Let's Hear Some Muley Stories!!!

BCBOY

Long Time Member
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5,100
Time to get this place talking Mule Deer again. Tell us you favorite mule deer story. Ones that got away and ones that didn't. Tell us about the memories you've shared with family and friends. Tell us about the monster buck that is forever etched in your memory or about a hunting trip from hell. I want to hear them. I don't care if you've shared them before. Tons of new guys here who've not heard them before. So share them again.
 
BC:

I guess I'll get the pump primed. I'm by no means a big time trophy deer hunter. Heck I live in Western Washington! lol Not exactly the a trophy deer state, but we take what we can get. Back in 2001,
I drew a late tag in the Okanagon area Nov 1-15. I drew a partnership tag, so I had my buddy with me. My goal was a mature muley with a 25" spread. We decided to hunt the last week of the season. We ended up only seeing 2 other hunters since there was only 30 tags available. It was a awesome hunt. We set up the wall tent, and went out for look around. We were not 200 yards from camp when we ran into a herd with 3 bucks. One was a 3x4,
the others were small bucks. I passed, but was excited. The next day we saw 30 bucks, but nothing big.We did see a big buck sneeking into a herd, but the light was fading, and we ran out of time. We came back to the same location and set up the next morning.I was leaned up on a tree on a high plateau with no cover. I was watching 30 does waiting for Mr. Big. A couple of minutes passed, and low and behold here comes a heavy 4x5 buck with his nose in the dirt coming up the trail. I waited till he was within distance. One shot and it was over. He is now on my wall.
He went 23", but was heavy and symetrical. My partner Jack ended up with a nice heavy 4x4 the next day. All in all, we saw about 90 bucks in 31/2 days of hunting. Thats what made it a blast, lots of bucks, and very few hunters. I'm lying awake at night thinking of my next tag, but it may be awhile.
 
About 13 years ago I was going with my older brother to hall out a deer that he had shot the day before. We had been hunting down by Manti where we grew up. It was a great area there were some big sage brush hills with cedar trees spread around. We creeped over the hill to the same spot where big Bro. had nailed his deer. I was sitting down glassing for deer and I spotted a big nice fat 4 point eating about 2 hundered yards away. I had shooting stix with my 7mag sighted right behind the front sholder. I pulled the triger I was expecting to see the big guy flinch and fall over. I didnt ever chamber another shell. I just knew I had nailed him. Dam! I missed. The deer looked up and bolted. we went down and looked for blood. Nothing and we would have seen it he was standing in snow when I shot. I think of this missed shot more that any shot that I have ever made. But even with the pahtetic shooting it was a good day out with my big bro. I thought I did the same thing this year on the muzz hunt. I had been stalking a nice little 4 point. I got about 145 yards away, He was standing broadside eating. He stuck his nose in the air I knew he had nailed my sent. I aimed and let the lead fly. The buck looked up turned and ran off. I was haunted of the above story all the way up to the spot where the buck was standing when I had shot. This time the outcome was better the buck was nailed right in the lungs and laying dead about 20 yards from where I had shot at Him. I would post the pic. if I was smarter than the pc. Out littlebuck.
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-10-04 AT 08:54AM (MST)[p]Missed shots sure seem to haunt a guy. I've missed 3 BIG bucks in my life, each they should be hanging on the wall.

The first was in 1993. I had him at 35 yards while bowhunting, everything was perfect. I estimated him at 40 (later figured 35), I drew and shot, and the arrow just never dropped in. Sick, sick, sick!! I saw the buck 8 more times that year durring archery and rifle season, never did get him. He was a huge 4x5, about 31 inches wide.

In 2001, I had a super buck, a big 4x4 with deep forks and a 28 to 30-inch frame at 90 yards during an Idaho muzzleloader hunt. It was going to be cake. I had all day, but when the smoke cleared, no blood. Again, sick, sick, sick!!

In 2003, I found a super buck scouting, and again on opening morning. What a dip I was to be screwing around trying to videotape. Ended up opting to shoot a 400 yard shot that I should have connected on, but again, no buck. I captured about 30 seconds of video of that buck that morning, and watch it atleast once a week. Sick, sick, sick, everytime.

Is it just me, or does other people lay awake some nights dewelling on missed trophies?


Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com
 
o.k. BC...here's one from 20 years ago, but every time i look at the heads, i remember it like yesterday. my partner and i were horsebacking on the middle fork of the salmon river in idaho in the 'river of no return wilderness'. it was cold and snowy, and we were seeing lots of bucks. about the third morning, we spotted a nice looking buck far up on the hill. from the distance, about a mile away, he looked massive. we set out after him, finally got to the area, but no buck. we split up and went around the hill in opposite directions, but still no luck. later in the day, coming back down, we spotted a buck running through the trees behind us, back up the hill. i didn't get a good look at him, but my partner did and said he was 'a keeper'. it was my turn to shoot, so i got off the horse and got ready. when the buck appeared, i had only a split second to find him in the scope and shoot. i was lucky, because he dropped with one shot. when my partner said, 'how big was he?', i replied, 'hell, you're the one that told me to shoot, i figured you knew !!' when we finally got back up to him, we were pleasantly surprised to find a nice 30 1/2 inch buck. the story continues....we went back the next morning looking for the first buck, and there he was...still far away and back on the same hill. this time instead of going up the hill, we went around it..we must have done something right, cuz he was there when we got there. my partner made a good shot, and when we got to him, wow!!! a great 9 x 7 with 2 extra separate tines coming right out of his head between the eye and the main beam. i'm sure i have posted pics of at least one of them before, but anyway, here they are again...

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This is another story that haunts me in my sleep. It was 1996 the year before the 3 pt. or better rule in Washington went into effect. We got a ton of snow early that year and it pushed the big boys down at the end of oct. in the Eniat. I spot a giant typical about a half mile away. My partner and I put a great stalk on him . I'm about 80 yards out when I see his antlers above the sage. My god he was huge. we already had a 29" 5x6 in camp and this deer made the 5x6 look like a midget. I took 2 steps left to clear the sage and a doe busts me and spooks. There are deer everywhere I Pick out the big guy in the chaos and get one shot quartering away at 100 yards. Missed him clean. Steve
 
I am so haunted by the coues buck I missed last fall, that I have now re-committed myself to being a better shot. I am taking-up reloading my own ammo (just bought a new RCBS Rockchucker on Ebay...), and plan on spending MUCH more time at the range this year.

It is very frustrating to put so much time into a hunt, have all the stars align, and then NOT be able to close the deal due to a poor shot.

As a matter of fact, I'm getting p_ssed off just thinking about it now!!!!

S.

:)
 
First off to STanley I can relate 100%!

One of my best hunts just happened last fall. I had drawn a late mule deer rut tag in Washington. The first weekend of the season was good about 12 bucks seen with one being a nice 26? 4 point but not what I had my hopes on. The next weekend of the season I was hunting a mountain and seeing lots of deer. I found a nice 25? 165 class buck with good mass and good forks so I went after him. Got to within 300 yards but he never gave me a good shot so I didn't shoot. I keep glassing the area I was in and found another buck with some does. I could tell this buck was a little wider with a kicker coming off his back tine and the longest G-4?s I've ever seen on a mule deer alive or dead hands down. They were above his G-2?s which were probably 16? high. That was another for me. Forget the other buck so I sneak up on this buck and get settled in for a good shot. Boom, I miss, the buck runs a ways and stops, boom, I miss again. The buck goes into some timber where he just stands and I watch him for another ? hour without getting another shot. Later that week I ran into another buck that was a 180 class buck but I couldn't get a shot off at him. All in all I saw a ton of bucks, could have killed 20 little ones if I had wanted to and very rarely saw another hunter. If only every hunt could be like this one. Not a day goes by when I don't picture those big bucks in my mind and replay the shot wishing I could go back in time and have the ending turn out different.
 
This year my dad drew a late buck ta in eastern washington on his first try! it was like 78 tags and 3300 applicants. so went went up there on opening weekend and the place was a mess. elk hunters around every corner, the roads were just sheets of ice, it was bitter cold, not my preferred hunting experience. so we get out and walk this ridge for the day and see a nice 6x6 bull elk but not a deer. the deer were just not there. we couldnt find any all over the place. it started snowing and the roads got worse. we had to chain up all 4 just to get back to camp. that night i took ym boots off in the trailor and the next morning the snow that was on them hadnt melted. it was cold. so we went out for just one last try for the weekend. we drove down to this blocked off road that looked interesting. so me, still iin my pajamas, ( my pants got soaked and frozen) and my dad got out of the car and walked down the road. then, my dad spotted a group of about 15 does and one spike down in the bottom f the draw, and they went up and over the hill, as my dad went to go down the road i looked back and saw a buck down in the bottom. i said " big buck" because i saw that he was wide. then my dad took a knee, put up his gun and... CLICK!! he forgot to load his gun! by this time i fully expected the deer to eb gone but he thought he was hidden i guess. so my dad reloaded and dropped it where it stood.
 
