the warmth only having to face the North Dakota suck when retrieving the arrows from the target. Ingenious I know.

Sarah grabbed the bow and we showed her how to load an arrow. It comes natural to her. You can tell she has been around guns before. She held it to her shoulder, closed her left eye, looked through the scope with her dominant right eye, took a deep breath, let out half and squeezed the trigger. Smack! Another bull's-eye. She shot probably another half dozen times and was smoking the center ring every time. We all agreed, she was ready. So we hopped in the pickup and headed to the Spare Time to celebrate.

The next thing we needed was to find her a spot to hunt. I knew I wanted her to hunt in my spot. The same spot where I have shot three different bucks including the buck I shot this year. My trail camera in this spot was still getting lots of pictures including one doozy 4 x 4 that she had her eye on. He is tall and wide but the only problem he is also nocturnal. They don't get big being dumb but the rut was coming near. Maybe this would be her opportunity to put this big boy down. Maybe he would become careless when he was twitterpated. A bunch of skinheads had moved in so you just knew the bucks were going to be active in this area.

She hunted in my spot six times. All of these times were either pre-rut or full-fledged rut. All of the hunts took place between November 6 and November 21. There should have been deer everywhere, every night. She would take off work early and get here around 3 PM. She would sit until there was no light waiting for Mr. Big. But it never happened. I tried to keep her spirits up and tell her it is just going to take time. The 4 x 4 will screw up eventually. 

But that too never happened. She only saw two skinheads in those six sits, along with some rabbits, blue jays and some really annoying squirrels. She was losing hope and I could not blame her. I sat in this spot one time during the bow season, October 20 and shot a doozy 5 x 4. But I told her I usually sit 15+ times a year and many of those times I do not see a deer. But she knows hunting. She knows it is hunting, it's not killing. The biggest thing is that she wanted to get something before it got really cold out. She is just little.

For the story of the hunt, it is in Sarah's own words.

So the morning of this hunt November 23, I found out from Nathan that there was a really nice buck just ½ mile southwest of our place that he saw the night before. So I decided to give it a try over there instead of at Clint's place. I left his house having this feeling that I was forgetting something but I went through everything in my mind and I couldn’t figure out what that one thing was so I pushed that feeling out of my head. So when I got home Nathan drove me out to the spot where I was going to be sitting so I knew where to go. I went home to make myself something to eat before hunting while he went out the tree row to put a bucket out there for me to sit on.

So here I am getting ready and that one nagging feeling I had earlier popped into my head. I forgot my bow tag and my crossbow permit. So then I texted Clint and asked if he could run it over to me. I finally got all my layers of clothing on for the hunt, even though it was 45 degrees outside. So I showed Nathan how to get the crossbow ready for me and we make our way out to the tree row that I’m going to sit in. I get my scent drag wrapped around my ankle, put some Whitcomb's individual doe in estrus on there and start trekking out to my spot (Nathan had it marked with an orange hat). So I get to the spot and I realize that there aren’t that many open shooting lanes so I take all of my gear, with the bucket and move it a little bit to the west. After I finally get situated I’m sitting there waiting for the good stuff to happen when I see two does to the south of me and they’re making their way towards me. I look to the north tree row and there are two more does wandering around. So now I’m getting really hyped up and here comes this dark pickup driving up and down the gravel road right to the west of me. Granted I know it’s a public road but both sides are posted and this guy had been driving up and down this road four times already and he has his own hunting spots so this really irks me. The idiot stops his pickup right at the end of the tree row to watch these does and he’s sitting there for so long that it spooks the deer away that were heading right at me. 

So now, knowing from experience from past hunts, I figured that since the does are spooked that I won’t see anything else for the rest of the night. And yes, I was being negative. Now I’m sitting there again waiting and I’m messing with this buck grunt call app I have on my phone, hoping to god it will work and I’m kind of giving up hope that I’ll even see anything. It’s getting later and later and dark and just when I was about ready to give up hope and head back, I hear this loud rustling and I think it’s in the tree row that I’m sitting in. So I’m straining my ears trying to figure out where it’s coming from. I finally see movement to the west of me, right by the cattail slough. Here is this doe making her way towards the field to the north and I hear grunting and rustling right in the tree row to the north. I was hoping that they would make their way to me before it got too dark to shoot but they weren’t really going that fast and I didn’t think they would make it in time. Then I hear more rustling, more grunts and doe bleats. I’m getting more excited. So I start using my deer call app a little more hoping for the best and I see them start really moving. They were running around, back and forth, like a bunch of idiots. I absolutely love to watch that!!! So I’m trying to keep my eye on everything but it’s hard to keep my eye on that many deer and watch in front of me and pay attention to what’s happening behind me. I’m watching this doe and a buck chasing after her and they were running around so I decided to use my buck fighting call, that stops them dead in their tracks and then they just bolt towards the tree row that I’m sitting in. Well, I can’t see them anymore so I figure they are right on the edge of the tree row running towards me and I’m waiting for them to appear right in front of me when I hear this noise behind me. I turn around and here is the buck right behind me running towards me. I forgot to mention that earlier I had sprinkled doe pee all over my bib overalls. So here is this horny buck running at me and it kind of freaked me out. So I get my crossbow up and I can’t seem to find the damn safety. When I finally find the safety and take that off I look through the scope but I can’t see shit. For one it was getting dark and for another reason the buck was so close that I couldn’t see him in my scope. The buck turns and runs away for a little bit and stops. I finally get him in my scope and he starts running again so I take a shot at him while he was running away from me. I don’t even remember if I aimed or if it was just one of those lucky shots. Everything happened so fast that I really don’t remember seeing anything in the scope when I pulled the trigger. All I know is that I heard the arrow hit something but the first thought that crossed my mind was "Shit I just messed up and hit the ground."

So I watched him run away not looking injured at all and I’m beating myself up the whole time. He gets about 100 yards away and he just stops. I watch him for a while as it’s getting darker and darker until I can barely see him anymore. That’s when I finally text Nathan that I shot at something but I’m shaking so bad that it came out as "I sho at something" and it took me forever to type that out haha. He asks if I want him to come out there and I said yes. While I’m waiting for him to show up I texted Clint and told him that I shot at something but I didn’t know if I hit it or not. I didn’t even get a good look at the buck to see how big the antlers were. It’s kind of hard to notice that sort of thing when you think you’re going to get raped by a horny buck and you’re covered with doe in estrus pee.

