In 1959, my next door neighbor, Vaughn Leopold and I worked up a trip to Harris Creek, near Horseshoe Bend, for a day hunt after deer. We have been neighbors for about three years and knew each other fairly well. He has done a lot of hunting and could be trusted as a safe hunter. Late in October was the time we could get together on a Saturday morning to run up to Harris Creek. I was familiar with the area and there should be some deer around somewhere at the upper end of the creek. There was an early snow storm that year, putting down a few inches a couple snow a few days before. The roads were clear of snow, therefore we would have little problems getting there.
We found an area with an old logging road running up a side creek, in the direction we wanted to hunt. The road was not accessible to drive on, because of a washout but we could go around it easily it easily. About a half a mile up the creek, we could see a patch of timber, on a far ridge. Between us and the timber pocket was a couple of small hills, more like just round knobs. We climbed up to the top of the first knob to have a look around and to glass the far timber for a deer or whatever. With the field glasses we spotted a deer feeding on leaves of bushes, below the timber. The deer appeared to be a medium sized buck, but we were too far away to count the points. We still had one more knob between us and the deer was at least five hundred yards away. I had read that a deer feeding with its head down does not see anything but the leaves its feeding on. We watched him for some time to see what habits he was using while feeding. He would put his head down, grabbed a few leaves then raise his head to Iook around for danger. When he felt safe he went back to eating again, he was following this routine while walking back and forth down the hill in our direction. We came up with a wild plan to stalk this deer like true mountain men. As he put his head down to feed, we would run at him as hard as we could but watching for him to l○○k around. As he lifted his head, we would freeze in our tracks. This went on for a good hour and we were getting closer all the time. We did this stop and go bit up over the small hill in front of us and across a large open flat. In the meanwhile, the buck was still coming toward us completely unaware of what was going on in plain sight of him. Of course the few inches of soft snow silenced any noise from our running. We estimated we should be getting close to rifle range by now. Vaughn had a .308 caliber rifle, while I was carrying my .30-30 Winchester Model 94. I knew the buck was too far for me but it was about right for the .308 with a scope. Vaughn sat down for a steady rest across a stump then as the buck turned broadside, he put a bullet through its heart. The buck dropped in his tracks, which was g○○d. I don’t like to chase a wounded deer at all. It t○○k us about fifteen minutes to climb up to the deer. He was laying right where he dropped. After much whooping and hollering about Vaughn making a great shot and us getting a fine deer, We decided maybe we should dress him out. We were quite a long-ways from the car but it was all downhill. A rope was tied to his antlers to be able to drag him easier, then we headed for the old logging road. Once we were on the level road the rest of the way was a snap. The road had enough snow on it for the deer to slip along as fast as we could walk. The deer was a large two point in great shape. He had summered well, and had rolls of fat on him. He was not old enough to go into rut like the old bucks, so he had not been fighting over the does. The buck was loaded into the trunk of the car to make the quick trip home.
We decided it would be best to get the one deer home, and taken care of, while it was still day light. There did not seem to be very many deer around anyway. At home, we hung the buck in Vaughn’s garage to skin him and let him age, for a few days. When we felt he had aged enough, we cut him into steaks for the freezer. He was really good eating. This was a learning experience. This procedure of stalking may work well on a Single deer, but a herd of several head, would always have a look out, mainly an old doe with sharp eyes and ears. No way could anyone possibly sneak up on them, but I will try this again when the chance comes up some day.