I killed my best mulie a few years ago on the OTC muzzle hunt near Corona, NM. I had already hunted a few days, seen a lot of does and forkies, but nothing worth shooting. I went on one last hike before it was time to head home. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon, and about 90 degrees out. I made a big loop, but there were not vantage points to glass from, so I made my way through the PJ with the wind in my face. I jumped this buck up at about 10 yards as I came through some heavy bruch. I think he scared me more than I scared him. He stood still just long enough for me to get a shot off.
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Last season I had the funest deer hunting day of my life.
It was in northern Utah with my dad me and two of my buddys
we all left on our horses two hours before daylight friday
morning of the second weakend hunting on public land . Soon as it was starting to
get light I spotted 3 bucks feeding on the open ridge we were
on. So we all jumped off our horses and tied them to what ever
we could tie to and jacked shells in our guns and started walking
towards them To get closer Then they started to run and I got
off the first shot and dumped the biggest one in his tracks. My
friend shot a couple of times at the other two and got the biggest one of them . Mine was a 23inch 4x4 and his was the same size a 23inch 3x4. so we took care of them and hung them up. We then rode our horses down the ridge further were my other friend started shooting at a two point and I telled him he is on his own if he shoots him because we were in a really remote place to be packing out a two point especially with two nice bucks down all ready and only four horses. Thank goodness he missed then about a hour later we jumped a big buck so I called my dad and said there was a big one comming towards you he got off two quick shots in the thick trees and hit him but not that good. He then ran right to my buddy that was shooting at the two point earlier and stoped and looked at him 30 feet away and he dumped him with his 30 30 . The buck was 27inches wide and grossed 170"
It was one fun day!!!!!
 
Awesome stories guys!!! Keep them comin'.

Littlefoot,
Those are some COOL looking bucks. I really like the funky extra beam on that one buck.

The ones that have gotten away always haunt me. I have way more " big ones that got away" stories than "big ones that hit the ground", but I'll share a success story first.
Back in 1992, I was in my last year of college and I had just started dating my future wife. She lived about 4 hours from where I went to college and just happened to live in another hunting Region. So, of course, I was skipping class on a regular basis to spend more time with her and more time hunting.
One week in Nov, I was able to get out of class and come up and catch the tail end of an open doe season. I only saw 1 doe and for some reason, I didn't even think about raising the rifle until she was long gone and the doe season was over.
The next day was the start of the 4 point or better season and I decided to hike into an area I explored that previous summer. I hiked for several hours not seeing an animal. The snow was crunchy but I finally caught movement of a buck in the stand of birch and aspen that I was hunting. I could make out antlers through the trees but couldn't get a point count. After several minutes the buck finally stepped into a small opening about 40 yards from me. I was kneeling and I counted 4 points and pulled the trigger. The buck went down hard.
Suddenly, a monster buck came into view about 20 yards from where my buck had dropped. He was huge. I was kicking myself thinking I had just shot the smaller buck. He walked over to my buck laying on the ground and started beating the $hit out of him. Raking him over with his antlers, just going to town on the dead buck. I stood up and yelled at the big buck. He stopped and looked at me and then started coming towards me as if to say, "You wanna fight too?" I was thinking, "All I need is a excuse to drop you buddy" but I shouted at him a couple more times and was able to get him to bound 50 yards away, where he stopped and stared at me. I walked up to my buck laying on the ground and was shocked that I had just shot the biggest buck of my life. I looked at my buck, then looked at the monster still standing there. I had shot the bigger of the 2, but not by much. My buck was a 11X9 that grossed 215. The other monster buck stood there the whole time that I gutted, skinned and quartered my buck. I couldn't believe it. If I had of had another hunting partner with me that day we would have had 2 monsters on the ground.
The most memorable part of the story was actually the next day. My future father-in-law took the day off of work to help me pack out the deer. He only knew me for a couple of months and I was the guy dating his daughter and yet he was willing to take the day off of work and give me a hand packing out the buck. He had never packed out an animal in his life before this. It took us 7 hrs to get that buck out. My pack weighed in a 95 lbs and his pack weighed 75 lbs. I didn't have a clue how to cape out a head at the time so we packed the entire head out with a 3rd pack which we relayed. We shared a great day together and really got to know each other. At the time he didn't know it but he was really sick. He was diagnosed with leukemia a couple of months later and battled the cancer for 2 years before he passed away. That day we spent packing out that buck is really special to me.
 
All good stories!

THe one that haunts me happened when I was 12 years old. I was carrying my 4th deer tag and had yet to fill one. Well, that day dad and I hunted down a beautiful ridge up outta Winthrop in NC Washington. We saw some deer and it kept us going, but no shots.

When we got back to the truck about 11:30 we decided to road hunt a bit and basically explore that afternoon away until the last couple hours before dark, when we'd get up on the hill again and wait for the magic hour.

Well, we are cruising up this road and come around a hairpin corner. On the bend there's a campsite with about 10 campers, tents and trailers and there are AT LEAST 15 guys standing around a big bon fire BSing and having lunch I reckon. Well, we get 100-200 yards past them and here's a DANDY buck, especially for a 12 year old, standing in the road with a couple does. I'd killed several bears by this time, so was no stranger to pulling the trigger on my 94', but this time was different. The buck and does jogged up the hill 40 yards and stopped to look at us. I jumped out and fumbled with my gun to get it loaded. I put a shell straight in the chamber, then worked the action and jacked it out, then I did it AGAIN! I was so scared that buck was going to run away! (I didn't realize the significance that is was about Nov 18th and that buck wasn't going anywhere them does weren't!) Anyhow, I finally got another one in and just flat lifted my gun up and pulled the trigger without even aiming. Complete case of buck fever. My dad had given me ample time and I think he could tell I was not going to pull it together, so he lifted the old 06' up and hit this buck between the shoulder blades as he was walking uphill and away. THe buck did a complete front flip. It was cool.

