Amber’s Corner – The Adventure

My passion for the outdoors isn’t just a passion, for me hunting and being in the outdoors is my life. From the time that I was just a baby my parents and grandparents continuously had my brother any myself outside hunting, fishing or just enjoying nature. I am lucky enough to live in an area that is abundant in different species of big game animals, so sometimes hunts overlap.

One of my most memorable days hunting has to be the day I harvested my first archery mule deer this past fall. The entire day was filled with adrenaline, hope and disappointment. I started off my day going for an early morning elk hunt only a few minutes away from my house. I set up a paper-thin cow elk decoy in a canola field and was cow calling for about an hour. The entire time I was calling I could hear elk bugling in the forest in front of me. Since I was hunting alone my strategy was to sit in the canola until a curious elk came in close enough for a shot. The wind was in the right direction, my decoy was set up and I was crouched down with an arrow ready. Then my decoy fell! I stood up to set it back up when I heard footsteps. I looked up and 80 yards away a bull elk came over a hill. I could see his breath in the cool fall air and all I could do was try to cow call enough for him to come 20 yards closer. It didn’t work; all we did was stare at each other until he walked back over the hill. This part of my day was filled with pure adrenaline and disappointment. My main goal this archery season was to harvest an elk. I could write on and on about my frustrations with elk this year because like all archery hunters know, you can be so close but so far at the same time.

After the disappointing morning elk hunt I decided to get some breakfast and go for a mid morning mule deer hunt. My fiancé and I had been scouting mule deer all summer so I had a good idea where I could find them bedded down. I decided that my best strategy would be to sit on top of a hill and try glassing in the sloughs below me to see if I could see anything bedded down. Eventually I saw what I was looking for; I saw a horn sticking up from under a bush and at that moment I decided that I was going after this mule deer. I knew I would have to crawl, so I dropped my pack and left everything but my bow, arrows and range finder on the bottom of the hill. Most of the slough was surrounded by small bushes so I knew it would be tricky to get through them undetected. So I crawled and I crawled and I crawled some more until I was in the middle of the slough. Luckily the grass was tall enough to keep me concealed and the slough bottom was only damp. While I was sneaking into the slough there was a buck scrapping his horns against a tree and a doe grazing. The doe busted me and snorted at me while she ran away. At that point I thought it was all over but the bucks didn’t follow her. When I got within 40 yards of the bedded down deer I crouched down and I waited in this uncomfortable position for almost 2 hours. Slowly deer started to get up to stretch their legs and walk around. Eventually the buck I saw from the top of the hill stood up and decided it was time to move. The other deer followed and there it was, my only opportunity to take a shot. I had a few seconds to decide which one I wanted to shoot before they would be out of range. I had my sights on him and let my arrow fly. I hit him right where I was aiming! I have shot many animals with a rifle but this was the first time I shot at an animal with a bow and arrow and wow was it an amazing feeling. I was filled with so many emotions when I found my bloody arrow that the only thing I could do was call my dad and my fiancé. My dad and my uncle came to help me track the animal and after hours of tracking my dad stumbled upon him lying dead in a bed of grass.
This day was unforgettable in so many ways but with each hunt whether successful in harvesting an animal or not there is always something to learn and improve on.