This year deer applications were due June 7 and we got the results June 20 in North Dakota. I was lucky enough in 2022 to receive a mule deer buck tag in unit 4D. When deciding where I should apply in 2023, I remembered the landowners from last year said I can come back anytime. So before applying this year I contacted the landowners in unit 4D and asked them again if I could come back to hunt and one response was, “You better damn well apply for this unit!” After that and other conversations with the landowners, they wanted me back and wanted to help in any way. With that I applied and wouldn’t you know it the “Lucky Boy in the Wheelchair” drew another coveted mule deer buck tag. That didn’t suck.
After the tag was secured, I needed to figure out scheduling and who was going to come with on another one of my adventures. First, I called up my friend and guide, Sam. He works seven on, six off in the oil fields and grew up in Medora. He knows stuff and things about the North Dakota Badlands. He sent me his schedule and said try to work around this. It worked perfectly, the second weekend of rifle season would be our huckleberry. Then I got a hold of landowner Nick who said I could come down anytime no matter what the season. He also said him or someone would be around pretty much every day.
Next, I made sure my mom, Deb would be able to go or I should say I told her I was going west for hunting and she replied, “Who’s coming with?” I then got a hold of my sister Shelie who had mentioned when I applied for the tag that her and her husband Brad should be able to go along. This time when I talked to her she said, “Yep. What are the dates and where are we staying?” I told her would take off November 16th, hunt the 17th-19th and head home on the 20th. Plus I said we would be staying at the AmericInn in Medora. She said she would make it work with her and Brad’s work.
I knew we had one landowner secured but Sam and I also got a couple other landowners to give permission. Plus, both of us know people. And if we don’t know the right people, we know people who know those right people. It’s good to know people. It’s also good to be respectable about other people’s property when they graciously let you on. Not being an idiot is helpful.
Brad and Shelie got to the farm that Thursday a little before 10 AM. In no time they had their stuff and our stuff plus all of my hunting crap packed. I believe we were on the road right at 10. That’s good planning. Our first stop was at Steele. They have a huge travel plaza with snacks of every kind plus a subway. Here is where I tilted back for my first time. I am supposed to tilt back every hour for 10 minutes to relieve pressure off of my derrière. Pressure sores suck I have learned the hard way, numerous times. We also got a little lunch and snacks for the trip. I think I checked at least three times on the way to see if I packed my deer license and elongated trigger. Nervous I was.
Of course, we were bucking a 30 mph northwest wind most of the way with higher gusts. Could hear my 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 HD SLE pickup sucking the gasoline. Our second stop was in Richardton where there is the best convenience store along I 94. I tilted back here again, got some more snacks and filled the gas tank. In no time we were entering the beautiful rugged badlands. Couldn’t check-in until 4 PM mountain time so Brad decided he would take us to Buffalo Gap. I had never been. If you haven’t, you should check it out. I even got to meet Ole the owner. He is entertaining. The scenery is breathtaking.
If you don’t know this is a place where you can stay, eat, drink, bring your horse, camp and just about anything else. You should check it out you haven’t. We stayed here for a bit as I tilted and we sampled some libations until we decided to go for a cruise to see if there was any deer movement. It didn’t take long to see our first deer on the East River Road. There was a bunch on the greens at Bully Pulpit Golf Course. There were deers everywhere it seemed, not only on the golf course. My hopes were high for the hunt.
Next, we decided to go to the Little Mo Saloon for supper, cocktails and to see the best bartender throughout the land, Lasko. This man is a machine. The bar was packed and he kept everyone happy and not sober. Just stay out of his way and never say you’re going to Boots Bar. He will lock the door when you leave. I don’t even think he’s kidding when he said that. Truthfully to watch this guy work is entertainment in itself.
