Mule Deer Success Thread!
- Thread starter ScottR
- Start date
Graylight
Active Member
Hey, Thanks Quinton! No particular reason - Mostly because I have been ignoring ALL forums lately since facebook has literally taken over!
Arrowslinger
Member
Aquahallic
New Member
First Mulie Buck !!
So let me start out, I grew up in Oregon started hunting deer at a youung age, shot a couple of does, and shot a mulie buck jumped out of his bed when I was 13 with a 30 -30 hit him in the hind quarter and my dad finished him off with his 30-06. I've always claimed that I shot half a buck !! When I was 16 my parents moved to the city and my hunting career ended ( by my choice, cars and girls took over, was good at cars but not at girls ) I did some big game hunting in Africa in the 90's through work, but big game was not my focus, have always loved waterfowl cause you get to shoot alot and like watching dogs work. Fast Fwd. 3 yrs ago my buddy said let's go to Wy and hunt mulies, I said why not. So we went, saw a ton of deer, and in our unit it was 3 pt or better, on our last day say 2 bucks of 180 class or better @ 418 yds, did not feel comfortable with my brothers borrowed 30-06 to take an ethical shot. Chased em down with the UTV, had em run over a hill coulda taken what I felt was a gut shot, but didn't, went over the hill and they were gone.
2013 went back, never saw a legal buck, let alone many bucks at all, did shoot 2 ea antelope does we managed to get tags for.
2014 We drew buck tags for mulies only ( lope allocation cut, even with pref points no tags ) so we went for Mulie deer only.
Season started Oct 1, we showed up on Oct 3, hoping the pressure would be lessened ( which it was, lots of parties tagged out by Sat am ).
Sat Am went to our usual spots, spotted 3 bucks first thing, 1 2x2 nice sized and a nice 3x3 and a small forky, they were on private land, but good to see bucks already the year before we saw maybe 7 bucks between 3 of us in 5 days !! Off to a good start.
Sat PM went up to another area to check it out, nice country but didn't see alot of bucks or deer for that matter, so back to camp, plan for Sun AM which we elected to hunt a a big canyon near our camp. Up we go, once on the ridge start glassing and see a few does and a couple of small forkies. Then I see a larger deer come out of the trees a nice sized 3 x 3. Then I notice he had been shot in the mouth !! His tounge is hanging out and a big wound on the RH side of his Jaw. I look away from my spotting scope for 1 min and he is gone !!! I sit and wait, I can hear him snorting and all the other deer in the bowl leave the area. Keep glassing for maybe 1/2 hr, one of the guys from my party comes over the ridge and I tell him about the buck, and not 1 min later he is up and moving through the trees, I range him at 275 yds, feel comfortable and take a shot at him but miss !! ( bad shooting not a banged up scope or what ever it was poor shooting ). He runs off around the next ridge, I feel from what I had seen of him earlier that he would bed again due to him being wounded. He jumped about 7 does and fawns out from the next bowl which come our way, I was unable to see them they were below me, I was hoping my partner might have a shot so waited and waited for him too bed and settle down. I then walked around the bowl to the next bowl to find him, when I got around there were a patch of aspens and rocks I was sure he was bedded in. I slowly tried to sneak up and glass him in his bed, however he must have heard my as I see him come up the side of the ridge, behind a tree, I sit down get ready for him to come out for a clear shot. Well when he comes out it's at a trot and about 100 yds away going across the ridge, I put the cross hairs in front of him and put of another shot, again I miss !! My partner see's him run around 2-3 ridges after that. He is wounded but not hurt that bad. All I can think is I cannot let him suffer and he needs to be put out of his misery, do not need a nice deer dieing in this bed cause he cannot feed or drink.
We decide to pull back let him bed again and come back later in the day, and get him.
We go back to camp have a late brunch and pack up for the afternoon hunt. We go back up the canyon glassing all the ridges and bowls, we figure where we think he might be, so set up the spotter and the first bench with rocks trees and shade I see a set of horns and ears !! Tell my buddies I got him !! I continue to glass from different angles, and after about 20 mins I'm not 100% sure it's a deer. However we all agree that we should try anyway. One guy is going to go up the ridge on the LH side of him and I will hike up a ridge on his RH side and try and sneak in on him ( the only way to get to this deer the land behind him is private )
I hike through a drain to the bottom of a big knoll below the ridge and come up so he cannot see me then proceed to hike the ridge just behind where he is bedded. Get to the top, and the wind is in my favor, blowing about 15 mph in my face and if he is where I spotted him he would be just to my RH side. I load a round in the event I jump him and start sneaking.
Well after about 4 steps a nice buck ( assumed it was him ) jumps up, I can hear his hooves scraping on the rocks as he gets up, and starts stottering off, I click off the safety and see him just head and rump going through the sage. I take a running shot, and sounded like I hit him. So I just sit down and wait.
5 min later I see a deer running around the bowl that I am on the back side of working his way around the bowl. I think ok my buddy is on the next ridge he will either get a shot at him, or will push him back to me. So I settle in take my pack off and pull out my spotting scope.
