7mm08mo
Well-known member
We just got back from our first ever mule deer hunt a day or so ago, and what a trip it was. I'd like to thank all on here who offered advice on where to go and what to look for. We spent 9 full days out there hunting and man was it fun, beautiful country to hunt.
My dad, oldest son Hunter and I went. Upon arriving and getting camp set up in a snow storm we it started to clear so we got ready and decided to go check out the area we had planned on hunting. My son and I both had type 1 and 6 tags. Within 2 hours of hitting the field we had both type 6 tags filled. I wouldn't hesitate to say we saw at least 60 does a day. In the ensuing days we spent a lot of time glassing and covering country to find out where the bucks hung out.
I believe it was day 3 when we discovered these ancient mule deer beds that seem to be used from year to year. I remember a podcast that Big Fin did, and it mentioned these types of beds for elk, I didn't know that mule deer did the same thing, but it seems that they do. I found a matched set of sheds at one bed, one in the bed and one, one step out of the bed, and no I didn't hang them in the trees as there were none, but didn't hang them in the bush either they are at home with me.
On the day we found the beds and sheds my son missed a decent buck and after looking for proof of a hit or miss we figured out it was a complete miss. We moved to a different part of the mountain and glassed the rest of the evening until sunset. On the way back to the truck we found a nice buck and it was my shot. Well the gun for some reason wouldn't load and that flustered me and I missed but as they ran off my son said did you see that giant buck? I did not but he assured me there was a giant in there. So the next day we went back to the same spot early the next morning. We arrived a little late and they were going over the mountain to bed. We waited all day for them to come back out. As we were waiting about 5:00 here comes a vehicle up the two track below us. It was public land but the two track went through private shortly after the main road so we didn't worry much about seeing any body and here they are. While cussing our bad luck we sat there and my son said there they are. They had driven all the way on top to where we thought the deer would come from. The next thing I see are deer pouring over the mountain onto our side. I told him get ready and he said why? A few choice words later about just getting ready he figured out why and when they cleared the skyline he had his first mule deer buck down with a well placed 400 yard shot.
After getting over to him and taking a few photos and getting him broke down we had 2.5 miles to the truck. He was still all smiles, until about mile 2!
He was tagged out and stayed in camp the next day. After running to town to get more water, I headed back out, and Dad said he was going to hunt behind camp. After an uneventful evening I headed in and saw a legal buck but chose to pass, and then a little farther along saw a buck I would have shot but it was 10 min after legal shooting light so I had to pass. He was a beauty!! When I got back to camp I found out Dad had seen a moose in the aspens behind camp while hunting and according to him it was huge. The next day Hunter decided to hunt with his grandpa to try to help him so I was on my own again. After sitting in the same spot and seeing the same thing the same two thoughts kept running through my head. I have heard Big Fin mention the definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result, and Buzz talking in a podcast about fishing on memories. I had been seeing the same forkies and spikes and small buck for several days so I got up and took a walk. It proved to be the best decision I could make. I climbed to where my sons buck had come from and started working my way south on the backside of the ridge using OnX maps as the BLM ended shortly after cresting the ridge. It was windy and cold I questioned my sanity but kept going along. I saw a few does and small bucks, but nothing that tickled me and said shoot. There was a 40 acre piece of BLM that jutted out of the big main piece and as I got close I noticed movement down below. There in that movement were some deer that tickled me! I assessed the situation and decided that they were on public land and made a stalk. As I got close to the finger ridge that came off the main ridgeline I had to stay high as there was a doe and fawns below me that I didn't want to spook and blow the whole deal. I made it to a clump of service berries and glassed to see if I could find them. I found them and then ranged them and used OnX to determine the length of the 40 acres in relation to where I was and then the width to make for sure they were on public, they were. I set up for the shot and the lead buck was a awesome 4*4 with kickers and I steadied to shoot, and just as I started to squeeze he started walking, I didn't want to remeasure everything so the next buck in line stopped where he had been so I shot. I suppose maybe I shot the buck of a lifetime. Not in size but uniqueness. After the 300 yard shot, I saw him run about 30 yards and tip over. I wanted to make sure so I glassed the deer running off and there were only 4 instead of 5 leaving. I glassed the sage and could see antlers sticking up, for me it was a completely surreal situation. I left some of my gear on the ridge and headed down marking the spot with and orange vest I had to put around the antlers for a pack out. I am an optimist. As I headed down again I glassed one more time and the scene didn't change. This is what I had the opportunity to walk up to.
