Here’s a little recap of this year’s mule deer buck hunt in 4D. Evidently, I am the lucky boy in the wheelchair for drawing another tag. It must be the clean living or something like that…
This year we took off on November 13. We planned on hunting Friday, November 14 through Sunday, November 16 and on the 17th we would make our way home. We this year included Brad the designated driver, Shelie the snack girl in back, Mom/Deb who makes sure that the hot tub works daily at the American Inn while the other three of us are hunting the back roads and myself the one with the tag.
Thursday when we got to Medora in the new Trail Boss, we had about an hour and ½ of daylight left, so we dumped off our luggage at the motel and took a little cruise east to see if any animals were moving. In that short time before dark, we actually saw quite a few deer but were all on posted land.
When we got back to town, we decided to go to the Little Mo Saloon for supper and cocktails. While we were there we ran into Clay and Ross Erdmann. We have known these guys forever as they are from the Enderlin area. Ross also had a tag in 4D. It was a good night at the saloon. Thanks again Ross for supper.
Friday when we started hunting around noon, Brad, Shelie and I were by ourselves so we decided to go down to the Brown Ranch where we have had luck before. It is about an hour drive from Medora. When we got onto the Brown Ranch, I decided I needed to tilt back a while. As we were sitting there on the side of the driveway, the owner of the ranch John Brown came driving up. We hadn’t seen each other for a couple years. He is a great person like the rest of the family.
He said he was going to check mail and he also needed to make a phone call. I’m not sure how far their mailbox is from the ranch but it’s gotta be 10+ miles. And evidently the cell service on his phone is sketchy at best down in the valley. He said this which also cracked me up, “I didn’t know you are coming down this year to hunt. Nick (his son) never mentioned anything to him about it.” Later when I talked to Nick, he said he told his dad many times that I was coming down that weekend to hunt. Classic. Of course, John didn’t care he told us just like Nick said, “You are welcome down here anytime and you can go anywhere on the ranch.” That is good stuff right there.
We saw a lot of animals that first day cruising around their place. We decided to go to the honey hole where I shot my last buck in 2023, the story here. As we were making our way in there, I noticed some deer in a deep draw. There were a couple skinheads and a buck who was sniffing around. He spotted us right away and bounced up a tall butte and there he was, gone. We kept going down the path to see if we could bump him again. But we never did see him. It was a good sign.
We made it all the way to the bottom of the draw which is a long ways off the driveway and parked for a while, we got out and glassed a hillside across the Horse Creek. There were skinheads here and there then we finally found another buck. We took out the rangefinder and he was at 600 yards laying on a hillside. Long distance AT&T. Brad did get a picture of him through the spotting scope. He looked like a 2 x 2 with tall daggers. The longest shot I have taken with my Tika 270 is at 300 yards. So we decided to move on to try and find something a little closer.
We saw quite a few animals including antelope and upland game cruising around the outskirts of the ranch. There was one group of antelope that numbered in the 60s. That was quite the sight to see. By this time, it was starting to get dark on us and we decided to head back to Medora slowly checking out other spots on the way back to town.
This night when we got back to town we decided to go to the other bar, Boots Bar and Grill. We knew that Sam was going to be there with some of the Olson family. In 2022 I hunted with these guys and I got my first mule deer buck. Here is the story of that hunt…
There was a big table filled with the Olson family and Sam. While they were having supper we decided to order. When everyone was done eating, we started talking about a plan for the next day, Saturday. That’s when the Olson boy’s dad, Shawn mentioned that he had a hunting shack I could get in if we wanted somewhere else to hunt. I thought that was quite the offer for someone that he just met. We really didn’t know what the hunting shack was but he said the deer come out from the draw at the same time every night around 4 PM. It was a great night at Boots.
On Saturday, I called Sam in the morning and he was west of town doing some scouting. That morning it was foggy, raining and the further west we went turned into snow. It melted when it hit the ground but it was tough to see anything at a long distance.
We drove around the Sentinel Butte area. If you have never done this you should. Great scenery everywhere you look. Again, we saw a lot of animals but mostly on posted land. When I got to 3 PM we decided we would meet Sam at the hunting shack to make sure I could get in before the deer started moving.
When we got to the hunting shack, it is about a couple hundred yards off of a main road. When we saw the shack, we could tell it was no shack at all. I named it the Taj Mahal of hunting shacks. The shack is probably 15’ x 15’, with a deck in front overlooking a steep draw. We used a couple of the wooden ramps in the back of the 2026 Trail Boss to get onto the deck and into the shack.
