Final trip out West for the year: ND Mule Deer

[nofishfisherman]

Don't let the lack of posts fool you. Plenty of us eagerly await each days new addition to the story.

Seeing the photos and reading the story makes me think I need to start rekindling my relationships with my family in Western ND. I haven't been out to visit them in at least 15 years. Might be time for a visit soon . I know a lot of them are still holding on to a good amount of land out there.

[Wes Ellis]

all ways like your trips. And you tell it like it is! Thank You! and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

[pumper317]

Scoot, I don't know if you want me to tell you every time that I can't wait to keep reading. I love the stories, and you make me feel like I am right with you. I appreciate all the time you put in, and hope to have a story like this to share on here.

Merry Christmas to you and your family. Keep the stories coming, and tag punch or not, you are a great story teller!

[Scoot]

Thanks for the kind words, fellas- I appreciate it. I wasn't trying to beg for compliments, just wondering why all the silence.

I don't mean for this last post to sound like a whine fest, but there are some changes in Western ND and specifically the area that we hunt that I wanted to point out. I don't mean it to be discouraging for anyone thinking about hunting in ND, but in truth I believe it will be. That applies to me too- I'm very discouraged about not only the hunting out there, but just about everything out there other than oil and money production.

Two great things about hunting in ND are that there's a ton of public land in Western ND and that unposted land is open to hunt. This provides an incredible opportunity in the area we hunt- there's plenty of public land and much of the private land has been unposted. However, this year we saw lots and lots of this:

Several places we have hunted in the past were sold off to oil companies and posted and several more were simply posted because people didn't want any of the "riff raff" going on their land. From everything I've seen and heard out there, I don't blame them.

I was really saddened to see this smack dab over the top of my favorite place to hunt out there.

The area shown in the pic was just the part of the oil pad that had all the tanks. Besides this area, which was about three acres, there was a huge rig on a seperate four acre (or so) spot (below).

In addition to that, there was a "parking lot" area too. Finally, new roads had popped up going every direction from this huge mess. In total, it completely ruined the area- it looks like one huge garbage dump with an enormous pile of metal stretching high into the sky in the middle of it.

The place the huge rig was located was smack dab on top of the spot I was sitting on my first morning ever out in that country. I saw 13 bucks in a bacholer group- little forkhorn in back and progressively bigger and bigger to the front. The front two bucks were incredible- the first was a 190+ typical, the second a non-typical that I think would have cracked 200", and the next three or four were really nice too. Now, it's a parking lot and dump ground for an oil company that doesn't care one bit about mule deer.

Here's Slevy's favorite spot out there- he's had so many great adventures in this little spot it's remarkable. It's a nondescript little spot that doesn't look like much at all, but when you get in there it's filled with little pockets and openings that just flat out hold deer. At least they did before all of the oil-related traffic and chaos moved in on top of them.

Here's another spot where my buddy Mike missed his first shot at a really nice and high 5x5 muley. We got it all on film and it was quite a memory.

The light from these flames that are burning off gas are unbelievable at night. They let you see your shadow from a mile away. They are another example of the constant and depressing reminder of how this beautiful place is being raped and having its character and beauty wrecked. Here's a shot of them during the day.

A couple shots of them at night. The heat from them could be felt from over 100 yards away! The noise from them is also a constant and sad reminder of what is happening out there. From a couple miles away I can hear the constant "torch burning" sound from these things.

That's not to mention the constant noise from all of the trucks. Not only are they always blowing by on the main highways, they're also constantly running on the gravel roads. To make matters worse, the maze of roads that have popped up to accomadate the oil trucks is incredible. There were already too many roads out there IMO and now they're all inter-connected and what used to be small dirt two tracks have now become huge gravel roads that cut right through more and more prime muley habitat all the time. It's so dang frustrating and really just sad.

Just in case anyone is not clear on where I stand on this- I'm about the farthest thing from a tree hugging liberal that one can be. I'm also in favor of the oil work that is happening in the state and I'm glad ND is seeing the financial boon that has resulted from it. That being said, it's so depressing to see all of this beautiful land being pilaged and such wonderful country looking like big business's dump ground that it's simply become depressing to go out there. Sorry if this sounds melodramatic, but man, it's a really sad, sad thing that is happening out there.

Mule deer are not like whitetails. Whitetails are highly adaptable and find a way to come back from change one way or another. They reproduce like wildfire (compared to muleys) and make just about any type of habitat their home- city, trees, rolling hills, crp, river bottom, mountains, etc. Muleys are different. Not only do they not adapt to different habitats well at all, but they don't tolerate intrusion. The chaos of the oil work is bad news for muleys. Sadly, I believe the "good ol' days" of muley hunting in ND are gone. I have no doubt some will disagree with this, but you'll be hard pressed to convince me otherwise.

So, that's my final and relatively depressing end to my story. I didn't get a shot, I likely won't get another tag out there again for a while, and the place I fell in love with in the late '90's has been turned into a huge money making dump ground for big oil companies. Sad, really sad.

[DonBo]

That is kind of a depressing note to finish up with. Sadly it's not just your area in ND that's being lost to "progress".

There's still plenty of good public land in the west, ND included. Hope the future still holds some bright spots for you and yours, and you keep including us on those trips.