The next morning, I got a hold of Sam and of course he was out and about already scouting the area for anything that moved. We made a plan that I would get in the chair around 11 AM and we would meet by the Brown Ranch. When we met Sam, he was excited and said there were a couple bucks and a bunch of does a couple hundred yards off the trail. We got excited. But first we had to drive down a sketchy trail to get there. Actually it wasn’t too bad but my head was flopping around like a bobble head as we bounced for about a mile, probably a little more. Once we got to the spot we couldn’t drive anymore Sam asked, “Do you think your chair can get over there? A couple hundred yards,” as he was pointing to the north. I said, “I think we can do it.”
We got out of the pickup and got all my equipment ready. Sam and Brad attached my rifle mount to my chair and then got his rifle attached to the rifle mount. They also attached my elongated trigger to the trigger guard on his rifle. We also tested the trigger a couple times. We had a scenario last year while hunting so we make sure we do this now. Good stuff. It is a process, but they get it done in quick fashion. Shelie was helping me get my orange clothing on and getting other stuff. Before we knew it, we were making our way across the pasture. Shelie had the spotting scope with tripod, Sam had his rifle which was attached to my rifle mount cradle and Brad was helping push and steer me in the right direction as I was navigating rocks, dried cow pies, holes and other things while bouncing a couple hundred yards to a vantage point where we could see the deer without them smelling us. I would guess the whole process took a half-hour maybe a little more.
When we got to the little draw that was holding the deers, we were happy to see they were still content and just milling around aimlessly eating beside a windmill and water tank. There was one buck we could see from our vantage point. He wasn’t huge and he wasn’t small. Sam asked if I wanted to take a poke at him and I said yes. Soon after that they were attaching the rifle cradle which holds a rifle onto my rifle mount on my chair. After that I snuck forward a little bit to get a good angle and to be able to get the buck in the scope.
Back to the story. Sam got the yardage and it was 515 yards from where we were to the buckaroo. It took me a while to get lined up. In fact, while I was trying to get on him, he decided to lay down. It really takes me a long time to get the elevation correct, up and down. To do this I hit the recline button on my chair, once I get within a couple inches then I do the fine adjustments with my shoulder. It’s a little not precise. Anyway, after a handful of minutes I said I was on him and Sam asked, “You sure, we have a lot of time, he isn’t going anywhere.” I responded, “Yep!” As he reached over and took off the safety. Next thing I knew I was pulling on the trigger waiting for the crack of the barrel. “BOOM!” I knew right away that I missed because there was no hollering. It was a clean miss.
It didn’t take me long to find him in the scope again and Sam jacked in another bullet. By this time the does around him knew something was up and they started to head to the north, away from us and he followed. Once that bunch was gone another bunch from the same group of trees got up and followed the first bunch. We didn’t even know they were there. After that, another couple followed them all. There was probably close to 25 deer in group. It was awesome to see. We knew they were gone and they were not coming back that night.
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Before we packed up to head back to the pickup, Sam spotted a coyote laying down in the shade like 700 yards away. Some people just have the eyes to see things. I have good vision, like better than 20/20 and I had a hard time seeing the coyote in the spotting scope. It’s impressive to see that kind of vision, it seems to come with a lot of time glassing different territories.
Next, we bounced back to the pickup around and sometime over rocks and crevices. When we got back to the pickup, we got the rifle mount unattached and everything put away. Then I tilted as we made a plan for the rest of the daylight. Sunset out there during my time was around 4:15 PM Mountain Time. Legal shooting hours are a half-hour after sunset in North Dakota. Making the couple hundred yards out and back took a couple hours. It was around 2:30 PM after this first attempt, which gave us a couple hours to drive around and look for another buck but we never found anything that we could get to. But we enjoyed the scenery and company.
When we got back to the motel I tilted again. Shelie rounded up Mom, she doesn’t go along when we are traveling on what she considers sketchy roads. She would rather sit in the hot tub, do some shopping or play the machines. Then we went back to the Little Mo for supper. Sam joined us for an evening full of food, libations and reminiscing. Good times.