After calling my son to come help me I started quartering him up, after a few quick pics. Upon doing so I noticed he had no testicles, just a shrunken up sac. That explains the velvet. After my son arrived I had him broken down and we started packing out. Just as we got to the top of the finger ridge he said here comes somebody. It was the game warden. She asked if I knew where I was and I said BLM land and she also then asked where the deer was when I shot I said BLM. After sending Hunter down to drop a pin on the carccass with the outfitter who's guide had seen me and called me in thinking I was trespassing, she said "nice buck congratulations, I have to go down there to verify for myself if I don't see you again congrats, if so it's not going to be good." As she hiked down there all sorts of thoughts went through my mind but I was sure as I had double checked my location when I got to him. As she neared my son and the outfitter I headed her say "your good" and my son started hiking back up, what a relief. Not that I was worried but well I guess anything can happen. Then we had to finish the packout.
My Dad never did get a deer but had fun! He can't get around at 66 like he used to. I ran into the warden the next day and thanked her for doing her job and asked about possible causes for no testicles, and she said more than likely due to the severe drought, they had had a few cases to the southwest and east of where we were hunting but not here, he probably had migrated in. The limited amount of water caused them to drink around oil and gas wells and due to the high hydrocarbon load in the water it destroys the testosterone system and shrivels and destroys the testicles. It was a great hunt and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Saw plenty of deer and had a blast. My only regret is I was supposed to try to meet up with Buzz so we could meet, but never seemed to find the time to call him. Sorry Buzz maybe next year if we draw elk tags. Thanks for reading, sorry for the long story. I will say also if not for OnX I would not have killed my buck, I highly recommend it if you don't already have it.
My dad, oldest son Hunter and I went. Upon arriving and getting camp set up in a snow storm we it started to clear so we got ready and decided to go check out the area we had planned on hunting. My son and I both had type 1 and 6 tags. Within 2 hours of hitting the field we had both type 6 tags filled. I wouldn't hesitate to say we saw at least 60 does a day. In the ensuing days we spent a lot of time glassing and covering country to find out where the bucks hung out.
I believe it was day 3 when we discovered these ancient mule deer beds that seem to be used from year to year. I remember a podcast that Big Fin did, and it mentioned these types of beds for elk, I didn't know that mule deer did the same thing, but it seems that they do. I found a matched set of sheds at one bed, one in the bed and one, one step out of the bed, and no I didn't hang them in the trees as there were none, but didn't hang them in the bush either they are at home with me.
On the day we found the beds and sheds my son missed a decent buck and after looking for proof of a hit or miss we figured out it was a complete miss. We moved to a different part of the mountain and glassed the rest of the evening until sunset. On the way back to the truck we found a nice buck and it was my shot. Well the gun for some reason wouldn't load and that flustered me and I missed but as they ran off my son said did you see that giant buck? I did not but he assured me there was a giant in there. So the next day we went back to the same spot early the next morning. We arrived a little late and they were going over the mountain to bed. We waited all day for them to come back out. As we were waiting about 5:00 here comes a vehicle up the two track below us. It was public land but the two track went through private shortly after the main road so we didn't worry much about seeing any body and here they are. While cussing our bad luck we sat there and my son said there they are. They had driven all the way on top to where we thought the deer would come from. The next thing I see are deer pouring over the mountain onto our side. I told him get ready and he said why? A few choice words later about just getting ready he figured out why and when they cleared the skyline he had his first mule deer buck down with a well placed 400 yard shot.
After getting over to him and taking a few photos and getting him broke down we had 2.5 miles to the truck. He was still all smiles, until about mile 2!
