I've been trying to get down to SE Colorado to hunt deer for several weeks and finally took off last Saturday. I've been busy trying to finish a couple of C4 conversion frames in the shop that were supposed to be picked up weeks ago, but they're still sit there. This week was my last chance before the second rifle deer season starts this Friday, so I figured I'd better get a few days hunting in or my license will go unused.

It was unseasonably warm and dry but I saw a few whitetails and mule deer the first couple of days, and passed on a 3x3 mule deer buck at 25 yards that walked by me at less than 10 yards as I hid in some brush. I decided I wanted to shoot either a doe or a nice big buck, but not a small buck. I preferred a whitetail because I think their meat is better tasting, but the eastern mule deer aren't as gamey as the ones from the foothills of Colorado. And I like to let the small bucks and bulls grow up.

On Tuesday afternoon I headed down a creek bottom and ran into that 3x3 mule deer again. I went up on some rimrock and down another canyon starting to head back to camp, and saw this nice buck coming up the hill. I hid behind a bush but the wind wasn't right. He was going to walk right through my scent trail and I feared he would spook and run off. I thought about getting downwind of where I thought he would cross my path, but I didn't have time. He was coming right at me. As he approached the bush I was behind, I came to full draw with the intent of stopping him broadside for a shot. However, at around 10-15 yards from me he stopped and looked across the canyon. Since I was already at full draw it was either let down and blow my chance, or shoot. I shot, hitting him behind the left shoulder angling back toward the right side. He took off down the canyon at full speed and since it was about sunset I decided I had better wait til morning to try to recover him.

I got up before daylight the next morning and it was 24 degrees. I needed to make a short ride on my ATV to get back to the canyon to look for the deer, so I waited until sunrise to head out and I dressed real warm. I got to the bottom of the canyon and started heading up to where I shot him. I didn't go far and found gobs of blood....then my arrow covered in blood. I figured he couldn't have gone too far from there.

I bloodtrailed him to a fenceline and searched all over trying to figure out if he crossed it or ran along it. Once I found blood on the fence I knew he jumped over it. So I started searching the brush and cedars for him and after an hour or so I found him laying literally 5 yards off the road I rode in on. I was distracted by some cattle in the road when I went in so I didn't see him then.

To my dismay, the coyotes had gotten to him sometime in the night and basically ripped his entire left side out. Luckily they didn't get much meat, just the innards. There were tons of coyotes yipping every morning and evening out there and I knew that was a risk leaving him overnight.


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