When we got inside, we were all amazed. Shawn turned the heat on earlier in the day. It was toasty warm. It had a bathroom, small kitchen, heat, air conditioning, TV, hardwood floors, comfortable recliner, leather couch and windows with no screens so you can stick your pipe out while waiting for deer. What else do you need in life… I can’t thank Shawn enough for the great offer and hospitality. It was nice being inside while it was raining pretty good.
Like clockwork, we started seeing deer right at 4 PM. There was a doe following a three-legged coyote down deep in the draw around 300 yards away. Sam knew that I had never shot I coyote before. The deer hunt turned into a coyote hunt very quick. Sam asked if I could get on him and he was ready to take the safety off when the three-legged coyote went deep in the draw out of site. That doe did not like him in that area. A pretty neat site to see.
Not long after that a muley doe with twins started walking up the draw straight towards the shack. There was a huge path they were following right towards us. They got within 100 yards and they knew something was up. At the same time there was a 4 x 4 muley buck about 500 yards straight to our south going in a different direction. There was also a bunch of sharp-tales that kept us entertained right below the window.
The muley doe with twins still wanted to come up the path towards us but they were on edge. All of a sudden to the west of them coming over top of a hill was another 4 x 4 muley with a kicker on one side. He was chasing two does. They were hot and he was willing. But for some reason when they got within a couple hundred yards of the shack they were also on edge. We watched them for a little bit but it was a hard angle for me to get on him. By that time, they started bouncing over the hillside, out of sight. But the doe and twins came right up to the shack and were eating within 5 yards of us right below the window. That was neat.
By this time, it was dark and we decided to head back to Medora. That night we decided to meet Clay and Ross at the Little Mo for supper and cocktails. That night we met some others that we knew from back home. We seem to always run into someone. When I was coming into the bar that night I ran into Stephen Sveet. He was there with his wife and daughter. They were going to Theodore's Dining Room to have supper but he said they would come back afterwards. We have a mutual aunt in Enderlin but different sides of the family. He grew up in Grenora but now lives in Beach with his family. I’ve known him and his family forever, what are the odds of running into them.
That night I also met Clay and Ross’s cousin AJ whose land they hunt on just southeast of town. AJ the Hawaiian cowboy is pretty neat. He told me next year he will hopefully have a cabin/trailer house on his land that he will let hunters use. That would be entertaining. He is another good dude.
We sat there for a couple hours and decided to go peruse other parts of the ranch and I also had a gift for the Brown family I needed to drop off at their place. Nick and his family were all gone that weekend. Him and Maria were at a Bobcats football game in Bozeman. I can’t wait to see them and the kids again.
On our way down their long driveway, we spotted another buck. He was only a couple hundred yards off the road. But by the time we found a spot flat enough for me to get out of the pickup, he was gone. I thought he was going to be the one but that’s hunting.
In the meantime, I was in touch with Sam and he was down some two track road when he noticed he had a fuel leak. Not so good. I told him what we saw and asked if we could use the Olson shack again that night. He talked to Shawn and Shawn said the heat is on and we were more than welcome.
We took the back way to the Taj Mahal and saw quite a few animals here and there. A lot of pheasants and some great scenery. Brad, Shelie and I got to the Taj Mahal at the perfect time. It was a perfect night but we never did see any deer while sitting. We did hear quite a few coyotes in every direction. That was cool.
When we got everything packed up and into the pickup, we noticed some deer silhouetted against the sunset to the west. There was a muley buck chasing skinheads a couple hundred yards away from the shack. Pretty sure he was the same one we sought to the west the night before. It was fun watching them run around twitterpated but it was too dark to take a shot.
Then we headed back to Medora. On the way back I decided I wasn’t going uptown that night. I needed some rest because I knew the next day would be a long trip home. Brad, Shelie and mom went uptown and brought me back some food. Then they went to the hot tub as I was sleeping hard.
On Monday we got up and headed back east river to home. I can’t say enough how well the new pickup worked out there. The smooth ride was not comparable to the old three-quarter ton pickup. The 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Trail Boss LT is the perfect machine for what I do. Can’t thank everyone enough for that. The story is here…
It was another great hunt out west. I think I had just as much fun this time as any other time. People always say it’s not about the kill; it’s about the hunt. And those words couldn’t be truer. It’s what the hunt all entails. Meeting new people, seeing different sites, reminiscing with old friends and just being out there is well worth it.
I would like to thank everyone involved including all of the great landowners, my friend Sam, my family and everyone else who make my dreams come true. I can’t wait to do it again and again and again…
Thanks for reading, Clint.
