Wyoming Deer Hunt '09

AWHOLELOTTABULL

Long Time Member
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This has been a long awaited hunt for me because it would be my first mule deer hunt with my 13 year old hunting partner hunting right along side of me with her own tag in hand. Preparations included getting a tag, getting good gear for her and finding a couple of other hunters to share camp with that didn't mind having a 13 year old girl in camp. 2 very good family friends were more than willing to come along to share the hunting experience with us.
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The Wyoming country is HUGE and a glassing paradise. If you are serious about hunting this state good optics are a must. It is also a roadhunters paradise! If there is a draw or ridge there is a road down it. That made it hard to get away from other hunters but extremely nice when you get a buck on the ground.
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Opening morning found us up early and feeding the wood burning stove to get warmed up. Breakfast bars and hot chocolate were the breakfast items of choice and soon we were on the mountain.
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We decided to get a good overlook area and hang tight to see what other hunters were moving around. Shortly after the sun came up we heard shooting above us on the ridge. As we stood there glassing I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye as 5 bucks came around the point at 100 yards running right underneath us. We didn't have very much time to set up and trying to get a 13 year old on to a buck that's on the move proved to be too much for us and the shot opportunity was gone. We watched as the big buck ran around the next point followed by a barrage of gunfire. We later saw the buck up close as we helped the hunter load it into his truck. A nice 4x5 Wyoming buck. We headed back to camp to touch base with our other hunters and after a radio conversation with Ryan we decided to head to his location and try and hunt a buck that he had seen go into a cedar covered ridge. That proved to be a good move on our part.

Meagan and I went up to an open saddle to set up as Ryan stayed on top of the ridge with Troy setting up across the draw for a better vantage point to glass the thick cedars. After setting up the bipods and looking for shooting lanes we settled in for the wait. 10 minutes later a doe appeared to our left at 40 yards coming over the ridge from behind us followed by 3 other does and then a nice tall buck right on their trail. For those of you that have hunted cedars, you know how tough it is to get a shot at a moving deer. The windows are small and all you can hope for is that they stop for shot. Meagan was trying to get the buck in her scope and had the does as they made their way through the trees. As the buck stepped out into a small clearing at 200 yards he stopped. I asked Meagan if she had the buck in her scope and she said that she had the does but she couldn't see the buck. I told her that he was to the left a little and that she would have to hurry a little because our shot window was soon to disappear. That's when the surprise came. She said shoot him dad if you have the shot! I have passed on bigger bucks than this one but with the whole scenario of it being our first mule deer hunt together and her sitting right by my side I couldn't pass on this one. The shot rang out and the buck hunched and disappeared behind a cedar tree. Meagans immediate response was, "You got him dad!" I told her that the shot looked good and she said "yah it did". I said, "I thought you couldn't see him?" and she said "I had just found him in the scope when you pulled the trigger. We marked the spot where we last saw him and headed out. Meagan went first and found him right off the bat. After a few high fives and hugs we took these pictures;
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This picture is of the buck in his final resting place with the little dot in the background being my truck. This is the only kill in my hunting career where I could see the truck from the kill site. You gotta love Wyoming!
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We went back to camp and enjoyed the reenactment of the hunt with our friends and some good food. Later that night we set out to a different area of the unit to look for a buck for Meagan. We drove down a ridge and Meagan spotted some dear on the ridge a few hundred yards away feeding. We parked the truck and started out on foot. The deer fed over the edge of the ridge before we could get a look at them but Meagan wanted to get a look at them so we followed them over the ridge. We got to a point where we could see the deer and Meagan said, "they're all bucks dad". I quickly threw up my binocs and verified what she was saying was true. They were definately all bucks with the biggest being a 3x3 about 20" wide. I asked her if she wanted to get the biggest buck and she nodded with a grin. We were 300 yards away at the time but Meagan wanted to try and close the distance to get a better shot. Fortunately we had cover to do this and we were able to shave off 150 yards. We set up and began looking at the bucks more closely. They were aware of our presence by then and were getting nervous. Adding to this, was the fact that it was getting dark fast now and time was short for visibility. She settled into her shooting position as we discussed which buck was the bigger 3 point. After telling me she had him in the scope I felt her breath go out and hold followed by a BOOM! THe familiar "whop" sound was heard after the shot and the buck hit the ground. Meagan had just taken her first muley buck and did much of the work on her own. The pictures from here tell it all.
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And finally, how many 13 year old girls you know have cleaned their own deer? My Meagan has and without any hesitation at all!
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What an experience for a Dad to be part of. This hunt will be hard to beat. One final shot from camp........ cold yet very warm inside.
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It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 
You ARE living the dream right there!
Congrats to your little one!
Great memories for the memory bank.
 
