Finally got some time to post my Mule Deer hunt from this year. I hadn't actually had much of a plan for mule deer this year, it was more of a 'if I see one I'll shoot it' kind of plan. But I had a friend invite me on a hunt with him, bit of a walk in to camp, but it has been an area he has been hunting the past few years. I was all for it and excited to tag along, I was just planing to help him pack out a deer more than packing out my own, I didn't want to take away from his hunt!
It was about 2.5 miles to camp that he already had set up and I walked in early on a Sat. morning and met him at his camp. We had some coffee then headed out to some ridges to begin glassing the area to see if there were any bedded bucks close by. After glassing awhile and not seeing any deer we decided to start a more active approach and began walking draws slowly moving through in case we bumped something. Many miles later we still hadn't see even one deer, started to get a little down/frustrated we continued on the side of a ridge where we were able to work some fingers that made their way up to the top of that ridge.
We were approaching the last finger on the ridge and my partner went to his knee and pulled up his rifle and out of the corner of my eye is when I saw two bucks jump their beds and began a slow trot away stopping once in a while to see who we were. I fumbled around getting a bullet into my chamber giving the deer every chance to get away! My friend decided those weren't the deer he was after and it was my turn to have a chance at them. By the time I got my gun ready they were skyline and I've never been a big fan of those shots so I held off and they continued over the top of the hill. Not but 10 seconds later they came back onto our side of the hill but never stopped for a good shot and then went back over the hill. We couldn't believe it when they came back over to our side of the hill once again but stayed on our side as they headed towards the draw.
They were much less nervous of our presence as they had worked out away from us and began stopping to look in our direction. I borrowed my buddy's shooting sticks and he ranged the bigger buck at 365 and once I felt the buck was going to give me good enough shot without moving I squeezed on the trigger and not long after I heard that solid 'thump', he bolted about 50 feet and teetered onto his back and he was done. Upon further inspection it was a great lung shot and he was essentially running dead. This was a great hunt and great times with a good friend, couldn't ask for more than that! It ended up being a 3.5 mile pack out but the heavy load was a great feeling with a great buck!
It was about 2.5 miles to camp that he already had set up and I walked in early on a Sat. morning and met him at his camp. We had some coffee then headed out to some ridges to begin glassing the area to see if there were any bedded bucks close by. After glassing awhile and not seeing any deer we decided to start a more active approach and began walking draws slowly moving through in case we bumped something. Many miles later we still hadn't see even one deer, started to get a little down/frustrated we continued on the side of a ridge where we were able to work some fingers that made their way up to the top of that ridge.
We were approaching the last finger on the ridge and my partner went to his knee and pulled up his rifle and out of the corner of my eye is when I saw two bucks jump their beds and began a slow trot away stopping once in a while to see who we were. I fumbled around getting a bullet into my chamber giving the deer every chance to get away! My friend decided those weren't the deer he was after and it was my turn to have a chance at them. By the time I got my gun ready they were skyline and I've never been a big fan of those shots so I held off and they continued over the top of the hill. Not but 10 seconds later they came back onto our side of the hill but never stopped for a good shot and then went back over the hill. We couldn't believe it when they came back over to our side of the hill once again but stayed on our side as they headed towards the draw.
They were much less nervous of our presence as they had worked out away from us and began stopping to look in our direction. I borrowed my buddy's shooting sticks and he ranged the bigger buck at 365 and once I felt the buck was going to give me good enough shot without moving I squeezed on the trigger and not long after I heard that solid 'thump', he bolted about 50 feet and teetered onto his back and he was done. Upon further inspection it was a great lung shot and he was essentially running dead. This was a great hunt and great times with a good friend, couldn't ask for more than that! It ended up being a 3.5 mile pack out but the heavy load was a great feeling with a great buck!
