Trails Across the Prairies

The Goings On

So earlier, and I mean about a 1/2 hour before sunrise when I arrived at the trailhead with my truck, I met two bowhunters getting ready to head down to the river bottoms of the valley, where they planned on hunting Mule deer does that they both had bow hunting permits and tags for.

After a conversation while they geared up, and they had all the trappings of a well equipped bowhunter, the best camo everything including their compound bows that were also wearing a camo finish, they headed on out with the headlamps mounted on their heads creating light patterns that bobbed up and down as they moved through the darkness.

I had told them that I would be heading out with my bow also, but that I would be keeping to the upper reaches of the valley edges, and that I wasn't bowhunting deer, but would maybe hurry along a partridge or two if I found any hanging out in the grasslands overlooking the valley bordering the Bow.

With decent light I left my truck about a 1/2 hour after the two bowhunters had headed out, and as I worked my way along the edge of the valley, I kept an eye out for my two new found friends. Well it wasn't long before I see a Mule deer doe come bounding out of a coulee leading in to farm fields bordering the valley. I'm thinking to myself....."I wonder what spooked her".....and I then sat down and glassed the lower part of the hillsides lower down from my location, and soon spotted one of the bowhunters about a 1/2 kilometer away from my location.
It was easy to figure out that he was responsible for spooking the mule deer that I had seen, probably in his over zealous approach on the mule deer.

I continue on my way, and about another hour goes by, and I'm once more working the ridges when I spot 5 mule deer does about a 1/4 kilometer away and coming my way, although they are quite a bit lower than where I'm located.
Again they look like they are hurrying along, not taking the time to browse on grasses and what not while foraging for their breakfast as they normally would be doing this early in the morning.
I plop myself down and glass the coulees behind them, and once more I see one of my two bowhunter friends playing catch up.....LOL!

I break out a snack while being entertained just like at the movies, and watch the show.
Funny thing was that the deer were not aware of myself, and as they came my way, they dropped down closer to the river behind a low lying ridge that hid them from me, and every once in a while I would spot them as they pushed further east in the valley bottom.

While glassing the area ahead of the deer, I realized that if I was hunting, I could have made an approach to a point where the deer would put in an appearance, the perfect place to set up and wait for the deer, and at most they would have been maybe 20 yards away when they appeared.
Of course it wasn't going to happen, as I was happy to just be a spectator to the goings on below me while I laid back on the side of the hill, enjoying the warmth of the sun while kicking back enjoying the show.

Oh...... the bowhunter was last seen taking one last look at the deer, before heading back the way he had come.
I must say that I enjoyed the entertainment while out and about on this morning, and a beautiful December morning it was with the Rockies shimmering in their winter coats off in the distance.

Expand the photo for a closer look......

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