Anyhow, within 3 minutes of me firing that first shot we had him loaded whole in the truck with his typ 4 point 24" head hanging over the side of the truck as we drove back by those 15 guys. It was awesome!

We got down to a creek to clean him out good and there was a guy there with a 27 or so inch massive 4 point with eyeguards and pure black horns, that was an awesome buck to see! Then later that day we had to flag a guy down in an old 69 ford Bronco that had a true monster in the back. I wish I had more info on the buck, but it was 32+ inch typ with incredible mass and height, easily a 195 net type buck.

Several days later I shot a forked horn blacktail buck off a logging road in Snoqualmie, WA for my first deer!

SOrry so long winded, but its a fun story to recall.
 
BCBOY,

Before I start, let me say that I swear on a stack of 240 non-typicals that the following is true.

I had a similar experience with a horny mule deer about five years ago. I hunt whitetail every year in one of the best mule deer areas in Saskatchewan, sounds logical right?. Don't see many huge whitetails, lots of 130's and 140's, the odd 150-160 and once every few years one that will push 170. But the main reason I hunt whitetail there is because I get to see a lot of huge mule deer bucks after the season for them has closed. I'm always amazed to see how many big deer make it through our rifle season.
Anyway, opening day of whitetail and I'm hiking way into the hills to one of my favorite spots. It's still well before shooting time when I here grunting to my left. I could vaguely make out two deer on the flat below me, but could not tell if they were whitey's or mulies. So I sat down on the trail to see if they would stick around till daylight. Well, fifteen minutes later and I can now tell they're mulies. A good size buck chasing a doe, and by the racket he was making, he was lookin to get some, if you know what I mean. Out of the blue, he suddenly stops chasing the doe and looks over right at me. Keep in mind, I'm wearing white and there's no snow on the ground. He must've mistaken me for the nice white rear of a willing, albeit rather large, doe, cause he made a beeline right to me grunting the whole way. Before I know it he's standing on the trail 25 yards from me. Of course the first thing I do is size up his rack. Not a bad one either, clean 4 x 4, maybe 185 gross. Big mature deer. The next thing I notice is the look in his eye, and it is most definitely not fear! He starts towards me, grunting and slobbering like a pig with every step. At 10 yards I flick the safety off my rifle. Even though I'm obsessed with big mule deer, I'm not gonna let some stinky old buck have his with me, in season or not! At 7 yards I think "enough already", stand up and say very clearly "That's close enough big fella!". I'm not sure what I was expecting the buck to do, but what came next really blew me away. Instead of being startled and running away, he blows snot at me and proceeds to squat and urinate all over himself. I didn't know whether to be amazed or look away in embarrassment. So by now, I'm pretty sure this buck is not all that afraid of me. Being somewhat astonished at this whole episode, I do what any smart person would do, I take a step towards him. And to my surprise, he grunts, throws his head back and takes a step towards me! At this point I'm realizing that I'm in very real danger of having an ass-kicking laid on me, or worse yet, something else involving my rear end! So I take a couple of steps back. This bold move startled the buck so much, he also took a step....towards me. This happened three times! I'd step back, he'd step forward. Honest to God, I was beginning to wonder if I was being set up on one of those hidden camera deals. This deer was not in the least afraid of me, and I'll tell ya, the way he was looking at me...creepy! It was like he was saying "yeah I now you ain't no doe Boy, but you'll do juuuust fine".
I was getting uncomfortable with this situation, so I took off one of my gloves and threw it at him. Of course I missed and it landed on the ground in front of him. He finally took his eyes off me and bent over to smell the glove. He looked back up at me, snorted/grunted and simply turned around and slowly walked away.
I don't know if anyone else has ever been "afraid" of a deer before, but I was. I'm 6'-2" and 215 pounds of solid marbled, kinda muscley, mostly saggy gelatinous tissue(lest anyone think I'm sculpted muscle or anything), but this buck was easy 350+ on the hoof. I do not think I would have fared well in a battle with him.And that's assuming he wanted to fight me. If he was looking for the alternative.....I don't even want to go there!
I've seen rutting mule deer bucks do some pretty stupid things, but this episode is by far the weirdest thing I've ever seen
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-11-04 AT 08:55PM (MST)[p]Ward,
Great story! That's really funny. I've had similiar experiences with bucks that come in with their ears back as I grunt at them. Some, I could have reached out and slapped. Really can make a guy nervous sometimes and even though they may not be the size I'm looking for, I've still had my finger ready to slip the saftey off just in case. LOL!