When Nathan shows up I grab all of my gear and start making my way towards the vehicle to drop off the crossbow but I marked where I took my shot with the orange hat before I left. When we get back to the spot where I took my shot he’s asking me all of these questions like "How far away was he when you shot?", "How far did he run?", stuff like that and I didn’t really know how to respond to that because everything looks so different in the dark.

So we start looking for signs of a good shot or any blood (I was actually looking for the orange and white color of the arrow because I thought I had missed him). I get out about 25-30 yards and I spotted some blood. I almost started jumping up and down because I was so happy that I had hit him. But then the thought popped into my head "What if I just hit him in the leg or nicked him?" So we start following the blood trail and there was starting to get more blood spots and not just little droplets so my hopes started going up and I’m getting more excited. Then Nathan gets his binoculars out and scans out in the distance when we get out a little ways in the field and spots something lying down and we think it’s my buck but we’re not for sure. So now we have the dilemma of should we keep on or let him lay for a little while longer? We don’t want him to get up and start running again but the way he was laying it looked like he was down for the count. So we make the decision of me waiting right there while Nathan goes home and gets his bow just in case when we do get closer and the buck jumps up, Nathan has something he can finish it off with. Well that wait took forever and I was getting kind of mad because I really wanted to find my buck. Nathan finally shows up with Sage and we start in on the blood trail again and we finally come across a big pool of blood, then another one. They both had bubbles in it so we all figured it was a lung shot. Then all of a sudden it just stops and I’m wondering how the hell can a buck just stop bleeding and where the hell is he at? So we’re sitting there looking at it from different spots and going back to the big pools of blood trying to find the trail when the thought comes to Nathan that sometimes deer double back when they’re injured so he backtracks to the pool of blood and goes to the southeast instead of northwest and that’s when he found the trail again. We go a little bit farther and Sage lifts up his flashlight to scan the field and he spots the big boy down. We take our time getting to him because we wanted to make sure he was dead but when we got closer I could see he wasn’t breathing.

I finally got up to my buck and I see that I didn’t make a lung shot but I had got that buck right in the neck and it was a gaping hole. He didn’t last long after I shot him. He must’ve bled out pretty fast. I was happy as a clam!!! Then we all realized that we were not going to be able drag him out of the muddy field and we couldn’t drive Nathan’s Jeep to him so Nathan and Sage had to leave me there, yet again, to go home and get the four wheeler to drag him out to the Jeep. That trip didn’t take as long as the first one. So as we were getting him ready to drag back, Clint sent me a text that he was almost to my place with my tag and permit, thank god. We get him to the jeep and load him on the carrier and hightail it ½ mile home to get my bow tag on him. When we pull up Clint was already there waiting and the first thing he said, "Does anyone need a tag?"

Now back to me as storyteller.

As soon as I got out of the pickup Sarah grabbed the tag off of my tray, handed it to Sage and he notched the dates, then he quickly wrapped it around an antler. Then the story time started. Sarah was so excited. It was awesome. She was explaining the events that just took place. Then my parents got in her car and drove back to Enderlin. We were going to meet them at the locker later. After they took off it was picture time. I couldn't believe how big this 5 x 5 was. He was bigger than the 4 x 4 she was after at my place. Everyone had a smile on their face from ear to ear. We took a bunch of pictures. Then Nathan and Sage started the process of gutting it. It didn't take them long, besides the time it took for Nathan to gag a couple times. The buck was rutted up something terrible and did not smell very good. While this was happening Sarah was inside showering, getting rid of the doe in estrus perfume that she had accenting her. Good stuff. After she was done we went to Litchville to see how much he weighed and to do some quick measurements. I believe he weighed 165 pounds and had an outside spread of just under 18. It doesn't matter. He is an awesome buck. We got him loaded up again and made our way to Enderlin to drop him off at Maple Valley Meats. Once we got there my dad met us and he strung up the buck, washed out the cavity and pushed him in to the freezer. It's handy knowing people. We then decided to head to the Spare Time for celebratory libations. It was good times.

She is going to get the head and antlers made into a European mount. I can't wait to see the mount, it is not going to suck. But even better is the freezer full of tenderloin, back straps and ground burger that is going to nourish everyone throughout the year.

We would both like to thank Tito, Uncle Gary and my dad for cocking the crossbow for Sarah so she could hunt at the farm. The crossbow is real tough to cock back if you are not tall and have the shoulder strength to pull. I ordered the cranking cocker device so it will be on hand next year, using this is much easier. The crossbow was always ready for her when she got here and we are indebted. We would also like to thank Nathan and Sage for the help in tracking and gutting, along with scouting this doozy.

What an awesome story. I couldn't be more proud of her. I know what it is like to be discouraged about things not working the way they should. She didn't let the negativity take over. She kept pursuing until she achieved her goal. Hunt number seven did not suck.

Thanks for reading, Sarah and Clint.

2011 My First Rifle Deer Kill.

Deer rifle opener always reminds me of my first deer kill with a rifle. In fact, it was my first deer kill with a rifle either able bodied or not. I only had one rifle tag before my accident and I wasn't able to close the deal. I'm kind of glad it happened the way it did. Many years later, after many trials and tribulations and after thinking it would never happen after my accident.

This hunt was quite memorable for more than one reason. Some of those reasons I probably shouldn't say. But here's the gist of the story.

After quite a few years working on my rifle mount that attaches to my wheelchair we finally we had it figured out. At least that part of the problem. The trigger had always been the biggest problem when trying to get a rifle to work for me. But when the idea for the adaptive trigger came to fruition (story of trigger mechanism) everything started coming together.

I had had one rifle tag before. I believe that was in 2009, maybe. Over the summer before I decided to buy a semi auto deer rifle because I figured I would be sitting by myself and I knew I would not be able to jack in another bullet if I needed to fire another shot. So I bought myself a Remington model 7400 in the .243 caliber. I even had a chance of shooting a doozy that year but I blew it. He was less than 140 yards away and I can still see him when I close my eyes. His 4 x 4 ivory white antlers were chasing skinheads just north of our farmstead and when I pulled back on the trigger I heard a click. Geesh. The action was not shut all the way. After that miscue I used a bolt action but never had another opportunity to shoot a buck that year.

