The Big Deer
by Dennis Church, Utah
Although there was a constant drizzle of rain I took off my hiking boots and proceeded down the mountain on my belly, long since running out of cover. My
wife and I spotted the huge Mulies several hours before and I had been working on getting a shot for some 3 or 4 hours. I proceeded down the mountain with a
constant thumping in my chest. My wife had stayed up the hill to view my progress and to give me direction as I looked back at her. One person is a lot more
likely to sneak up on Mule Deer than two. She also had a very good view of them. There were three of them, some of the biggest bucks I had ever seen. I got
to a point on the side of the hill where a large quakie had fallen over. It was old and had no more bark on it. My dilemma was whether I could get over the
large tree without alerting the bucks. I looked to both sides of the huge tree and could see no possible way of going around it without being extremely
noisy. I took the risk of raising my head so as to see over the tree to locate the deer and see if they were still in the same position. Ever so slowly and
ever so quietly I raised my head.
It all started when I was a boy of about 9 or 10. I had a Ben Pearson recurve bow with about a 15 lb. pull weight. When we could get enough money together we
(my friends and I) would go to the store and buy some arrows. Behind the grocery store they had a large dumpster which the cats from all over the town would
forage. If you were lucky you could get about 10 yards or so from them and it would give you a good shot. I don’t think the cats worried too much about us as
we were not that good; however it gave me my first thrills of hunting with a bow.
After moving back to Utah in 1972 from being gone about 2 years working construction, my step brother Terry and I decided that hunting with a bow would be
great fun and would give us a chance to be in the mountains and scout for the big ones. Little did I know that I would soon give up my rifle and just bow
hunt.
Terry and I and of course our wives spent many a day in the mountains looking and scouting for the big bucks. We had hunted in a canyon above our town for
about 3 or 4 years and always had seen good bucks. We had taken several with our rifles but nothing to equal the deer that I had now come across.
Terry and his wife were several hundred yards down the canyon and my wife and I were making our way down to them. Looking through the trees we could see
movement below us. It was about 300 yards away but it was without question antlers that we saw. It looked like they were just feeding or standing there. As
we checked our binoculars we could tell that they were big, very big and I couldn’t help but get buck fever right there. We could also see that they were
lying down and not standing as we previously thought. Taking our time and choosing our route and footing as best as possible we made our way down through the
quaky trees towards them. About 100 yards away we ran out of cover and couldn’t decide how to proceed.
I slowly raised my head above the tree and could see that they were still there, three monster mulies! The kind you always dream of seeing. I could only see
antlers moving in all directions. I couldn’t see there bodies or could I tell which way they were laying. I couldn’t even see there heads just this mass of
antlers moving about.
The rain had let up but it hadn’t rained enough to stop the crunch of the huge elephant leaves (that’s what we call them anyway). When they get dried out
they are the noisiest things ever and the big bucks knew it, that’s why they were where they were. Another thing was there were no other deer around them
just these three huge bucks. I could just see me getting one of those big deer and every time I thought about I got a little more excited. You have to
realize that this was before the compound bow era. My bow was a beautifully made Shakespeare 60 lb. recurve. I had a quiver of 6 arrows attached to it. We
had targets out back and shot often. I was proficient at about 30 yards and not much more than that. I looked again and it looked like I was about 70 yards
away with what looked like no way to get down to them. I looked back at my wife several times and could tell that she was as excited as I was. Still, what to
do? I made my best snake move over the tree and down into the grass and elephant leaves. At that moment one of the bucks stood up and started looking around
nervously. My bow was about 4.5 feet long and it was impossible to draw it back lying on my belly like I was. Another of the big deer stood. They were
getting real nervous and I could see that my chances were slim to none that I could get a shot. The other buck was starting to get up when I got to my knee
and raised my bow. The first buck shot a stare my way and I let the arrow go. Even though I was along way away my arrow was just right at his rib cage.
Unfortunately I shot over him about 2 inches. I heard my arrow hit the tree behind the deer as they immediately hit 100 miles an hour down the canyon towards
where Terry and his wife would be.