He get's to the other side of the bowl and starts feeding !!! WTF He is wounded right, shot in the mouth. So I start glassing and it's on the same buck this one one is bigger he looks like a decent 4 x 3 nice and tall but not wide.
So I watch him for what seemed like 20 min ( probably was like 5 min !! ) No sign of my partner on the other ridge, I glass but cannot see him !! Keep glassing and he is just feeding, looked back at me once, I sitting next to a bush didn't move, and he turned around and kept feeding broad side !!
I figure well I might as well take a shot, my buddy is no where to be seen. I range him at 366yds, set up my rifle with my bi pod, pull out my long john shirt from my pack, roll it up for a support for the back of my rifle and it just happens I laying on a nice big patch of white sand.
I set it up so I have a steady rest, dial my Leupold CDS scope up to 365 yds, and lay down. Put the cross hairs on this RH shoulder, and sqeeze off a shot. I hear the bullet flying across the canyon, and then hear the sound of success THWAP !!
I look through the scope, see him stagger then turn and fall down a small draw next to a rock. I chamber another round, waiting !!
After a minute or so, still nothing. I get up, look through my spotting scope and cannot find him. I glass with my bino's and spotter for another 5 min, cannot see him or any movement. I glasss the entire area, and cannot find him. I wait figuring if I didn't kill him, he will bleed out. I slowly pack up my pack spotter and then my rifle, and start walking around the bowl to get him.
2/3 of the way around my buddy comes over the ridge and I tell him I have a deer down.
I anxoiusly walke around the bowl, I get to the draw walk in and there he is nex to the rock, he was not dead but down for sure, Had taken out both his front knees with my 150 gr 270 WSM, I finished him there and then the work started !!
I know he is not a monster, but for my first real mulie small 5 x3, by the book spot and stalk and for me to take him at 366yds could not be happier
So let me start out, I grew up in Oregon started hunting deer at a youung age, shot a couple of does, and shot a mulie buck jumped out of his bed when I was 13 with a 30 -30 hit him in the hind quarter and my dad finished him off with his 30-06. I've always claimed that I shot half a buck !! When I was 16 my parents moved to the city and my hunting career ended ( by my choice, cars and girls took over, was good at cars but not at girls ) I did some big game hunting in Africa in the 90's through work, but big game was not my focus, have always loved waterfowl cause you get to shoot alot and like watching dogs work. Fast Fwd. 3 yrs ago my buddy said let's go to Wy and hunt mulies, I said why not. So we went, saw a ton of deer, and in our unit it was 3 pt or better, on our last day say 2 bucks of 180 class or better @ 418 yds, did not feel comfortable with my brothers borrowed 30-06 to take an ethical shot. Chased em down with the UTV, had em run over a hill coulda taken what I felt was a gut shot, but didn't, went over the hill and they were gone.
2013 went back, never saw a legal buck, let alone many bucks at all, did shoot 2 ea antelope does we managed to get tags for.
2014 We drew buck tags for mulies only ( lope allocation cut, even with pref points no tags ) so we went for Mulie deer only.
Season started Oct 1, we showed up on Oct 3, hoping the pressure would be lessened ( which it was, lots of parties tagged out by Sat am ).
Sat Am went to our usual spots, spotted 3 bucks first thing, 1 2x2 nice sized and a nice 3x3 and a small forky, they were on private land, but good to see bucks already the year before we saw maybe 7 bucks between 3 of us in 5 days !! Off to a good start.
Sat PM went up to another area to check it out, nice country but didn't see alot of bucks or deer for that matter, so back to camp, plan for Sun AM which we elected to hunt a a big canyon near our camp. Up we go, once on the ridge start glassing and see a few does and a couple of small forkies. Then I see a larger deer come out of the trees a nice sized 3 x 3. Then I notice he had been shot in the mouth !! His tounge is hanging out and a big wound on the RH side of his Jaw. I look away from my spotting scope for 1 min and he is gone !!! I sit and wait, I can hear him snorting and all the other deer in the bowl leave the area. Keep glassing for maybe 1/2 hr, one of the guys from my party comes over the ridge and I tell him about the buck, and not 1 min later he is up and moving through the trees, I range him at 275 yds, feel comfortable and take a shot at him but miss !! ( bad shooting not a banged up scope or what ever it was poor shooting ). He runs off around the next ridge, I feel from what I had seen of him earlier that he would bed again due to him being wounded. He jumped about 7 does and fawns out from the next bowl which come our way, I was unable to see them they were below me, I was hoping my partner might have a shot so waited and waited for him too bed and settle down. I then walked around the bowl to the next bowl to find him, when I got around there were a patch of aspens and rocks I was sure he was bedded in. I slowly tried to sneak up and glass him in his bed, however he must have heard my as I see him come up the side of the ridge, behind a tree, I sit down get ready for him to come out for a clear shot. Well when he comes out it's at a trot and about 100 yds away going across the ridge, I put the cross hairs in front of him and put of another shot, again I miss !! My partner see's him run around 2-3 ridges after that. He is wounded but not hurt that bad. All I can think is I cannot let him suffer and he needs to be put out of his misery, do not need a nice deer dieing in this bed cause he cannot feed or drink.