But 2011 was going to be different. The main reason for that was because of my friend Kirk (KDM). I had told him or he had read about my trials and tribulations of trying to get my first rifle kill and he offered his land which is in and adjacent to the Sheyenne River valley. It is prime land for wildlife and when he offered me this chance to hunt on it, I jumped at it. Well not really literally jumped but you can imagine. KDM told me this, "You are going to shoot a buck and it is going to be on my land!"

After talking quite a bit during the summer with KDM, we devised a plan to build a blind that I could easily use. He found an old sleeper box for a semi that was going to work sweet. He placed it on his land overlooking a valley that had been known to hold a lot of deer. The week before the season started we met up again and worked out the wrinkles in the blind. The day before the season opened I went over again to check it out and everything worked perfectly. But when Friday came around the wind picked up from the south and it was gusting hard. The south wind was not going to be good, everything that was going to come in front of me would come from the north and they would wind us a long ways away.

So on opening day while I was on my way over to KDM's, he came up with a new plan. We were not going to sit in the blind. We would hunt on some other land of his which was north about a mile and a half. We were going to sit in the CRP and wait for the deer to start moving. I believe I got there about 10 or 15 min. before the season opened, which always opens at noon. We were bouncing through the CRP when we found a good spot and I was opening the side door of the shaggin wagon with a couple minutes to spare. KDM got my rifle mount attached and my Remington 243 model 7400 rifle cocked locked and ready to rock right on time. I didn't think we were going to see a deer, especially that early in the afternoon. But I knew this was prime land. I knew there was a lot of deer in the area but I didn't think they would show with the shaggin wagon nearby.

I believe it was around one o'clock in the afternoon when two big does with two fawns came running right beside us. They had to actually run around the shaggin wagon to get to where they were going. After we saw them go by, we decided to move a little closer so we could see over the draw just in case something tried to sneak in. At 3 PM I noticed a deer sneaking out of the shelter belt in front of us. KDM exclaimed joyfully, "It's a buck!" As soon as he said that I noticed the antlers coming out of the trees. He was probably around 200 yards away, a good shot for me but he was actually coming closer.

The buckaroo stood by that corner post.

As we were watching the buck I will paint you the picture of what is happening in the shaggin wagon. KDM is sitting in the front passenger seat and I am in the back of the shaggin wagon with the side door open and the ramp down. My rifle is aimed out of the side and I am trying to get on this buck. It was kind of a cluster. I had to pivot and move my chair side to side to get him in the general area so I could see him in my scope. Once he was in my scope I had to adjust my chair up and down to get the crosshairs lined up on him. Then once the crosshairs were lined up on him I needed to put the center of the reticle right in the kill spot. This was all happening in the back of the shaggin wagon. Neat. Thankfully KDM had the shaggin wagon parked perfectly in the CRP.

As you could imagine, it took me a little while for me to get the crosshairs on him. Probably just over a minute. But it seemed like forever. It seemed like an eternity for KDM. Ha ha. I could not believe the buckaroo just stood there. Just when you could tell he was starting to get antsy, KDM yelled at him, "Hey!" He yelled to get him to stand there a little longer. It worked. He was now about at 170 yards, broadside. KDM looked back at me and said, "If you want him, shoot him. He isn't going to stand there all day." After I heard that, I pulled on the trigger and smacked him good, right in the pump station. He hunched over immediately, ran about 30 yards and piled up.

As KDM was looking through his binoculars he said, "He isn't going anywhere, you got him good!" Then we started celebrating. If you know KDM, you know he can get excited. It was awesome. The excitement he had for this moment was worth it. I just smiled and took it all in.

As we started to calm down, we got everything taken off my wheelchair and the rifle packed away. Then I got strapped back into the shaggin wagon with the ratchet straps and we started bouncing out of the CRP back to the approach. Once we got to the gravel road, he called his wife Sandy to have her bring the pickup. We couldn't go straight to the kill spot through the CRP because of a draw in between us and him. By the time we got around to the other side of the quarter, Sandy and their daughter were right behind us. We had to bounce down about a half-mile of CRP to get to where the buck was. Once we got to the buckaroo, the celebrating started again, it was neat. Then we took a bunch of pics.

 

Tagged and ready to go in the bag.

We got the buck in the back of the pickup and we took off to their place. This was only about a couple miles away. Once we got there I called my mom and told her the story. I believe she was in Valley City with one of their vehicles doing a little shopping. When she got back to their place we had to decide what to do. I wanted to bring it back to the locker in Enderlin, Maple Valley Meats. But I didn't really want to haul it in the shaggin wagon. Then they remembered they had a bunch of plastic from a new couch that they just bought. So we wrapped up my buckaroo in plastic, put it beside me in the back of the shaggin wagon and mom and I headed to E-town redneck style.

 

This is how you transport a "Buck in a Bag" redneck style in the shaggin wagon.

Once we got to the locker my nephew Kolby was there to witness this redneck event and my buddy Lucas was also there. Luke per usual handle the guts and did the cape. The buck is now a shoulder mount on my wall.

 

This is my gut man and caper, Lucas a.k.a. Ham.

This was my first rifle kill and one that I will never forget. Thanks Kirk and family.

I have done a lot of neat stuff and things since that first time. But you always remember your first… Giggity.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

Kolby and mom enjoying the show at the locker.

2019 Crossbow Buck.

I woke up at 4 AM to excited to sleep. While watching ESPN I wrote this story in my brain. Around 7 AM I started to put it on the computer screen.

October 20 was going to be the first day I was going to sit in the blind with my crossbow for deer season. I guess there have been quite a few reasons why this was the first day. Usually I sit a couple times a week, throughout the season. But this year the bugs were just horrible during the early season. The last couple years I have waited for a frost to get out just to get rid of the annoying real North Dakota state bird, the mosquito. My apologies to any meadowlarks reading this. Of course this year when we got our first real good frost it came with 10+ inches of snow. That was nice. My blind where I wanted to go hunting was a complete mess. The snow, mud and trees that were down made it impossible for me to get to the blind for at least a week. Another excuse was my trip out west chasing speed goats.