[Stcloudangler]

Scoot, I feel your pain. I never got to see the good ol' days, and like is said, "you cant miss what you never knew"... I am strangely comforted by that. The dakotas used to be the last frontier in this country, and we as Minnesotans are lucky enough to be just a long drive from it. I have never been muley hunting but love your pictures and the story with it. Makes me want to try to give it a go before it gets worse. South Dakota is my love and while it is a different problem, the hunting opportunities are diminishing at the same rate.

One of these days I will win the lottery and buy a huge chunk of land before the money moguls can get their hands on it....

[Musky Buck]

Well done Scoot, great read, very factual, excellent pictures, great story and who can argue what is happening in that oil area, so true about the differences in whitetails and muleys or every state would have muleys as they do whitetails. Thinking time will tell more stories from that oil patch area and lots of those stories likely won't have great endings. Thanks for the reports Scoot.

[pumper317]

It definitely is a sad turn for nature, and the beautiful landscape that is North Dakota. At the same time, a lot of those people out there are making lots of money for their families and the state as a whole is prospering.

Unfortunately in order for humans to grow in success we have to take away from the land around us, i.e. building, businesses. We wreck beautiful landscapes as a whole every day. It's a sad reality, and even worse to see your favorite places go to that point. One of my favorite places is North of Rugby ND. I have been there every year since I was 11, and love it! A couple years ago, windmills came in, and now you see them everywhere you drive. It isn't oil rigs, but it makes the ambiance out there different.

Unfortunately, it is the way of the world. I hope some day it stops, or at least slows down. Great story Scoot! Sorry your place isn't what it used to be. It did help you get close to that buck though;-)

And that's all folks.

[Powerstroke]

Scoot, thanks again for bringing me along on a western hunting adventure. I'm one of the readers who's stopped commenting every time you leave me hanging. The good news is I always know there is more to the story.

Heading west is a huge dream of mine and I think I'm finally ready to pull the pin on a hunt like that. Even seeing the change out there, I know the hunting will still be good. However, certain things will have to live in your memory. I think of some of the woodlots here in MN being claimed by clear cutting and papermilling.

Welcome back to MN. I'll be picking your brain for sure regarding some backpacking western hunts.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Just came across this today. Another great read Scoot. Thanks for letting us tag along.

[engfish]

Scoot, don't misinterpret silence as indifference. We're reading and living it vicariously, and we know there are no words that can take away "the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat." It's just a lot easier to say "Congratulations on the deer of a lifetime!" instead of "dam, you didn't get one?!?"

Hunting is such a personal thing, and it means something different for all of us. But the stories and retelling of the stories is one of the threads that holds us all together. Those of us truly understand what those experiences mean--to spend time with our loved ones in a place that lets us be together and alone at the same time.

I was listening to MPR yesterday on my drive back from South Dakota--my retreat into the wild--and they were doing a piece on "bliss." So many people had trouble describing "bliss." You can bet that most of them had never been alone in the wild.

I've told you before--you should be writing for a major publication. You're readable, you're believable, and you're human. It doesn't hurt, too, that you can take pictures and write well. The year-end story about the plight of western North Dakota is as honest as it gets. The pictures and the experiences you had while hunting tell the story you won't hear from the oil companies or from many of those who have migrated to western ND to make a living.

But then again, I'm not complaining that gas is right around $3.00/gallon, and I couldn't imagine going hunting or ice fishing without my truck...life's full of ironies.

The year-end story about the hunt with the kids was as good as it gets--for all of us.

Keep on writing.

Happy New Year and best wishes for your new life in Minnesota.

[Scoot]

Thanks engfish! I appreciate your kind words and compliments very much. I hope the holidays treated you well and I wish you a Happy New Year too!

[charliepete]

Good read as usual. Whether there is a grip and grin photo or not I am always interested.

[frogtosser]

Scoot you do tell a good story, if you need an extra body to take some good action shots I have a new 70d that needs to be broken in, not to mention my new bow too, lol.

[Scoot]

Thanks frogtosser- I appreciate that. You don't know how appealing that offer is to me! I occasionally get my buddies to take a few pictures, but not many. It's not that I have a burning desire to be in a ton of pictures in the stories I tell, but a few would be nice...

[frogtosser]

I'd love to document your hunting adventure even if I left the bow at home. It looks like a blast just to be there, I got some nice close photos of some mule deer in the badlands this fall when I was just visiting. My camera also has video if that temps you more. I have 3 different lenses that should be able to cover the ranges u would be at. Just keep me in mind for next year.

[Scoot]

Thank you frogtosser- I really appreciate it! It won't work for our big trip to WY next year, but maybe there's a shot at something more local. I've got a trip in mind for next Fall that is a bit more local, but I'll have to pull the tag and we'll see if that happens. I'll keep you in mind. Thanks very much for the offer!

[Wanderer]

Scoot,

You're hunt recaps are appreciated more than you realize. Thanks for keeping up with them. I don't comment even on a 1:1 ratio of visits to the site - usually I hardly have enough time to read and catch up with new and interesting posts.

Thanks for new and interesting posts!!

[Scoot]

Thanks Wanderer- I really appreciate it.

[DonBo]

Thanks frogtosser- I appreciate that. You don't know how appealing that offer is to me! I occasionally get my buddies to take a few pictures, but not many. It's not that I have a burning desire to be in a ton of pictures in the stories I tell, but a few would be nice...

I hear that. I often hunt alone, and that is hard enough, but NONE of the people I hunt with carry cameras or have any desire to use mine.

I was fortunate enough that archerysniper was along when I shot my antelope this fall. He took the great shot I'm using for my avitar.