I should explain that I get in the chair so late every day because I am only supposed to be in the chair a limited time per day. I tried to keep it under eight hours but more likely around six hours a day. But on this trip, it was more like 10 hours a day. Reclining hourly and limiting time in the chair every day keeps away pressure sores and keeps me out of the hospital. You can read about some of my hospital visits in earlier blogs.
Saturday morning, I got a hold of Sam wondering what he was up to and of course he was out scouting. He is awesome. He told me he was way south, farther than we had been this year or last. I said I would get in the chair at 11 and head that way. It took us a little over an hour to get down there. I was glad Sam went this way. The views and scenery are spectacular. The view to the west was like looking over a little Grand Canyon. It was impressive to say the least. We were only 2 miles I believe from the Montana border at this time. I definitely want to come back and explore this area. Then we went back north a couple miles to the spot where I could tilt. After that I called Sam and he said he hadn’t seen much but he almost tipped his pickup over. Geesh. Close call. I mentioned to Sam we were going to head back to a place we were yesterday. It is a spot we were at a year before.
Once we got down there, we pulled onto the trail and we didn’t go 100 yards before seeing a mule deer doe with twins. We watched them for a couple minutes and didn’t see a buck so we decided to go down the trail farther. It is a gnarly road, the kind of roads I like. We didn’t make it 50 yards and we saw a muley buck on top of a break a long ways away. Then we noticed some muley does not too far from him, just below. About that time Sam pulled up behind us and we showed him what was up. He asked if I wanted to try and of course I said, “Yep!”
He ran back to his pickup to back up because we needed to back up so I could get out of the pickup on flat ground. When I got out of the pickup, everybody did their thing. Brad attached my rifle mount to the chair, Sam got his rifle attached to my rifle cradle, Shelie gathered orange clothing, binoculars, spotting scope and then Sam and Brad attached the elongated trigger to the rifle. It goes pretty smooth for how chaotic it could be in pressure time.
Pretty soon we were sneaking over a rise trying to get closer. When Sam ranged the buck, he was at about 600 yards. We were able to get about 20 yards closer but not too much closer. At that distance it took me a while to get him in the scope. But he didn’t have a care in the world except those females. He was twitterpated. He would lay down for a while, get up not move really and lay back down. The does were just meandering around the hillside. Soon enough I got him in the scope and Sam dialed him in so he was bigger in the scope. This is fine and dandy but it gets touchy at that far a distance. Move the scope 1/32 of an inch, and downrange 500 yards the crosshairs are 6 feet off, give or take.
Anyway, I finally got him on the crosshairs steady, he wasn’t moving standing perfectly broadside. I reached for the trigger, breathed out and squeezed back the trigger. It goes off and he doesn’t move. Sam says, “Miss.” Nobody could tell where the bullet hit on the hillside. Sam racks in another bullet. The buck still hasn’t moved much neither have the does surprisingly. I get the buck lined up again in the crosshairs, pull the trigger, it goes off and still he doesn’t move. Sam says, “Miss.” Again no one could see where the bullet hit. Sam racks in another bullet. This time the buck has moved but not far. It takes me a couple minutes to get readjusted and lined up. Eventually I get him in the crosshairs, Sam takes the safety off and I fire again. I can see in the scope that I did not hit him. Sam says, “Clean miss. I got to run back to my pickup to get more bullets!”
By this time, we are all laughing perplexed because I just fired three shots and the deer are all still there. Sam was giggling his way to his pickup and back. We have a conversation about where we think I am hitting and Sam looks over the video he has been taking on spotting scope and there is nothing to see about where the bullets went. Thankfully this buck and the does were as clueless as we were. So, Sam jacked in another bullet and I got realigned. I fire again with a clean miss. I did this two more times for a total of six shots and no hits. Frustration settling in.