So anyway, this Sunday was going to be the first day of my bow season. The wind had been out of the east or southeast for the last handful of days. The wind finally switched to the north around noon on the 20th. I got in the chair around 3:30 PM and got all my stuff ready for the hunt. That includes my crossbow, arrows, lubricant for crossbow rail, Mossy Oak camouflage clothing and deer tag. Around 4:30 PM I started to get dressed and got my crossbow attached to my chair. My Dad cocked my Carbon Express Intercept crossbow and I headed out to my blind which is 80 yards from my bedroom.

I forgot to mention earlier that it started raining about noon on this day. It was a light rain but it was steady. When I got outside I knew how steady the rain was. It was going to be a soaker. I could feel my tires sinking in on the gravel as I was making my way to the shop. As I got onto the lawn north of the shop the ground was greasy. My path through the trees was slime. But I was hunting and I didn't care. I was excited.

I had my dad place the arrow in my crossbow, then he lifted the pop-up blind up on the front end and I backed in to get situated making sure I could see what I needed to see in front of me. I had him take the safety off and told him everything was good. As he took off I looked around and wondered why I hadn't done this earlier this year. I love this stuff. It makes me happy in the facial region.

My blind is situated between two shelter belts. The old shelter belt that was planted around the farmstead is to my back. In front of me is the newer belt. There is about 10 yards in between the two belts and I sit on the south side of this gap aiming north, northwest. By the time I got everything situated I think it was around 5 PM. Sunset on this day was 6:35 PM. So it was going to be a short sit but I knew most of the deer that come through here show up within that last golden hour of light.

For the first 45 minutes I was entertained by a handful of protective blue jays and a couple of mad squirrels. They were all making noise. The blue jays were squawking and the squirrels were barking. It was entertaining. The only thing besides them that was constant was the noise was the rain on the roof of my pop-up blind. I thought to myself if I shoot a deer tonight I hope it is a quick tracking job because this rain is going to wash all of the evidence away.

At 5:45 PM I looked to my west, where the deer usually come from and noticed some movement. It was a doe. She was alone. As she got closer I recognized her. She is an older doe. Probably four or five years old. She is on my trail camera a lot. Pretty much daily and yearly. The trail camera is 15 feet to my west and it is aiming north. This is the first year that she has not had a fawn with her. I imagine the stinking coyotes must've taken her offspring. She was in front of me no more than 10 yards away for at least 15 minutes. I just love bow hunting. This is my addiction. Not many people get that close to a wild animal. She had no clue I was there. Her ears would perk up every once in a while but that was for the squawking blue jays for the barking squirrels. The wind was in my face and I knew if I could pass detection from this old doe, I would pass detection from every other deer that came by.

As she turned around she walked back to the west, angled into the old shelter belt and went to her regular bedding spot. I wonder how many times I have gone past her without noticing her or without her busting out. As she disappeared into the trees the rain started to come down harder. It was almost deafening inside the blind. But I was nice and toasty wrapped in my Mossy Oak apparel. The 45° temperature and wind wasn't bothering me at all.

The rain started to let up around 6:35 PM, right at sunset. I knew if I was going to see a buck it was going to be in the next half-hour. They are pretty much like clockwork around this area, at this time of day. They don't show up until that last golden half-hour.

Wouldn't you know it, less than 5 minutes later as I was looking around I noticed some antlers coming from over the top of the cottonwood saplings to my left. It was a doozy of a buck. I could tell it was big. He was coming from the west in between the two shelter belts headed right towards me. He was coming straight east and I knew he was one of the doozies I had on camera. My mind was racing. It was shocking to me that this was actually happening the first night I sat. I just needed him to stop. And he did. He stood right where I wanted him to. He put his head down for a while and then brought it up. He was comfortable. He had no clue I was there. He put his head down one more time and then brought it up looking to the east. By this time I had my crossbow scope lined up on his vitals just waiting for him to give me the right opportunity for the perfect shot. He was less than 10 yards away. As I looked through my scope, I raised my right hand and pulled back on the trigger. I heard a big crack. He jumped high. He went directly northeast into the new belt which was north of us. He actually crashed and broke branches making a new path through the jungle of branches. He made so much noise I actually thought that he expired and crashed in that little belt. I couldn't believe what just happened. I had to collect myself. I waited like a total of one minute and I called Don B. He says, "Hello?" In a quizzical, questioning voice. He usually knows if I call at this time when I am hunting it is for a tracking job. He said he would be right out and I told him that our friend T-rav said he was available to help track if needed. Don B said he would give him a call and they would head out. The next call I made was to the house. My Mom answered and I asked her to bring out some water and a flashlight. She says, "Why?" I said, "Because I think I just killed Mr. Big!"

When she got out to the blind she raised the front end of it and I drove out. I had her set the mug of water on my tray and I slurped it down. We went to the kill spot and looked for blood but didn't find any. I decided to head back to the shop to try and stay dry while we waited for my tracking crew. As we were waiting we could hear the rain coming down harder on the metal roof. I thought to myself this isn't good, this hard rain is going to wash away all of the blood that we need to track. Tracking is a skill. Some are good at it and some say they are. Don B and T-rav are about the best there is. They have helped in other situations. I met them outside the shop and I brought them to the kill site. They asked which way he was facing and I re-created the scene as the rain was drenching us. There was no blood where he was standing. But I looked to where he crashed through the trees and you could see fresh broken limbs. Right below some of the broken limbs T-rav found some blood. Not very much, just a couple drops he said as we could hear a pack of coyotes howling to the east. They were both searching and every once in a while I would hear them say, "Found some, found some more, here's a good spot of blood." But it was still pretty sporadic. I was getting nervous as I couldn't hear them anymore because of the pounding rain. I decided to go back to the shop and wait for their call. As I was headed back I could hear the coyotes again. Them jerks. I knew if we didn't find this deer tonight they would have him eaten up in a heartbeat.

When I got in the shop I tilted back in my chair as I listened to the rain on the metal roof. My guts were in a knot. I kept thinking to myself, I thought I made a perfect shot. I can't believe he could have gone that far. I was probably tilted back for about 8 minutes when I noticed my phone had a text message on it. I clicked on the message and a picture of a dead buck in a soybean field was on the screen. The message said from Don B, "Is this the one?" I replied back, "Probably!"