I couldn’t seem to get my breath I was so excited to come that close to three of the biggest bucks I had ever seen and yet I was so disappointed that I
couldn’t have made a better shot on them.
My wife was coming down the mountain towards me fast she had my boots in one hand and hanging on to trees with the other. She was excited too, but also
disappointed.
I got out my Dad’s old Buck knife and dug out my arrow and broadhead from the tree as fast as I could. We then ran down the mountain in the direction where
the deer had gone.
When the big bucks took off I could hear more than just them running through the quakies. It sounded as though they were picking up deer along the way as
they were going. It took about 40 minutes to get where Terry was at. By the look on his face and also that of his wife I could tell there was a story to be
told.
I recounted my super sneak and of my unfortunate miss and then waited to hear his tale. He said, “I was asleep when my wife shook me and said Terry I think
something is coming. With the sleep still in my eyes and head, I looked up to see Bucks running single file in front us. I grabbed an arrow and went to nock
it but the broadhead cut my string in half. I reached into my pocket and retrieved my extra string and restrung my bow. I then nocked another arrow and got a
shot at the last buck going past us. That’s how many deer ran by us. I didn’t see one buck that was under a 4 point. Then I heard sounds behind us, turned
and looked up to see three of the biggest deer you ever saw in all of your life. We were sick. It was so exciting and yet so disappointing. But it was
hunting.”
The next day Terry went down the mountain again and I went back to the area I had first seen the big bucks, to my complete amazement the same three Huge
Bucks were still in that area. I watched them closely for a long time and decided that I would keep an eye out for them and come back on the rifle hunt for
them.
At camp that night I told Terry that I was going to get one of them on the rifle hunt. He gave me that (sure you are) look and said as much.
October came and it was time for the rifle deer hunt. I had been telling my brother-in-law Nate about the huge bucks I had seen and shot at on the bow hunt.
He agreed to come up the mountain with me and bring his horses. So we set out early in the morning before the sun was up, Nate, his wife Jan, Jay their son,
Rhonda my wife and I. Nate took Jay and rode their horses over to the ridge to the west of the canyon where I had first seen the deer. I sent Rhonda and Jan
down the ridge where I had seen them. Rhonda knew where they had been and I told them to get where they could see the area for a good shot. I proceeded to go
down through the canyon.
I have been hunting with a rifle forever, I loaded my own bullets and often would go rabbit hunting with it to get more proficient using my scope. My wife
and I have the same gun, a pair of Winchester Model 70, 30-06. I load it with 51 grains of 4895 powder and they shoot 3,000 feet per second. I was pretty
confident with my rifle.
The sun was up and I heard a shot on the other side of the ridge where Nate and Jay had gone. I hoped they had gotten a shot. Just seconds after that I heard
crashing coming over the ridge towards me. I brought my gun up and looked through the scope. Through the trees I could make out two deer running like there
was no tomorrow and for one of them there wasn’t. They went down a ravine and one of them came out, it was the smaller of the two. Just seeing them briefly I
could tell the one in the lead was one of the huge bucks I had seen on the bow hunt. But, where was he now? The smaller one came out but not the big one. The
smaller one had 5 on one side and 6 on the other. I heard a noise up and to the left of me, there running through the trees was the big mulie. I grabbed a
small tree and put my rifle over my wrist for a dead rest, I fired. I knew from the sound and from the deer that it was a clean miss. I picked out an opening
where I thought he would come out. He did, as soon as his nose appeared in my scope I fired. I was sure he would drop. He didn’t, in fact it looked like he
was going faster. I took another hurried shot as he was going over the other ridge away from me and Nate. I knew that one was a miss. I grabbed my stuff and
ran as fast as I could for the top of the ridge. I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest. Nothing, I could see nothing. I couldn’t believe it. I
continued to scan the ridge and saw what looked like a bird on one of the large elephant leaves. I went towards it. It wasn’t a bird but the ear of a huge
buck, down.
My first shot had gone through his ear. When I took my time and picked the clearing I made the shot that went right through his heart. He was dead but was
still running and in fact ran about 150 yards. I couldn’t have been more thrilled at any hunting experience so far. It was perfect.
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