Day Three – Perfect Birthday

At the start of the dream hunt for Jake my only request for the week was I be allowed to hunt antelope on wednesday which was my birthday. For years now I’ve been lucky to get to spend it here in beautiful Glenrock wy with friends who I now consider family. Many years ago I ventured out here with two buddies Bill Millican and Brad Bryant for my first ever national bow hunt. Little did I know I’d get my first ever mulie which was a big 3×3 along with winning the bow hunt. The best part was my now good friend Dan was my guide. In the years that have followed I’ve participated in several of the bow hunts. Dan and I both missed one year when we went with bill brad and matt to canada chasing caribou. Roland and I missed last year when we went to idaho to hunt with brady and dan for elk mule deer and bear. We’ve gone from my first stay at the all american inn to taking over dans parents basement. Hence grandma and grandpa. Its come to be something I look forward to each and every year as I’ve come to love it out west. One day hoping to find a place and retire enjoying my pursuits of hunting and fishing.

So after the first two days with Jake sitting in hopes of bagging him a speedy goat we sent him out with Dan and Brady for mulies. Matt, Todd, and I would enjoy the luxury of sleeping in. Matt had filled his antelope buck tag after chasing them here for the last three years. That was his number one goal and he did so with a real beautiful trophy buck using a new prototype broadhead. It sure packed a punch on that goat.

So todd matt and I take our time getting up. I had to get my license still so the three of us opt to head to town for breakfast. Boy was it good. Todd and I each had a belly buster breakfast burrito. Matt had the school girl eggs and bacon trying to keep a close eye on his girlish figure. So we enjoyed a few good laughs over several cups of coffee. We headed over to the ace hardware and I got my licenses. I got a buck and doe tag. Having chased these sharp eyed buggers for so many years with no luck I was going to take a crack at the first one I saw.

We got back to the ranch and goofed off a bit. I finally got my stuff together and got ready to head out. When we got back to the house we noticed a buck and several does bedded behind the house. Todd decided to test his stalking skills. As I sat in the truck I glassed the goats and then the ditch that todd was working his way through. As hard as he was trying he was soon to get jakes speed goat 101 training. They had him pegged so bad it wasn’t funny. I hit the gas a few times in an effort to distract them. It lasted 15 seconds at best before they focused back on todd. After a good laugh I headed out. I called carrie real quick on the way. Since were two hours behind and jake and I have been putting in such long days we’ve been playing phone tag with each other. So she wished me happy birthday and shortly I pulled into the walk in hunting area. I told her I’d call to let her know how I made out tonight.

So I grabbed my bowtech bow my chair and my pack and headed across the field. There were several antelope feeding in the fields as I crossed. They moved to the other end and kept a close watch on me. As I skirted the edge of the pond I could see a buck bedded on the sand at the edge of the pond. I cautiously snuck my way through the tall grass and olive trees. As I neared the buck I peered through the trees to see him staring right at me. I chuckled to myself as the sharp eyed devil bolted. Along the way he picked up a girlfriend who happened to be feeding near the hay bales. They ran out into the field.

I made it to the small brush blind matt was in the midst of constructing the day before when they came to water and he got his buck. After sitting near this spot for four days he assured me if I sat there long enough I’d get one. So I settled into the bushes and got my stuff situated. It was about 10 am local time and I figured I’d check some emails texts and facebook posts from friends wishing me happy birthday. I was chuckling and amusing myself reading. You realize what true friends and family you have with the well wishes you get on your birthday.

So I’m reading and responding periodically looking out at the field for signs of life. I was reading and responding to a post when I happened to strain my eyes up and see movement. I slowly raised my head and here he comes. The buck is cautiously coming in. I quickly tuck my phone in my pocket. He’s at the top of the berm by the pond that I’d ranged earlier at 50 yds. I reach for my bow and he stops. He looks my way. I freeze. He turns around and looks out across the field. He steps down from the berm and is walking closer through the grass to the waters edge. As he lowers his head for a drink I come to full draw. I aim for just above the shoulder using my 30 yd mark on my impact archery full draw sight. I release the atom tipped arrow and it finds its mark in the bucks shoulder. He turns and runs through an olive bush full speed. As he clears the other side he runs into another olive bush. Silence.

I am grinning from ear to ear. I haven’t even been sitting two hours. I’d had a laid back relaxing morning. I called matt and said happy birthday to me. He laughs out loud screaming no way. He informs me I now owed him a guide fee and that he and todd were on the way. I settled back into my blind and called carrie to tell her the news. She too is excited knowing this was all I wanted to do for my birthday. I see todd and matt pull up through my binos. It felt like it took them forever to get to the blind. As they approached up jumped up from the blind pumping my fists. After an exchange of high fives and hugs we walk to the bush where wed find my arrow. As we walked to the second bush I expected to find him in there todd shouts there’s a buck. There he lay in the hay field. After some celebratory photos and field dressing we began the long drag back to the truck. On the way I returned a call to my mom who called in the midst of the festivities. She too congratulated me. We loaded him up and took him to town to the meat processor.

We headed back to the ranch to chill out for a bit. Shortly wed have to go meet jake and the crew as he was scheduled to be on air with the boys on backwoods radio. We left early to ensure we were on time. We arrived at dans truck but they weren’t off the mountain yet. We waited a bit for them to get back but when we realized we had no signal we had to find a spot where wed have service. Talk about a chore. When we found service then we couldn’t find the number. After a frenzied panic we were on the air cutting up with the boys about the week so far. We wrapped up the heckling I mean the show and headed back. Jake and mom looked like dan and roland must have made them do some hiking. I think the smile on jakes face told a different story.

So we head back to the ranch. Todd and dan stayed to bear hunt. Dan has an absolute monster coming in. We all enjoyed a birthday dinner of lasagna and grandmas famous german chocolate cake. I gave Jake some homework and told him he had to give his account for the day. He says.

 

From the field log of Jake Meyer:

Today we woke up at 4:30, to get ready to go mule deer hunting. We started hunting at about 6:30, and saw mule deer right when we got there. We then started glassing for them, and spotted a group of six nice bucks. We decided to walk up the mountain to see if we could find them. We spotted the group walking along some rocks. Then we snuck up to the rocks where we saw them and climbed up on them to see if we could find them. When we were up there we could not find them, we figured they must have bedded down someplace or gone into the woods. As we were glassing to see if we could spot them, we saw one of the bucks that were originally with the group, bedded down. One of my guides and I snuck up behind the buck, but when we were getting close to him he heard us and stood up. He started to stare at us and we couldn’t get a shot because there was a boulder in the way. He ran off a little, and we began to walk in the direction he ran off in.  We spotted him about 50 yards away and he saw us and got very nervous.We could not get a shot at him and he ran off. We then decided to head back to the truck and eat lunch. After lunch we rode four-wheelers to another spot and we all took naps. We then started to glass for deer again, and spotted a couple does. Another one of the guides and I walked around and saw a couple deer, but no bucks. It was then time to go and we rode the four-wheelers back to the truck.