I couldn't believe it. This whole thing just happened. I got out of the shop and made my way the 30 or 40 yards north of the building to the kill spot to meet them. When I got out there I didn't see any flashlights or anything. I just heard a lot of grunting and giggling as they were pulling him through the still standing soybean field. I thought to myself, man he must've went along ways. A lot longer than I thought he could have. It was pretty much a broadside shot. His backside was a little farther away than his front but you can't ask for perfect every time. A little quartering away. As they were trying to find a way through the belt my mom showed them my path I use when I am checking for sign throughout the year. Once they got to that it was easier going. When they dropped him in front of me I was in awe. Holy Shinto. 

I shoot 20 inch arrows.

Don B said, "Congrats!" T-rav said excitedly, "What a pig!" We all couldn't believe how big his body was. His neck was just swollen. He was in pre-rut, hard. I couldn't believe how old he looked. He is an old bruiser. I recognized him as soon as they laid him in front of me. He has been on my cameras numerous times throughout the year. The sight of this beast lying in front of me was just awesome. It did not suck.

As we were admiring Mr. Big we looked at the shot placement. The shot wasn't too high, it wasn't too low and I wasn't too far back. It was a perfect double lung pass through. I then said, "I can't believe he went that far. How far do you think he went?" Don B said that he almost made it to the other belt to the north. I couldn't believe it. I thought that had to at least be 120 yards. But they explained once they got out of the little belt the blood trail was easy in the soybeans. It was shooting on both sides. Then T-rav looks down at his phone and says, "I have the blood spots mapped out on my on-X app on my phone." From kill site to where he laid it was 146 yards. Holy shinto that is a long ways to go with a complete pass through. The will to survive is strong with deer.

Use the code "mossyoak" to get 20% off your OnX membership.

Before we drug him to the pickup, Don B explained we should look for the arrow. I thought to myself we are never going to find that arrow. It is dark, it is wet and I would have a lot better chance finding it in the morning with some daylight. Right when I was about to turn around and leave Don B says, "Here it is!" It wasn't 3 yards from the kill site. Neat.

We then took a bunch of pictures, loaded it in the back of Don B's pickup and we headed to Maple Valley Meats. We used his pickup because mine still has a bunch of crap in it from my West River goat hunting trip. That reminds me I should clean that out sometime. After we got everything settled in the locker we went to the Spare Time for a couple stiff ones. We were all wore out and decided to make it an early night. I was home in bed by 10:15 PM. What a night it was though. I will never forget it.

I can't thank Don B and T-rav enough for the tracking and gut job. Better friends a guy could not ask for. Within 20 minutes from my call they were at the farmstead from town ready and willing to track in the rain. I later learned that they walked through water up to their knees. They were pretty much on their hands and knees looking for blood in the beginning. They were both drenched and full of mud. Thanks my friends. I am indebted. The Miller Lite is on me.

I want to thank Dad for helping and Mom for putting up with me and my hunting obsession. The tires on my chair are always full of mud and debris in the fall. It's a full-time job cleaning up after me. I suck.

I also want to thank Tito for coming out about a week ago after the snow melted to clear my path which was inundated by fallen trees and limbs. He brought out his chainsaw and went to work. He also took off 20 or 30 pounds of snow from my collapsed roof on my pop-up blind. I still can't believe that thing didn't get destroyed in the storm.

Tonight we will eat deer heart to honor the fallen. Thanks everybody who does what they do to let me do what I do. You all don't suck.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

Rediscovering myself and stuff.

Some people are lucky to find out what they are good at. Some people never find that out. Some people find it and it gets taken away. It sucks finding something new you are good at. But if you can rediscover yourself it might be better than the first you.

Before my injury I used to play piano. I wasn't very good but I didn't suck. I love everything about music and all kinds. After my injury music is sometimes the only thing that helps. I bought a harmonica and one of those braces that will let me use it without my hands. Now I need to learn, again.

Before my injury I used to play a lot of baseball. I watched a lot of baseball. After my injury I became a coach. It's scary to think I was in charge of 13-15-year-olds. But they learned stuff and things, plus some baseball.

Before my injury I used to do a lot of teenage things. You know the stuff. Some good and some not so good. After my injury I still like shenanigans. Some good and some really not so good.

Before my injury I wasn't in choir. After my injury I sing karaoke, in front of people. What's that all about? I was even on the karaoke circuit for a while. It doesn't pay well.

Before my injury I used to help around the farm doing a little bit of everything. I helped at our home place and my uncles places. After my injury I like to help out where I can. It is miniscule. I would like to do more.

Before my injury I was shy. After my injury Morgan has taking care of that affliction.

Before my injury I used to like to cook and eat. I wasn't a grand master chef but I could get the job done and it tasted not sucky. After my injury I still like to eat but now it is a different experience. I like going out to new restaurants and trying different flavors. I like looking at recipes and stuff.

Before my injury I would have never gone to college. After my injury I graduated from North Dakota State University. I still can't believe I did it. Geesh.

Before my injury I didn't know a lot of people. After my injury I know a lot of awesome people.

Before my injury I didn't do that much hunting. I only did one season with rifle and bow for whitetail, plus one season of upland game.  After my injury hunting has taken me to a lot of great places and taught me a lot of valuable stuff and things. I probably go hunting more than the average able-bodied person. That doesn't suck.

Before my injury I liked to fish. Although I didn't fish that much. After my injury I love to fish. I will fish anywhere for anything at any time.

Before my injury and after my injury is not the same, but it's kind of not different either… There is another Clintism for you.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

2019 The Year of the Goat

The last time I hunted antelope in North Dakota was 2009. That year I went with some friends and tried to get one with my crossbow west of New England. I had no luck. The weather sucked. My pop-up blind actually blew over on me while my friends were warm and toasty in a local watering hole. Good times. That was the first time that I actually hunted somewhere other than southeast North Dakota. I was hooked. There is something about hunting new territory that makes it that much more special. But I digress.

As most of you know we had quite a few sucky winters so the antelope season was canceled for I believe four years. The winters from 2008-10 really took a toll on the number of animals in western North Dakota. It took a while for them to rebound to get back to a huntable number. The antelope season opened back up in 2014. When the seasons opened up again I started applying for a tag. I believe it took me five years and five points to receive a tag. 2019 was my year.

I applied for the unit I knew I would have the best chance of knowing landowners. My friends and their relatives either live in this unit or right next to it. There were only 50 tags available in the unit I applied for and probably three quarters of those tags went to landowners. I played the reverse psychology and applied for this unit thinking not many other non-landowners would apply. My theory worked, at least this time.