When it comes to be haunted by one that got away, I have a huge nontypical that is etched in my brain. I had a moose draw for this one area and while looking for moose I had seen a little spike muley on 3 different occasions in the same spot. When moose season ended, I told a buddy I worked with, who had never shot a deer before, that I knew where a spike was if he wanted it. He definately was keen, so we headed up there and low and behold, the spike was right on the same corner of the same old logging road as I'd seen him before. My buddy got out, slammed the door, fumbled with his shells, the classic first timmer response. The buck was only 50 yards from us and didn't even notice we were there. I set up to back up my buddy and waited. I watched through my scope for what seemed like forever until he finally shot. A good clean miss. Then, all of a sudden my scope filled up with antler as a huge nontypical bailed out of the timber beside the road. It was on a corner in the road, and he was out of sight in a flash. I ran as fast as I could up the road to the corner and caught the buck just as he was entering the timber again. The only split second shot that presented itself was an a$$ shot and I passed on it, hoping that I would run over there and I would catch him looking over his shoulder instead. I got to where he entered the timber and it was head high with rhododendron and azalea. I couldn't see a thing in there. He disappeared like a ghost. I haven't been able to get his image out of my mind since. He had points going everywhere. By far the biggest nontypical I've ever seen.
 
When it comes to needing just a little bit of luck, it never seems to go my way....

Last August I was out with my dad in one spot that we have been hunting for the last 25 years, and has always held good bucks.
We had been watching one particular buck for a week or so. Not a "monster," but a solid 175-180 class buck. On one particular morning we set out to watch for this buck as we usually do, and hopefully catch of glimpse of where he might lay down for the afternoon. As the hours went by there was no sign of him, or any of his companions.
As mid-afternoon approached and there was no sign of the buck, we decided to make a drive that we usually make as we head off the mountain. I got set up as my dad made his way through some ledges were we thought this guy might be bedded up. Twenty minutes later there was no sign of any deer, and I spotted my dad coming down just below the trail. What I thought was our last resort didn't produce.
There was another ledge below the one we had just came through, and as we started to make our way off he mountain, I told my dad to stop. I said "lets walk to the edge over here and look off to that lower ledge." We made our way to the edge; my dad was slightly in front of me. I just happened to look up at my dad and he instantly took a knee on the ground, and was motioning for me to get down. At this point I could not see what he was seeing, as I was behind him. I quickly nocked an arrow. I waited and waited not knowing what was happening. We sat motionless for at least 5 minutes, and there was not a single piece of cover for 20 yards. I saw my dad's hand raise slowy, and cautiously off the ground as he pointed to our left. I slowly turned my head and could see the top of some velvet covered antlers coming up the trail 15 yards to my left. Two more steps and I realized that this was him. He was 15 yards and was almost on my immediate left. My first thought was to not draw back as he was too close and there was nothing to conceal my movement. I was hoping he would continue to go up the trail to an old broken fence that he would have to slighty manuever around and then I could draw, as the fence would take his attention for a moment. He stopped and he had me. I was pegged, and I couldn't move. We were eye to eye, and he turned and bolted back down the trail.

To be that close and not be able to let one fly is heartbreaking.

Mabye my a little stroke of luck will swing my way one day!!!

Bowhntr
 
Here is one for you,

It was my new wifes first year hunting. She had drawn a southern muzzleloader tag in Utah and asked me if I could put her on a buck. I told her sure, we might could find something she might be satisfied with. We got up early opening morning and drove to one of my favorite spots, parked and waited. Finally, first light. We sneak to the edge of a steep draw and look off and there is a small two point standing about 60 yards away. My wife elected to pass. We look around and see 3 deer on the next ridge, one of them is a hog. I grab my wife and we sneak around and get within 130 yards. I can't beleive the size of this deer, he's the biggest deer I have seen, alive anyway. he is a typical 4, with mass, good forks, and a 28-30 spread. A rough guess is 180-185. I'm excited as heck and I look over at my wife and she says "Should I shoot, is he a good one?" Hell yes, I said , drop him in his tracks. My wife takes aim, boom, shoots just under him. I grab the muzzleloader to reload and realize my wife is not wearing her fanny pack. With mounting horror I ask where is your reloading stuff. Its in the truck she says. Meanwhile the deer is still standing there looking around. I turned and sprinted to the truck, grab the reloading stuff and go back. I get back and the deer is still there. I'm thinking, oh yeah, he's dead for sure this time. I pour the powder and start the sabot, reach for the ramrod and its GONE. We watched that buck stand there for the next 10 minutes. He finally ran off when some other hunters skylined themselves. My wife says, I should get over it. Maybe she is right, There is always next year.
 
OK, I got a crazy story you probably will call BS but it is completely true. It's not a deer story though.

Two years ago I drew a late any elk tag in Washington. I drove to the top of forest service road. The road ended on the top of mountain, where an old fire tower used to be. the only thing left of it was the concrete bases. It was just starting to get light and I was standing outside my truck, listening for foot steps in the crunchy snow below in the canyon.

