get check to see if the bucks were even out in the crop. He called back and I was pleasantly suprised to here that they were feeding in the lush alfalfa on the east side of the field. I was thinking to myself, “We have a real chance to see them go to bed.” As I approached home I also passed by the field and soon realized that me sleeping in caused us a chance at putting one of these big mulies to rest. The bucks were right at the tree line and soon disappeared down the pipeline they travelled daily back to bed on the hot days of summer. Despite the tough start, we were not going to give up. The weather September 1st was hot and calm and I figured the bucks had bedded in the bush to stay cool and grab a drink of water in the nearby beaver pond. Cole and I took a quick tour around the backside of the bush in the early morning to see if the bucks had went to feed in the back field that had a lush undergrowth of clover, but once again the bucks had eluded us. After a few minutes, the banter I was getting about sleeping in really kicked into high gear. Admittedly, this was not the first time this year that I had slept in when I had made
plans for a hunting trip. Our first trip to set cams and scout in Saskatchewan began with me arriving two hours late to Cole’s house, and the second time we went my brother in-law Darren had to wake me up, so sleeping in wasn’t something new. We spent some time scouting to see if anything was still up and about and then did a few walks along a nearby river valley but never spotted any bucks. We did however jump a few does and fawns, and Cole was able to take his first duck with a bow. As I planned for the afternoon hunt, Cole had to leave to take his wife Dianne on her first bow hunt for a whitetail, so I had to hunt solo in the evening. I knew where to be as I had patterned these mulies for the past five years in this area, and have been fortunate to kill three bucks on the same field. As the clock struck 4:00 it was time to go, I grabbed my gear and was out the door and down the road. I made the long, mile walk in and got settled in for the evening’s events to unveil. I was sitting on the east edge of the field 25 yards off the opening of the mulie highway. This is the pipeline that these deer travelled routinely on their way back out to feed. Shortly after 5pm I had action; a young 3x3 had jumped the fence, and nervously made his way out to feed, steadily glancing at me. As soon as I had the opportunity, I reached for my bow, getting prepared for the rest of the bucks to be following, since that’s what bachelors do, I thought to myself. For some reason though the three point bristled up and started doing a strut back to the tree line as he saw something he did not like. I thought to myself, “The whole hunt is going to be a bust now!” Two hours had passed and it was now 7pm. AS I slowly scanned the area, I thought I saw a flash of brown behind me and thought it was a doe and fawn whitetail playing around. AS the brown blob got closer, all at once he bounced right out in front of me. There, standing right in front of me, was the 175” 5 point that I had the sheds off from the past winter. He was only 25 yards away and I had been caught with my pants down. As I reached for my bow and attempted to get up on one knee, the buck started to trot away from me, getting further and further. I was able to get him stopped at what I estimated was 60 yards and hit my release; I watched my arrow sail about an inch over his back. Talk about disappointment, I