My buddy Lucas and his wife Jaime live just a quarter-mile into South Dakota just south of this unit. I wanted to get out there all summer but decided to wait to see if I would either get a South Dakota mule deer or antelope tag or a North Dakota antelope tag. Luckily my plan worked and I drew a tag. So Lucas graciously said that I could stay at his place during the hunt. So Lucas and Jaime's cousin JP hooked up the ramp for me to get into their house. He and Jaime also took off a couple days of work to help with the hunt and Luke was going to be my personal guide. They are the definition of awesome friends. I am indebted. I brought them some Maple Valley Meats bacon and pork chops plus some of my deer sausage I had made at the locker but they deserve much more.

The season always starts on a Friday at noon. In 2019 it started on October 4 at 11 AM because I was in Mountain Time zone. I decided to head out on October 2 to get there at least a day early to do some scouting before the season open. It was a good thing we took off early. We left on that Wednesday and headed west for the 6 hour road trip. We were making good time with the wind to our back heading down I 94. It started raining around Bismarck and then that rain turned to snow around New Salem. The snow got heavy and wet by Richardton. By this time my mom's knuckles were white. She is a chicken shit when it comes to driving in any weather. So we made the decision to get a room in Dickinson and head to my friends south of Scranton in the morning.

When we left in the morning the fog was thick. We couldn't see much of anything besides the lines on the road heading south from Dickinson. By the time we hit New England the fog was starting to lift and the sun was peeking through. There were still signs of snow from the night before but it was melting quickly. We saw the first antelope just west of New England by the Big Muddy Butte. This was just west of where I hunted in 2009.

My friends live just in to South Dakota south of Scranton on the Stateline Road. This area has gotten a lot of moisture this year. They are not used to it. There is water standing in places that they have never seen it. My friend Lucas told me to call him when we got through Scranton and he would meet us on the Stateline Road because the gravel roads sucked. He knew my mom didn't like mud. It was a good thing he met us. It was like a Baja. Mud runs around here have nothing on the roads out there.

I believe we got to their house around 10:30 AM. We got all of the stuff out of the pickup, settled into our rooms and I tilted back in my chair for my allotted ten minutes per hour. After I was done tilting Luke and I decided to do some scouting. The roads were sloppy but we were able to get around with my 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 4 x 4. It didn't take us long to find some antelope. The best part about it was it was on land that I could hunt. There were actually no posted signs on this stuff so it was open for everyone to hunt. We put on quite a few miles when Lucas decided to call up one of his friends and landowners to see if he wanted to scout with us. His name is Eddie. He is neat. He hopped in the back seat and we took off from his house. He showed us quite a few locations where we could hunt, he also called landowners and asked them permission for us. Eddie and his wife Rauna are good people.

After driving around for about three or four hours we figured we had enough intel to go into tomorrow with a good plan of attack. The amount of land and the number of animals on those pieces of land that was available for me to hunt was unbelievable. When we got back Luke and Jaime's house it was time for me to lie down for a couple hours. I am still on time limit for being in the chair and I knew that night was going to be long. You see they were throwing a going away party for one of their friends who was going back to the East Coast after a couple weeks vacation back home in the Scranton area. People started coming to the house around 5:30 PM. I was visited in my room while I was lying down by two of the youngsters. Evidently the Wii is in the room I was staying and I was on their turf. They were neat.

It was a grand party. There was enough food for thrashers. Seven layer dip, chicken drummies, garlic toast, zucchini bars, pickles, meats plus a lot of others that I am forgetting. The libations were flowing and the laughs were plenty. It was a great time. It was a great bunch of people. About the time I thought about going to bed someone said we should all play Heads Up. It is kind of like charades. I sucked. But it was entertaining. I think I went to bed around midnight. I was a good boy. The others partied until around 2 AM. I was glad I went to bed early. Because I woke up early thinking about the days hunt.

I got in the chair around 9:30 AM, had some seven layer taco dip for breakfast and Lucas and I got ready to head out. Doing the night I could hear that the wind had picked up. It was fuck windy. I believe the winds were around 25 mph gusting over 30. The wind was out of the southeast on that Friday opener. We were on our way over to pick up Eddie with his antelope decoy when we spotted some different antelope on the way. The good thing was it was on Eddie's land with some school land right next to it.

We made it down a mile long grass prairie road below a big hill in the pickup before we made our plan. Eddie would walk a quarter-mile to the south with his decoy and set it up while Lucas and I would work our way to the west hoping that the decoy would entice the buck away from the group of about 15 does. Man it was windy. I had three layers on and I was already starting to get cold only being out of the vehicle for about 20 minutes. As Eddie got to the top of the hill we could see him looking around. Somehow the herd got spooked and took off. It was disappointing but we learned some things right away. Lucas learned how to attach my rifle mount to my chair and attach the trigger to my rifle very quickly. We also learned that the wind sucked.

We hopped back in the pickup and made our way to some more land we knew there were some goats on. The pickup felt like a sauna. It was great. The temperature outside wasn't too cold but 45° with a 30 mph wind bites through a guy. At least the sun was out.

We found another herd that was in the same spot they were the day before. The best part about the land they were on was there was a bunch of alfalfa bales in the field. We could use these to our advantage. The group of goats were of course in the middle of the section on top of a little knoll. They could see forever in any direction pretty much. Our only hope was to come from the east using the bales as a shield from their vision. There was probably close to 20 animals in this group. That is a lot of eyes to not get spotted by. This herd had been not moving all day but they were starting to work their way to the east. We just needed to intercept them with my .243.

We made a plan and we set it into motion. Lucas drove into the ditch and found a spot where it was nice and level so that I could get out of the pickup easily with the wheelchair in the soft conditions. When Lucas was attaching all of my gear to my wheelchair, Eddie hopped in my pickup and headed north so the antelope wouldn't have their attention on Lucas and me. It worked perfectly. They had no clue there was a lucky boy in a wheelchair waiting to ambush them. We just needed to get into a good location behind a bale before they came over the hill. And we did.