I heard a large bird fly down out of a pine tree about 100 yards below me. The bird flew up the hill and landed in some buck brush about 15 feet to my left. I realized it was a big blue grouse. I could see it strutting through the brush picking at the ground. it kept getting closer to me. I did not move. Within a minute it was on the road and walking towards me.

I started wondering how close this grouse was going to get before he realized I was standing there. When he got right under my feet I thought about stomping him and eating him but it was pretty cool that he was there.

I eventually decided that I had to move and go hunting. The grouse was pecking around my feet and under my truck. I started moving around but he still did not leave. I started talking to him and he still did not spook. He would stand six inches from my feet and not flinch when I took a step.

I grabbed my rifle and started walking down the road. This bird started following me! I turned around and he was running down the road to keep up. I stopped to wait for him. He caught up and started eating again. I dumped off the road and started working down into a canyon. I looked back and he was still following me. He walked through alot of big bushes to keep up and hopped over deadfalls. I eventually started gaining distance on him so he flew down to me. He kept following me all the way down the hill.

I stopped to go to the bathroom and he sat about 3 feet away, waiting for me to finish. I stopped on an open hillside and started glassing. I sat there for about an hour. The entire time the grouse stayed right next to me. When I layed back against the mountain he was nearly sitting on my left shoulder. Did you guys know that grouse eat baby pine trees? This guy was eating all the needles of ponderosa seedlings. I was looking him right in the eye from about 8 inches away. I tried to feed him some cracker crumbs but he was not interested.

I got up and started working into some dense timber. He flew into a tree and followed me from tree-to-tree for about a mile. When I came out of the timber on the other side, he stayed in the trees and did not follow me anymore. I never saw that bird again.

He followed me for a total distance of about 2 miles. I'll never forget that morning.

Mike Henne
 
I still see this deer in my dreams, about 4 years ago we go in to the area we was going to hunt on a wed. Season started on Sat. Well I spot this buck with 10 does coming up out of the canyon at 7:04 Thurs. morning very nice buck right at 30" and really heavy. Get back to camp tell everyone about this buck, next day we(a buddy goes back with me) we see this same buck with 10 does come up the same trail at 7:03, I get back to camp we are all talking about this really nice buck and how he was following the same trail each day, rut was only a few away from the way these deer was acting, Well I told everyone that buck was going to died at 7:02 the next morning, next day at 7:00 the 10 does came up that trail but NO BUCK never saw him again that season, Saw him once the next year but it was before season again and in a different area of the canyon about 2 miles away from where he was staying the year before, That area has since burned and the deer haven't really moved back into it yet.I think he's probaly lion food by now.
 
It had to be more than 25 years ago now. I do not own a gun and rarely go gun hunting. A good buddy of mine ask me to put in and go rifle mule deer hunting in a wildnerness area on the backside of a lake not to far from Phoenix, I think it was Bartlett lake. It would be a November dessert hunt.

We took his loaded up boat across the lake and backpacked in for a full day to set up camp in the foothills of the wilderness mountain range. During our hike we did not see much deer sign. The next morning , at first light we decide to head further into the mountain range to see if we could find deer or at least some sign.

As I said this was a dessert hunt but because of recent rains some of the creeks were flowing. We had water purification tablets and would refill our canteens as needed throughout the day.

We had hunted all day, further up the range away from camp, and had not seen anything but a few does and not much sign. We met up about an hour before dark and knew that we would be hiking out in the dark. We were at the base of a large mountain with deep canyons on each side. We decided to hunt until dark, each of us going to the differnt side of the mountain to see if we could find any decent sign. We agreed that at dark we would return to this starting spot, which we had already determined the best drainage to head back to our camp.

About 15 minutes after we split up I heard about 4 gun shots on the other side of the mountain. I knew it was my buddy becasue we had not seen another person all day. I high tailed it to the gun shots. I saw my buddy and he told me he got a small 2 point that should be just around the bend. Just then I see the biggest mule deer I had ever seen on the ground. It was a wide(29") deeped forked 4x4. My buddy was just pulling my chain. He said that about 10 minutes after we had split up he had seen this single 4 point feeding on the side of the canyon. His first shot was off and he hit it in the foot. It took off and it took him another 3 shots before he put it down.

We high fived but did not have much time to waste. As I said this was about 25 years ago and we were young, foolish, and never prepared for what we had before us. For example neither one of us had even a flashlight. We knew it would be a full moon and expected that would provide enough light for us to figure our way back to camp. We figured this drainage would be our main trail until we reached this one distinct saddle on this distinct ridge which we palnned to cross, which we figured would drop us into the drainage where we had set up camp.

We had been hunting together for a few years and our general rule was that the person who did not get the deer had to haul the sucessful hunter's deer out. Unfortunately for me my friends were great hunters and more often than not I was carrying the deer back to camp. It was a good thing I had a strong back and strong legs. I was looked upon as an average hunter but an excellant mule.