But Sam made me laugh when he now said he had to go back and get a box of bullets. First two times he only had three in his hand. Good grief what a scenario. Now he had ample kill pills ready to do the job, again. He jacks in three more bullets and I fire three more times without hitting anything. We did see dust a couple times in this last volley of lead. By the way, the deer still haven’t moved.
The buck is now looking to my right but broadside. He was following one of the does pretty hard but thankfully he never moved more than 20 feet the whole time the barrage was going on. I get readjusted and get him in the crosshairs and Sam jacks in another bullet. As I’m looking down the scope Sam says, “I think your hitting to the right of him, aim right at his ass.” He then takes the rifle off safety. I reach for the trigger for the 10th time, slowly pull back and I hear that beautiful SMACK sound. I hit him right in the back hip but the 230 grain bullets dropped him like a sack of potatoes. Sam yells, “He’s down! You got him!” Shelie and Brad were yelling, “Congratulations! You got him! You got him!” There were probably some expletives too and Sam grabbed his phone to get most of the celebration recorded. I told Sam, “The scope said it was 571 yards!” Holy Shinto. What a relief.
We high-fived, hugged and probably cried a little bit celebrating. That’s what it’s all about. Camaraderie. After the celebration we were a little concerned that he might get up. We waited for probably 20 minutes and Sam could see through his spotting scope that his eyes were not blinking. By now some of the does had left. The rest of them left when we started putting away my gear.
Now we had to figure out the easiest way to get him. There was a big draw between him and us. Sam called up Nick the landowner and he said there is an easier way around back to the north to come back south. On the way over there, Sam pulled over to tell us he was going to ask some hunters camped not too far if they could help. It was a good idea but nobody was home. At this point we were losing light in a hurry. We decided not to go longways around and just go in where we were.
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For the 600 yards or so it didn’t take them long to go down the gully, back up the other side to get him and put the tag on him. By the time he was in the back of my pickup we maybe had an hour of sunlight. Sam found a perfect spot to take pictures. The buck turned out to be a 4 x 3 counting the eye guards. These pictures are awesome with the backdrop. Sam then mentioned we should bring the deer to Buffalo Gap to get him quartered. He said they have a set up just like a regular locker with walk-in cooler, rails on the ceiling and pressure washer to clean everything up. Good thing Sam knows everybody. Evidently he has helped Ole while Ole has been hunting a time or two.
We followed Sam to Buffalo Gap. When we got there, it was dark. We backed up to the door and by the time I got out of the pickup and inside they already had the buck hanging and started to skin him. When I say they I mean a character named Itchy Twitchy. This guy is neat. He helps at the Gap. If you have met him, you know what I mean. Hard to explain. I asked Shelie if she would go to the bar to get a couple six packs of refreshments. In the meantime, Brad went back to Medora to pick up Mom. It’s only like 5 miles away. The beers were flowing and we kept the butchers lubricated after Shelie got back. Itchy Twitchy said we could keep the deer there overnight and pick him up in the whenever we can. That was nice and handy. I hope to meet Itchy Twitchy again. He’s got good stories and I’m sure they’re all true…
Then we went to the Little Mo for supper and to celebrate. Of course, the place was packed but we found a spot I could get to. Lasko greeted us with our beverage of choice which he remembered from the days before and the year before, crazy. Sam joined and we had a couple rounds with supper while reminiscing the day’s events. Pretty soon it was just Sam and I at the table because the others went to gamble. Then a couple of cowboys with their girlfriends asked if they could sit down with us. We told them go ahead. They were all in town for the North Dakota Rodeo Association year-end banquet. Parker turned out to be the saddle bronc champion of 2023. He was with his lovely girlfriend Brianna. The other couple was bareback rider Tanner Jarrett and his lovely girlfriend Sierra. They are all good people.
Sunday was a free day to do whatever we wanted. Our number one thing on our list was to go down and visit the Brown family. Mom even came with this time. She only freaked out a couple times with the roads. It is about an hour from Medora to the Brown Ranch. We stopped at Beach for lunch around 12:30 PM at the Buzzy Café. Classic small-town restaurant. I suggest ordering the hot burger on bread with mashed taters and brown gravy. It didn’t suck.