The first time the 13 inch buck came cresting the hill he was skylined. He was beautiful but I didn't take that shot because I didn't know what was on the other side of the hill. He was just over 200 yards when he was coming over the hill broadside. It would have been a perfect shot if there was a backstop because I have my rifle zeroed in at 200 yards. As he moved farther south and gave me a backstop for my bullet, he kept going in and out of the other antelope. No clean shot. They were continuously moving south and soon they were all going into a saddle and out of sight. I looked over at Lucas and he said, "Do you think we can make it over to that other bale before they can see us?" I said, "Let's do it." So Luke grabbed my rifle and rifle mount and I kicked my motorized scooter into high gear across the alfalfa field looking out for badger holes and gopher mounds on the way.

I couldn't believe we made it to the alfalfa bale that we needed to get to before they could get to where they could see us. As soon as we got into position Luke replaced my rifle cradle and rifle into my rifle mount that attaches to my chair and took off the safety. It worked perfectly. First a couple does walked by then I could see two distinct 13 inch black horns appearing through the alfalfa stubble. He took a few more steps and he was perfectly broadside at 100 yards. I lined up my scope a little behind the shoulder as he was facing south and I pulled on the trigger. Nothing happened. There was no bang. I looked down at Lucas who was sitting behind the bale to my right and he looked at me with a confused look. I looked back down at my trigger and pushed it forward to pull it back again. I lined up on the buck one more time and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened again. Lucas got up and jacked the action open and the bullet was still in the chamber. He grabbed the rifle from the cradle and got the bullet out of the chamber. He then punched the magazine back into the rifle and jacked in another bullet. By this time the herd was another 50 yards to the south. By the time we got the rifle strapped in they were trotting at around 200 yards now heading east as I was looking south. By the time I got my scope on him he was at 300 yards and starting to run. I had him in my scope so I pulled the trigger but it was a clean miss. That reminds me of this Clintism: "A bad hit is a lot worse than a clean miss."

I had our target buck in my scope at least three different times within a half hour or so and couldn't close the deal. I thought to myself, what just happened. I had the perfect shot at 100 yards and my rifle did not fire. After years of waiting I had a perfect 100 yard shot and my rifle failed me. Frustration set in and there was some F bombs flying from both of us. Was it the bullet or was my action on my rifle not all the way shut. I probably shouldn't have taken that 300 yard running shot but it was mostly in frustration that I let it fly. Not a very good excuse. But at least it was a clean miss. The whole herd ran to the east onto some land that I did not have permission to hunt. By this time Eddie, who was about a half-mile away watching with his binoculars was pulling up beside us. He was wondering what went wrong. He thought maybe he spooked them by pulling up in the pickup too quick. I assured him it had nothing to do with him. It was all me and my equipment. I know I heard that action slam shut. But my Remington model 7400 failed me. That sucked.

After talking about what happened we drove around for a little bit more and dropped Eddie off back at his house. I think we were all frustrated. I know I was. But we were not deterred. We checked out some more spots on the way back to the house and devised a couple more plans for the next day. Lucas made a feast that night. Stuffed pork chops, baked potatoes and creamed corn. I was almost too full not to have a cocktail. But I choked a couple down. We actually went to bed early that night. I was whupped.

There was a chance of rain overnight and wouldn't you know it I started to hear it starting to rain around 2 AM. It rained for quite a while as I could hear it pounding on my north window. This rain was not needed. It was not a good thing. Luke knew that we were not going to be able to go to places that we needed to. Knowing this we were not to motivated to get out too early. But I think we were on the sloppy muddy roads before 9 AM. The Stateline Road which is usually good was completely crap. We hopped on the highway headed toward Scranton and then jumped off on another so-called gravel road. The roads would've been better but they decided to grade them on Friday afternoon. This made them really really soft. It was a quagmire. I remember we wanted to turn north to check out a couple groups of goats we had seen and I knew this road wasn't going to be good. This road had two big hills and was minimal maintenance. Or at least it looked like it. I couldn't believe we made it up the first hill. The pickup was of course in four-wheel-drive and we were going pretty much sideways up the hill. The back tires were in the ditch and the front tires were trying to keep us on the road. Once we got to the top I looked at the next hill and I thought this isn't going to be good. But we made it. The mud was flying. It was entertaining. The pickup got a good douching of mud. I also learned on this voyage that the tires on my pickup suck for these type of conditions.

I was glad we went down this road not just for the entertainment. We found another group of antelope but they were in the middle of the section and there was no way to get to them. There was one big boy in this group. Probably 15 incher or so. But he knew he was safe where he was. We also saw quite a few mule deer on this road and we also saw a dandy whitetail buck struggling to run across the wet muddy fields. We knew if the deer were struggling there was no way I was going to be able to get into any of the fields to shoot. The only way I was going to be able to get out of the vehicle somewhere was on a road and that isn't very good idea. The one thing we needed was wind and wouldn't you know it, it was gusting again over 30 mph. Hopefully that would dry things out just enough for it to be doable with my wheelchair in the afternoon.

During our scouting mission in the morning we found the same group that I screwed up on the day before were on the same section of land. The only problem was there was another pickup eyeballing the same group of animals that we were. Only one of two guys had a tag and that was the only guy we saw hunting antelope while we were hunting. We actually saw more grouse hunters. They were older gentleman and we talked to them a little bit the day before. They actually made a move on this group but didn't take any shots. We also checked out some different parcels of land that we had permission to hunt on. We found one huge group closer to Bowman that probably numbered around 40 animals. But this group was surrounded by crap roads and muddy fields. They were a no go. We went into town, got some gasoline and some supplies then headed back to the house to watch the Bison game to let the roads dry out some more.

After the game Jaime decided to come along with us for the afternoon hunt. She said she was going to record the events. It was a good thing she came along not just for the company and photography skills but you will find out why.

We made our way to the same section of land that we tried hunting the day before and that we drove by earlier in the day. Luck was on our side and the group of antelope were in the same general area. They were just a little bit to the west of where they were earlier in the day. But this might work to our advantage. From where they were they couldn't see us if we came from the north on a grass prairie road. This road was wet. The mud was flying and we were going sideways most the time. Good stuff. We made it to about as far as we needed to in order to have a good spot for me to get out of the pickup. Lucas got all my stuff attached to my chair and all three of us started the sneak. Lucas and I were in front and Jaime was in the back recording stuff and things.

