Ryan's First Deer

 Ryan Bier's first deer, October 2022

Ryan and I have chased big game together for numerous years. He was there to help me pack out two of my elk. Sadly, while hunting together, Ryan has yet to harvest an animal. Ryan has killed two elk, but both times he was solo and I couldn't come help him. He had to call other family or friends to help him pack them out, and both times they were seriously difficult pack-outs (Ryan will never let me forget those). Ryan has also had several chances at deer that for one reason or another haven't worked out. So you could say I owe Ryan at least two elk pack-outs.

The general deer season in Southern Idaho was nearing its end and Ryan still had a tag in his pocket. We decided a last minute trip was in order. Some fresh snow had covered our mountain, making for prime conditions. Our optimism was high as we slowly crawled up the snowy mountain road in 4 wheel drive, arriving at our spot at first light. 

Our morning started out slow, with just a few elk spotted way down the mountain. Elk seem to always appear when you're not looking for them.

We hiked over to a saddle where two ridges came together. I had seen a lot of deer in this area over the years and it's always worth checking out. Here, you could see a lot of country. Ryan and I stopped on an open hillside and started scanning the surrounding countryside. Fifteen minutes went by without an animal, when suddenly Ryan spotted something.

"Oh, right there!" Ryan gasped, staring wide eyed at the hillside immediately to our right. 

I turned and saw him right away, "OH, BIG BUCK!"

Ryan slowly got ready, crouching down as the buck went behind a tree. I pulled my rangefinder out and whispered, "120 yards".

The mature buck had no idea we were there and the wind was in our face. This was perfect! The deer was working his way across an old burn with several openings for a shot. I looked down at Ryan who was now ready. The deer passed behind a clump of two or three trees and stopped. I pulled my bino's out and studied the deer who was now staring in our direction. Thick, dark 4 point frame with a little bit of trash poking out the sides. Probably a deer in the 170 class. This would be one hell of a first deer for Ryan. In my mind this deer was already dead. Just 2 more steps... 

The deer suddenly turned around and took off down the nearly vertical hill. No, no, no! I made several loud deer bleat sounds with my mouth trying to stop the deer without success. Just like that, what felt like a slam dunk had bounced off the rim and smacked us in the face. What went wrong? All we could think of was that he had somehow seen us and got nervous. We walked away sickened and defeated. Chasing this deer was simply not a safe option. That drainage was incredibly steep and with the snow, it just wouldn't be wise.

"I guess that's how they get to be that big," I added, as we trudged back toward the truck in 10 inches of snow. 

"They have one job in life: survive." Ryan said, shaking his head. 

That evening we hunted another area and located a heavy amount of deer sign and a single bull elk at 150 yards. Even though we didn't see any deer, the area was worth another look in the morning. 

We started the morning off by ascending a steep hill to get on the ridge where all the deer sign had been yesterday evening. On our way up, we spotted a couple of does who couldn't care less about our presence. They stayed downhill and downwind of us only 25-40 yards away for quite some time. Animals seem to know when they aren't in danger. 

We made it up to the ridge and began working slowly along the top. Around every new corner we'd stop and scan for deer, glassing country near and far below us. We were approaching the end of our hike when I stopped at a likely spot to scan for deer. A grey colored shape caught my eye in a small gap between the trees. I pulled out my binoculars for closer inspection. I found the object in the binos, still unable to determine what it was. Then, I saw the shape of some antlers at the bottom of my circular binocular view. I lowered the viewing picture down slightly and saw him, the head of a two-point buck. Then the other grey shape moved slightly, revealing another buck; a spike. 2 mule deer bucks were bedded in the snow less than 200 yards away.

 

I made some squirrel sounding chatter toward Ryan who was glassing some other country above me. Ryan looked my way and I put finger antlers on my head signaling I'd found a buck. Ryan crept down to me and I showed him where the deer were. Ryan began to move into position, trying to find the deer in his scope. Ryan would find a good rest on a log but he was too low to see the deer. Ryan continued to move closer to the deer in an attempt to find a good rest for his gun and see the deer at the same time. I was nervous that these bedded deer were going to see or hear him and blow out of there. I was already thinking the worst. The two deer were very comfortable, though, and Ryan was slowly able to sneak within 80 yards of where a big log lay across the hillside, giving him a great rest for his rifle and put the deer in view.

I looked at the bedded deer and then over to Ryan who gave me a thumbs up and signaled me to blow my grunt call. The bedded deer were not giving Ryan a good angle at any vitals and the grunt call might cause one to stand and look our way. I blew the grunt call twice and the larger 2 point picked up his head and turned it broadside. Ryan fired, placing a perfect shot directly behind the head. BOOM!!! The deer died without a single kick of it's legs.  

I walked over to Ryan and we celebrated. We carefully made our way  over to the deer across the steep and slick hillside. He still lay peacefully in his bed. It was perhaps the fastest passing of an animal that I'd ever seen; a goal for any hunter. 

We got to work on quartering, and a couple hours later, our packs were full of clean, mountain protein.

The pack out was steep but relatively short. We heaved our heavy packs into the back of the truck, exhaling sighs of relief and satisfaction.

"Glad I was finally able to help you pack out an animal, Ryan. Now I only owe you 3 more." I chuckled.

"Hold up. This was just one deer. We're talking about 4 elk. A deer is at best, half an elk. So doing the math, you owe me at least 6 more pack outs." Ryan said with a laugh. "We're nowhere near even."

It felt so good to have helped Ryan get his first deer. It wasn't the giant from the day before, but Ryan didn't care. He wasn't a trophy hunter. I did a European mount on the skull for him, giving him a tangible, long-lasting memoir of the hunt.