We decide to pull back let him bed again and come back later in the day, and get him.
We go back to camp have a late brunch and pack up for the afternoon hunt. We go back up the canyon glassing all the ridges and bowls, we figure where we think he might be, so set up the spotter and the first bench with rocks trees and shade I see a set of horns and ears !! Tell my buddies I got him !! I continue to glass from different angles, and after about 20 mins I'm not 100% sure it's a deer. However we all agree that we should try anyway. One guy is going to go up the ridge on the LH side of him and I will hike up a ridge on his RH side and try and sneak in on him ( the only way to get to this deer the land behind him is private )
I hike through a drain to the bottom of a big knoll below the ridge and come up so he cannot see me then proceed to hike the ridge just behind where he is bedded. Get to the top, and the wind is in my favor, blowing about 15 mph in my face and if he is where I spotted him he would be just to my RH side. I load a round in the event I jump him and start sneaking.
Well after about 4 steps a nice buck ( assumed it was him ) jumps up, I can hear his hooves scraping on the rocks as he gets up, and starts stottering off, I click off the safety and see him just head and rump going through the sage. I take a running shot, and sounded like I hit him. So I just sit down and wait.
5 min later I see a deer running around the bowl that I am on the back side of working his way around the bowl. I think ok my buddy is on the next ridge he will either get a shot at him, or will push him back to me. So I settle in take my pack off and pull out my spotting scope.
He get's to the other side of the bowl and starts feeding !!! WTF He is wounded right, shot in the mouth. So I start glassing and it's on the same buck this one one is bigger he looks like a decent 4 x 3 nice and tall but not wide.
So I watch him for what seemed like 20 min ( probably was like 5 min !! ) No sign of my partner on the other ridge, I glass but cannot see him !! Keep glassing and he is just feeding, looked back at me once, I sitting next to a bush didn't move, and he turned around and kept feeding broad side !!
I figure well I might as well take a shot, my buddy is no where to be seen. I range him at 366yds, set up my rifle with my bi pod, pull out my long john shirt from my pack, roll it up for a support for the back of my rifle and it just happens I laying on a nice big patch of white sand.
I set it up so I have a steady rest, dial my Leupold CDS scope up to 365 yds, and lay down. Put the cross hairs on this RH shoulder, and sqeeze off a shot. I hear the bullet flying across the canyon, and then hear the sound of success THWAP !!
I look through the scope, see him stagger then turn and fall down a small draw next to a rock. I chamber another round, waiting !!
After a minute or so, still nothing. I get up, look through my spotting scope and cannot find him. I glass with my bino's and spotter for another 5 min, cannot see him or any movement. I glasss the entire area, and cannot find him. I wait figuring if I didn't kill him, he will bleed out. I slowly pack up my pack spotter and then my rifle, and start walking around the bowl to get him.
2/3 of the way around my buddy comes over the ridge and I tell him I have a deer down.
I anxoiusly walke around the bowl, I get to the draw walk in and there he is nex to the rock, he was not dead but down for sure, Had taken out both his front knees with my 150 gr 270 WSM, I finished him there and then the work started !!
I know he is not a monster, but for my first real mulie small 5 x3
, by the book spot and stalk and for me to take him at 366yds could not be happier
Montana
Veteran member
Man... this is a great thread. Is there an elk one going too? Fun to see some success and some great animals at that.
Congrats to all.
Congrats to all.
Retterath
Veteran member
A friend of mine and i headed out the other day to go after some mulies in an area i didnt have a tag for but he did so.It rained most of the day but watched this deer in the evening and were able to stock within 75 yard of it.
Retterath
Veteran member
Retterath
Veteran member
bigmoose
Active Member
After finding this great 4X4 for my partner, I took this crabby 4X4 to end our Nevada hunt. The weather was hot and we had to get the meat to the meat locker. It was a great hunt and we saw quite a few bucks. My partner, George, made a great shot on the best buck we found. We have hunted together for 40 years and I'm very happy for him getting his biggest buck ever. It was a great sight walking up to this buck.
Moose
Moose
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remdog
New Member
remdog
New Member
In God We Trust
Very Active Member
woodtick
Veteran member
Not the monster every one wants to see, but figured I share a pic of the buck my wife smoked in Utah. We had a great time together and are looking forward to her cow elk hunt this winter.
In God We Trust
Very Active Member
GOSHENGRUNTER
Active Member
Already posted the story under general hunting, but I'll throw my deer in here too Public land region y Wyoming. 4x5
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alaska2go
Active Member
Success is success on harvesting an animal. Trophy is in the eyes of shooter. I like it when people post their pictures of the hunt big or small. I like to see smiling hunters next to their harvest.Not the monster every one wants to see, but figured I share a pic of the buck my wife smoked in Utah. We had a great time together and are looking forward to her cow elk hunt this winter.