We field dressed the buck. I went to pick the deer up on my back and confirmed it was indeed a large deer. There was no way I could carry this deer. We cut the deer into 2 pieces.Of course we did not have any type of packframes. The back half was just the back legs and rearend. We should have dumped the rib cage but we were young and stupid. I took the front portion and my buddy took the back half.

As we started down the drainage, it was dark by now, we did not go to far before we heard the first rattle snake. I see that others have mentioned that they do not like snakes, well I hate snakes. We did ot have flashlights so we could not see the snake. We would just make a wide circle around the rattle and move on. It seemed like no sooner than we had cleared one rattle snake and began to feel comfrontable we would hear another rattle. We decided to sit down for an hour or so to let the ground cool down and put the snakes to sleep. It worked.

After about a mile my buddy simply had to give up. He was in great shape but was a thin frame guy and simply not capable of carrying much weight for long distances. So we hung and skinned the back half up in a mesqite tree. We would be back the next day. We then continues on.

Carrying that deer was hard work and I got thirsty. So every time we stopped to rest I drink my canteen of water would fill up my canteen from the creek and put the purification tablet in. According to the directions I think the tablets were suppose to be used in a 1/2 gallon of water,our canteens were 1 quart, and you were suppose to give the tablets about an hour to work before drinking.Well being young, foolish, and indistructable, we took our breaks probably about ever 30-45 minutes and as I said I was thirsty.

One incident where I really questioned whether I wanted to remain my buddy's friend was when we had stopped to take a break. As I was filling my canteen from the creek my buddy was upstream from me and decided to take a leak. I looked and he was pissing in the creek as I was filling my canteen. I yelled at him and he explained I should not be worried because after all the cows, deer, and other wildlife were doing the same thing and that is why we had the purification tablets. I shouted that it was one thing to wonder what the wildlife was doing as compared to watching my buddy pissing into the stream in which I was filling my canteen downstream in.

Anyway this story is getting too long. We finally arrived at camp at 3:30 a.m. Our throats were swollen so that even though we were hungry we could not swallow. I think it had something to do with our misuse of the purification tablets. By midday we were okay and could eat. It had been a very very long day.
 
While scouting in Wyoming last year, myself, my dad, and friend Paul spent one rainy night under this little shelter.
After spending 2 hours climbing to the ridgetop, we decided it wasn't worth it to return to the tent for the night. Instead, we put together this small shelter and spent the night. It rained and rained. Would break for 15 minutes every hour, long enough to dry small portions of our clothes by the fire, then it would begin raining again.

That was one long, cold night. The worst part was, the next morning we were fogged in and couldn't see anyway.

Definitely a trip to tell the kids about.

Our Wyoming hut.
brian31904-2.jpg


Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com
 
deerhuntr....lol, you can call em' grouse, prarie chickens, stupid chickens, or how about just plain stupid! Am glad to hear you didn't pop him though.
 
Well, the list of bucks that escaped my arrows is very long,
and we would all need at least a case on ice to get into them
and for me to make them sound as good as they really are, so I'll give you a short one about a buck that went into the freezer.

It all started at one of my buddy's bachelor party, It just so
happened that that we planned it the night before the wedding,
BIG MISTAKE, well we all got into the bottom of several bottles
and around 2 A.M. we decided that a morning bow hunt would be
the thing to burn our hangovers off. so after a couple hours of sleep we loaded into Blue Bart, my buddy Brady's old blue Ford
and headed out. We parked Bart, unloaded and headed out on this big long ridge to glass. we got set up and found three bucks.
nothing huge, but shooters. I got the call to make the stalk, but Brady wanted a shot if one came so we headed out together.
Now the bucks were about 2,000 yards directly below us, and we needed to be off the hill by noon, so we wasted no time screwing around. When we started the stalk we had the bucks bedded down,
and thought they would stay put for a while, but once we got out of sight one of the bucks had got up and moved. we got lucky
and found him again, and he had moved a lot closer to us, but the wind was bad and the buck was bedded about 90 yards away.
By this time the sun was out and the temp. had reached about 90
degrees, I know most of you have had to go out and work off a hangover in the August sun and we all know it's no fun, coupled with the fact that we were pinned down out in the open with no shade but a tall sage brush and no water, the situation was not good. So we are sitting there hoping the wind would change one
way or the other, secretly I was hoping the buck would wind us so I could go back to Bart and get some water or beer what ever was colder. about 10 min. later the buck stands up, looks around for a second and starts walking directly at us, at 50 yards I knock an arrow, but the buck just keeps on, at 30 yards he's still coming, he walked straight at us until he was within 10 yards. I had come to full draw when he was at about 25 yards and I was in no shape to keep holding, and at 6 yards he turned broad side and I made a double lunger. after the shot the buck
damn near ran us over, we both dropped our bows and dove out of the way. after about 80 yards the buck was down. after that we just looked at each other and started laughing. so we gut the buck and start the climb back to the top of the ridge. it was one
of the worst hours of my life, at least it seemes to be at the time. So we get back to Bart and Brady had left the headlights on and the battery was dead, miles from town, a dead battery, and we need to go around the mountain to get my buck and it's
already noon, after a half an hour we get Bart started and head to the buck, get him loaded and head back to town, we dropped the groom off at the church with tux in hand at 1:30. He got hitched after a long night of drinking and wild day in the hills
without a shower, I missed the wedding but made it to the reception for the free beer, and to this day his wife is still
pissed about the whole thing. The end.