After I tilted, we grabbed some libations from the local watering hole and made our way south. After going through Golva which is 14 miles south of Beach, the views get better and better. It gets more rugged and rugged the farther south you go. The definition of wide-open spaces. Once you get onto the ranch everywhere you look is spectacular. When you get down to the homestead everywhere you look is a postcard.
When we got down to Nick & Maria’s it didn’t take long for the whole family to be outside, Nick, Maria and their kids Mason, Aubree, Miles and Ava. Grandma Nikki also walked the half mile to visit. She is a sweetheart. (I can still picture the cookie story scenario with Grandpa John. I am smiling at the inside story.) Soon we were gathered around in the yard sitting, visiting and commenting how nice the weather was while enjoying each other’s company. It was close to 55° every day that weekend. We were only able to stay a couple hours because we wanted to be able to see some new territory on the way back to Medora. Before we left, I was able to give Mason a ride on the back of chair just like the year before. Good times. Next time I give Mason a ride he wants to bring a rifle along in case we see a coyote. Ha. They invited us to come back again. I really hope to get down this summer to spend some more time enjoying the Brown family. A truly genuine, nice family.
We left the ranch with about a half-hour of daylight left. Brad had a plan to go home on the Pipeline Road which leads to the West River Road back to Medora. Glad he had this idea. We saw hundreds of deers. When it got dark, the deers really came out. I’ll need to go down this road again in daylight to see what all we missed. It is a very winding and up-and-down road. Coming over one hill Brad came to a complete stop because there was a black bull standing in the middle of the road. He didn’t want to move so we had to drive around him. This is open range area, FYI. Cattle guards everywhere.
We managed to make it back to the motel a little after 6 PM. I laid down in bed immediately. The others of course went to the Little Mo for supper. I ordered takeout. When they got back, I ate and they went to the hot tub for the evening. While soaking Brad listened to three guys in the hot tub talk about their day of hunting and what they did for a living. Finally, they asked him he did for a living and Brad with his quick wit said, “I am a game warden. I like to go undercover every once in a while.” I guess the other guy’s faces were in shock because of what they just told him. Ha ha. I wish I would’ve been there.
Monday morning it was time to go. Before I got in the chair, Brad & Shelie were already packed. They said they would go to Buffalo Gap and pick up my deer meat while mom got us packed. It didn’t take long get it and come back. Evidently Itchy Twitchy was there to help them. Geesh he is neat. When they got back to the motel, they helped us get everything loaded into my pickup.
On the way home the wind was actually pushing us, shocking. We didn’t need to stop for gas but I did stop to tilt in New Salem and Tappen. The Tappen Roadhouse Bar & Grill is a good place to stop. They have good food and homemade soups. I had a huge bowl of beef veggie soup that made me happy in my facial region and in my belly.
We got home around 5:30 PM on Monday the 20th. It didn’t take long to get everything unpacked and in the house. Then we got the coffin cooler in the shop and got the meat in a freezer. We will trim out the quarters soon. Can’t wait to eat the tenderloins, back straps and heart.
When I got in my room, I got in bed, gosh it felt good. This was going to be where I stayed until Thanksgiving three days away. My backside needed a couple days rest after averaging 10 hours a day in the chair during the trip. Good news, no problems with skin breakdowns. The couple days in bed will also get rid of muscle soreness built up from bouncing around and just being up in the chair so much. You might think it would suck laying down for days, but going on trips like this make it not suck.
Another trip of a lifetime thanks to Mom, Brad & Shelie, Sam, and the landowners Nick & Maria, John & Nikki. Without you all, none of this could have happened. Thank you. You all don’t suck…
Sorry if this got a little long-winded but I love the details. Great memories.
Thanks for reading, Clint.
