Reader-Submitted Story
The Seven-Year Itch and the River Buck!
by Manak Dhillon
I waited seven years to get drawn for a southern Alberta mule deer with my buddy Rick, who also got drawn for one for the 2023 season. We had hunted elk in this zone six years ago and the mule deer population at the time was very healthy. We felt confident in waiting for our turn for a good mulie hunt.
We had help from a local friend who has lived in the area for decades and hosted us on the hunt. Hunting is only allowed from Wednesday to Saturday in this zone—I like this strategy as it gives the deer and landowners a break. The weather was unseasonably warm so we decided to go in the third week of November, as the rut is usually in full swing during this time. Southern Alberta has its own beauty with rolling hills and coulees mixed in with a vast flat expanse of land with the majestic Rockies in the background, splitting the boundary between Alberta and Montana.
The first morning was promising as we saw several bucks and does in the area we wanted to be—it was easy to see several miles from a high spot with my spotting scope. Very different from the boreal forest landscape I’m used to hunting for whitetails where you have to be strategic in your location if you want to see any distance. After the first hour of looking, I spotted a buck chasing a hot doe about two miles away across a river. He looked heavy and wide; however, he was too far away to judge accurately.
As we watched, he inched closer to the river following the doe before he hung up across the river where we did not have permission to hunt. He was about 800 yards away and we had a good look at him. On the advice of our local friend, we decided I would make a stalk on him if he dropped down to the river and crossed over to the side we had permission to hunt on.
What seemed like an eternity, the doe finally dropped down and crossed over to our side. The buck followed her but got hung up behind some high ground and was out of sight. Rick and I made our way to the edge of the river to get closer. The last 100 yards we had to crawl, as there were a few whitetails across the river who could spot us and we did not want them to spook the mulie doe with her suitor in tow!
We finally made it to the edge of the river bank undetected and saw the buck milling around the bottom with the doe, as he emerged from behind some thick brush. Rick ranged him at 400 yards and I was confident of the shot if he turned broadside and waited. But every time he turned broadside he was behind some bushes and I didn’t have a clear shot, almost taunting us! Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the doe started making her way up the river bottom. The buck followed her but suddenly he started trotting along. I didn’t feel comfortable taking the shot in a light crosswind at 400 yards at a running deer, so I held off just to watch him disappear behind a small draw after the doe. I was so close to taking the shot!
We did not see them come out of the little draw and figured they were bedded down. The whitetails had gone in the same draw a little while earlier. We waited for another 30 minutes and figured they had to be bedded for the afternoon. The vast flat landscape beyond the river valley did help us make this deduction, as we could see everything that would have walked out of that draw.
We decided to drop down to the river bottom and go to the draw where they had disappeared. I knew the chances of us walking right on top of them and spooking the buck were high, but I thought I could make a quick shot across the flat landscape if I had to. We inched closer to the little draw they were bedded down in, slowly peeked over, and saw two whitetail does bedded down who saw me. The next few moments happened quickly.
The three whitetail does ran up the draw followed by the mule doe and a second later, the buck got up almost beneath our feet and followed the doe. I raised my rifle and at about 40 yards, I squeezed the trigger and missed in the excitement! I quickly loaded again. Now he was turned broadside and running. At about 100 yards I squeezed off a second shot that got him a little further back than I wanted. Not a clean shot, as he suddenly broke away from the doe, headed straight down the river bank and out of sight. We followed behind until I saw him bedded down in the river bed; I finished him with the last round I had in my magazine. Now the work started as we had to pack him out of the river valley. Rick played the senior card and I had to pack him out with the help of my buddy’s grandson, who is a 13-year-old young football player. The pack out was fun and exhausting, however the adrenaline and a cold beer after reaching home helped!
Over the next few days we saw several more bucks but nothing was mature enough for Rick who wanted to take an old mature deer. The area was rich with Hungarian partridges and we had taken our 16 gauge side-by-side shot-guns and we limited out on Hungarians every day—it was a blast and a welcome distraction to constant glassing for deer!
Rick connected with a decent mulie on the last hour of our four-day hunt with his custom 338-06 rifle, which made a clean kill instantly. We both had a great time and with the temperature in the low teens every day, it was a bonus for us but made the deer movement slow. However, you have to take what the land offers and we were certainly more than thankful.
For the previous Reader Story, click here.