We needed to sneak along a fence line for about 200 yards or so. When we got to the spot where we could see them I couldn't get my scope on the buck. He was probably 300 yards out at that time, working his way closer towards the big group of goats. The wind was gusting. I had my scope on him a couple times but with the wind blowing the way it was and him moving constantly I just couldn't get everything lined up to take the shot. We moved closer and got into a better position but I still wasn't able to get everything lined up in time before he was too far away. The good thing was that he caught up with the 15 or so females and the two satellite bucks. It was another failed sneak but well worth it.

We decided to turn back and work our way back to the pickup. I was cold. The wind was howling and evidently my layers of clothing weren't enough. I was making ruts with my wheelchair through the alfalfa field all the way back to the pickup. But somehow I made it. I wish I had 4-dig on my motorized cart. Once we got back to the pickup I had Lucas crank my heat up to high. He was sweating and I was freezing. We made our way back out of the swampy quagmire onto the highway to get a better vantage point of where the group of goats went to. We stopped in an approach and glassed them for a little while. The good thing was that they were going back to the same spot they were the day before but the bad thing was that I was still freezing. Lucas and Jaime convinced me to do one more sneak before we headed back to the house. I was glad they did.

Just some of the ruts I left behind.

We went back to the exact same spot we were the day before. But this time Lucas, Jaime and I were going to make the sneak. We left the pickup in the same spot we parked the day before but this time we were going to leave it there. Lucas got everything attached to my wheelchair and the sneak was on. We probably needed to make the distance of 300 yards without getting seen and for some reason it worked. But it only worked because of teamwork. The field was muddy and I was sinking in with my wheelchair. Lucas had my rifle and rifle cradle in his hands and Jaime pushed my wheelchair. My chair was losing a lot of power trying to maneuver through the soft alfalfa field. But somehow everything worked perfectly and we made it to where we need to be. We went from bale to bale making sure we didn't get busted by one of their wondering beady eyes. I got onto the south side of one of the bales and tried getting the 13 incher in my scope. But it was tough with the wind, females were also in the way and as I was trying to turn my chair in the soft field. Mr. Goat wouldn't stop moving. He kept drifting and drifting. I would whisper to Lucas and he would reach over and pull my chair because my chair was not able to turn. As soon as I would get on him and ready to pull the trigger he would move farther. There was at least another two or three times that I was on him and just couldn't get lined up in time. We were close. We were less than 100 yards from him. It would have been an easy shot if I could've gotten on him. But it didn't happen. Eventually one of the females spotted us and the whole herd took off to the west.

It was discouraging but it was fun. I couldn't believe we got that close to the whole group twice within an hour. They had no clue we were there. Evidently I am like a ninja in my wheelchair. Stealthy is me. We discussed the events that just took place and started our way back to the pickup. Good thing it was downhill, I didn't need to push this time. I gave it the onion and made it back to the pickup in no time. I think it was so windy that it even pushed me. We got everything off of my wheelchair and packed into the pickup. By this time I think my core temperature was below the healthy level. But on our way back we spotted three bucks on land we knew we could hunt so this warmed me up in a hurry.

I knew this was going to be the last chance of the evening. It was maybe the last chance of the weekend to wrap my tag around a horn. Once again we pulled over in an approach and got my rifle rig hooked back onto my wheelchair. There was one problem though, we were close to the landowner’s farmstead and we didn't want to shoot that close. Lucas got on the cell phone and tried getting a hold of him. But there was no dice. He called a couple times and there was no answer. But as luck should have it the animals move farther away from the farmstead. We had Jaime hop in the pickup and distract the goats from our position. As she was driving away we could see another group of at least 30 goats get up from a hayfield and the three that we were looking at joined them. They were gone in a second. The landowner called back later and said that it would have been okay to shoot that close to his place. But I was glad we didn't before we asked.

We got everything loaded back into the pickup for the third or fourth time that day. By this time the sun was getting low so we started heading back to the house. I was beat. Traveling takes a lot out of me and being outside in that cold wind with the fresh air just drains me. They asked if I wanted to go hunting in the morning and I said I would let them know. In my brain I wanted to but my body said no. Hunting in the morning and then a 6 hour road trip home would have been too much.

We had another feast that night. We dined on grilled burgers, Jaime's hash browns and homemade pickles. Of course there were some libations also. Everybody was beat. I think Lucas was snoring in his recliner by 9:30 PM and Jaime retired to their bedroom about the same time. I watched baseball for a bit and texted buddies who also had tags in the unit to the west. When my head hit the pillow about 10:30 PM I think I was instantly KO'd. I was worn out from the two days of hunting and one day of travel.

I woke up to the sound of Lucas in the kitchen. The night before he asked me what I wanted for breakfast. I didn't have anything in particular in mind so he decided to make a biscuit and gravy with pork sausage egg bake. Holy shinto was that good. As I was eating my breakfast I could hear the wind outside howling again. Today, Sunday was the worst wind of the three days. It was a stinging wind. I knew I wasn't going to hunt in that and made the decision that we were going to head home after breakfast.

The whole trip was a grand time. Everything about it was perfect. I can't thank Jaime and Lucas enough for their hospitality and good times. I can't thank Eddie and the other landowners enough for their generosity of letting me hunt on their land. I was treated like a king and I also ate like it. I don't know if I will make back out there to try and punch my tag, but if I don't it won't bother me. Because this hunt was awesome. It was perfect. The old cliché is true. It's about the hunt, it's not about the kill.

I just love that country out there. I love the wide open spaces. We saw a lot of animals and had a great time. I think we saw at least 90 head of antelope within a 20 mile radius. We saw a lot of mule deer and some whitetails. There was also of course a lot of pheasants and plenty of grouse. It's always good to see that much wildlife. Hopefully the storm this weekend doesn't hurt them that bad. I know one thing, I won't be traveling west this weekend.

I have learned some stuff and things about hunting antelope. They are a very skittish animal. They might get spooked and run a mile. But they are also very inquisitive. I have heard stories of them charging a decoy from a long distance away. I think I thought this hunt was going to be easier than it was. The conditions were tough. When I hunted antelope in Wyoming in 2013 with the Helluva Hunt group I was done hunting within an hour of legal shooting time. The first goat I saw with horns was in the shaggin wagon after two shots. But this year's hunt was a lot more rewarding. It was more challenging. I like having to earn it.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

Clintism #42: Failed hunts are palatable because of the knowledge gained and the defeats experienced.