He was tagged out and stayed in camp the next day. After running to town to get more water, I headed back out, and Dad said he was going to hunt behind camp. After an uneventful evening I headed in and saw a legal buck but chose to pass, and then a little farther along saw a buck I would have shot but it was 10 min after legal shooting light so I had to pass. He was a beauty!! When I got back to camp I found out Dad had seen a moose in the aspens behind camp while hunting and according to him it was huge. The next day Hunter decided to hunt with his grandpa to try to help him so I was on my own again. After sitting in the same spot and seeing the same thing the same two thoughts kept running through my head. I have heard Big Fin mention the definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result, and Buzz talking in a podcast about fishing on memories. I had been seeing the same forkies and spikes and small buck for several days so I got up and took a walk. It proved to be the best decision I could make. I climbed to where my sons buck had come from and started working my way south on the backside of the ridge using OnX maps as the BLM ended shortly after cresting the ridge. It was windy and cold I questioned my sanity but kept going along. I saw a few does and small bucks, but nothing that tickled me and said shoot. There was a 40 acre piece of BLM that jutted out of the big main piece and as I got close I noticed movement down below. There in that movement were some deer that tickled me! I assessed the situation and decided that they were on public land and made a stalk. As I got close to the finger ridge that came off the main ridgeline I had to stay high as there was a doe and fawns below me that I didn't want to spook and blow the whole deal. I made it to a clump of service berries and glassed to see if I could find them. I found them and then ranged them and used OnX to determine the length of the 40 acres in relation to where I was and then the width to make for sure they were on public, they were. I set up for the shot and the lead buck was a awesome 4*4 with kickers and I steadied to shoot, and just as I started to squeeze he started walking, I didn't want to remeasure everything so the next buck in line stopped where he had been so I shot. I suppose maybe I shot the buck of a lifetime. Not in size but uniqueness. After the 300 yard shot, I saw him run about 30 yards and tip over. I wanted to make sure so I glassed the deer running off and there were only 4 instead of 5 leaving. I glassed the sage and could see antlers sticking up, for me it was a completely surreal situation. I left some of my gear on the ridge and headed down marking the spot with and orange vest I had to put around the antlers for a pack out. I am an optimist. As I headed down again I glassed one more time and the scene didn't change. This is what I had the opportunity to walk up to.
After calling my son to come help me I started quartering him up, after a few quick pics. Upon doing so I noticed he had no testicles, just a shrunken up sac. That explains the velvet. After my son arrived I had him broken down and we started packing out. Just as we got to the top of the finger ridge he said here comes somebody. It was the game warden. She asked if I knew where I was and I said BLM land and she also then asked where the deer was when I shot I said BLM. After sending Hunter down to drop a pin on the carccass with the outfitter who's guide had seen me and called me in thinking I was trespassing, she said "nice buck congratulations, I have to go down there to verify for myself if I don't see you again congrats, if so it's not going to be good." As she hiked down there all sorts of thoughts went through my mind but I was sure as I had double checked my location when I got to him. As she neared my son and the outfitter I headed her say "your good" and my son started hiking back up, what a relief. Not that I was worried but well I guess anything can happen. Then we had to finish the packout.
My Dad never did get a deer but had fun! He can't get around at 66 like he used to. I ran into the warden the next day and thanked her for doing her job and asked about possible causes for no testicles, and she said more than likely due to the severe drought, they had had a few cases to the southwest and east of where we were hunting but not here, he probably had migrated in. The limited amount of water caused them to drink around oil and gas wells and due to the high hydrocarbon load in the water it destroys the testosterone system and shrivels and destroys the testicles. It was a great hunt and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Saw plenty of deer and had a blast. My only regret is I was supposed to try to meet up with Buzz so we could meet, but never seemed to find the time to call him. Sorry Buzz maybe next year if we draw elk tags. Thanks for reading, sorry for the long story. I will say also if not for OnX I would not have killed my buck, I highly recommend it if you don't already have it.