NVMDF
 
Brian,
That has to be the crappiest shelter I ever done seen. LMAO!!! I think you need to come up here and have a real bushman show ya how to make them so that you don't get wet. More I look at that picture the more I think I made better forts when I was 8 or 9 yrs old. LOL! :)
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LAST EDITED ON Mar-24-04 AT 08:47PM (MST)[p]coyote75 I was needing some info on mule deer in wyoming. I have killed some good missiouri bucks now Im going to try for the first time to kill a muley.I just need a few pointers if you have any it would be highly appr thanks coyote75. Iwil be hunting around sheridan kind of north east by the montana border
 
I am an easterner who has been hunting mule deer out west since 1997. I have never killed a mule deer although I have turned down several forkhorns and a 3 X 3. I live in a state where whitetails are plentiful and its no big deal to kill one or several small bucks each season. I drive 1800 miles and spend a week camping in the high country so I have somehow decided that I want to kill a decent 4 X 4 mule deer or nothing. The first hunt that sticks out was in 1997. We drew Wyoming Region D and I talked to a couple of biologists and game wardens and got what I thought was some good information on public land access. This was my first western mule deer hunt and I was primed and ready for action. I went thru a lot of planning to make sure it would be a successful hunt. To make a long story short, I saw a few does in the national forest and even saw a couple of bucks on private property while driving around the area but I never saw a buck in a week of hunting. On the next to last day of our trip, my brother killed a sorry little forkhorn. We felt like kings because we had traveled 1800 miles and tagged a mule deer but in the back of my mind, I decided that I didn't want to kill a mule deer that was smaller than something I could easily take back home. This is just my personal opinion and I don't have a problem or care what anyone else takes. What makes this country so great is that everyone has a choice and I choose to hunt for a decent buck. I just made the decision that I wanted a mulie that I could be proud of.

The next year, I went to Colorado with a bunch of guys on a elk/deer hunt (first rifle season). The highlight of this trip was the third evening when I watched 3 mulie bucks off and on for over two hours. I actually had 3 different opportunities to shoot and I was well within reasonable range but I couldn't bring myself to shoot. All three were just forkhorns although the biggest had to have a 18-20 inch spread. I just couldn't bring myself to shoot because I had made up my mind that I wanted at least a mature 3 X 3 buck. I watched them feed away about an hour before dark. I felt real bad because I knew I wouldn't get another chance but I let them go because I knew there were bigger bucks around. I went back to the same spot the last evening of the season and shortly before dark, 3 cow elk fed out of the timber. These were the first wild elk I had ever laid eyes on.

The 2000 season has been my best season so far. 3 of us applied for Wyoming Region D but we didn't get drawn so we picked up leftover licenses for deer and antelope and rushed to make plans in July. I got a lead on a place on public land that the local biologist told me was an over-looked area. We got lost driving to the area and ended up camping about 30 miles east of where we thought we were. As my luck goes, I saw a decent sized 3 X 3 the first afternoon of deer season and really thought about dropping him but he wasn't much bigger than a couple of whitetails I have taken so again, I let him walk. My buddy got a decent 4 X 4 the third day and we celebrated with tenderloin wrapped in bacon washed down with large quantities of Miller Lite. To this day, that is one of the best meals I have ever had. I hunted from daylight to dark for 6 days and saw a forkhorn which I could have dropped and I got a glimpse of a couple of other bucks but never got a shot. The other guy in camp killed a forkhorn the next to last evening. He was actually sitting in camp eating milk and cookies when another hunter (road hunting for elk) came along and told him that he had seen a buck and doe about a mile up the road. So this guy, gets his rifle and goes up the road and the deer is still there so he shots it. This was this guy's first and only trip out west. We did end up taking 3 nice antelope so this was my best trip so far. We filled 5 of 6 tags and I could have filled the last one but again, I held out for a 4 X 4 which never came along.

I have hunted in Wyoming each year since then but haven't had any luck finding my mulie. I have taken 3 nice antelope, shot coyotes, taken pictures of bald eagles, watched badgers dig holes in an incredible short time, seen bull elk herd their cows into the timber and generally had a great time. I am hooked on mulie hunting even though I have an incredibly poor record. My application is in Cheyenne waiting to be pulled in the drawing and I can't wait till July!

Tim

Searchin' for a 4 X 4
 

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