Jim that is awesome! Great story with a great ending.
I had a hunt like that last year in Colorado with my 14 year old daughter and it was a blast!
I'm looking forward to her cow elk hunt the end of the month.
 
Meagan, congratulations on a very, very nice buck! That's a day you and your dad will never forget!

Eel

Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
 
Jim,

Great story and congrat's to you and your daughter! Too bad I couldn't find your camp Friday. I wish I would have been able to make it up there today.

My son will be healed up and ready for next year. Can't wait to get him up to Wyoming next year. Hope your hunts continue to be a success. That hunt will be hard to beat!!
 
Woody,
My hats off to you guys that live up there in that cold. It's beautiful country but cold as hell! I wondered if you had stopped by but we didn't get back to camp until late Saturday night. Thanks for trying though.

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 
Great stuff jim, I can't wait until my little boy is old enough to take his first deer.
 
Jim,

Fantastic job on your bucks and way to get your daughter going early on. I showed my 3 year old daughter your pics and she told me, "I want to do that when I get big" :) Gotta love it!! I can't wait until my kids are old enough to start hunting with me.

Thanks for sharing your hunt!!
 
Great job you two. Awsome story and pics and a couple of fine bucks to go along with it. Thanks for sharing it with us. Im sure this won't be the last time we see photos of her with an animal on the ground.

DeadI/Jared
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Jim, sharing that story made my whole year, and both of your smiles tell the most important part. Someday I will meet Meagan and I will share with her the story of some of my guy friends that thought they'd challenge the girl with a guttting chore.......

I really love that last pic!!

Congrats to you both!

Pred
 
Thanks for sharing that awesome hunt with your daughter! I have a hunt planned with mine in Dec. Hope it goes as well as yours!
 
That's what it's all about right there........congrats to the young lady.......and kudos to you for taking the time to introduce her to the outdoors. Great write-up!

BOHNTR )))---------->
 
Congrats to both Meagan and you for a fine hunt and great story & photos!!!






"Good mass & long brows"
 
Man Jim that's too awesome!

What a lucky girl to have a dad spend that kind of time with her. Seriously, really how many girls now days really get to experience what she did this past weekend. NOT MANY!

Couldn't be happier for you two!
 
Here's a few more photos from camp. The Cabelas Alaknak was great and slept 4 of us and our gear very comfortably with a lot of room to spare.

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Meagan finished up the work by skinning out her deer the day after she shot it. What a trooper!

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It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 
Your a freakin moron awlb! You have absolutely no clue how to hunt mule deer! Your so dumb you cant even tell when your in an area that has no deer! You obviously haven't been reading these forums. If you have you'd know you don't hunt deer in the oilfields. The massive amounts of habitat destruction and aggressive poaching have demolished the animals in those areas. The ones that stay die from drinking oil contaminated water.

In closing I will leave you with this picture. Your a disgrace to the MM hunting community. Maybe you can repent and get right with god. But from the judgemental standpoint of MM you may be going straight to heck for taking your kids to the oilfield!


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Don't worry. I think I might someday be able to find it in my heart to forgive you. We all make mistakes I suppose.
ROFDL!



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silly liberals, paychecks are for workers!
 
It was tough to find the deer around all the oil pads and roads.:D I got tired of glassing all the does, fawns and little bucks, litterally 100's. All those environmentalists would have to do is drive one of the billion roads there are and look at the flats and pads the oil industry created. Every one of them has deer coverin them at dusk. I should have changed my oil right there. I looked for a spout but I figured they would probably mind if my buck left some blood on their pad!

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 
ROFL! I like your style. I think we might be able to get along someday.


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silly liberals, paychecks are for workers!
 
Jim and Megan
you guys did great, I like the tent. great bucks,


"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
Stinky,

Like you I have a business and work in the oilfields. I laugh
when I hear everybody whine about the so called "destruction"
of wildlife. Everytime I am up there there are deer and antelope all over the place.
 
That is awesome!
And look at the body size of them bucks compared to the average Utah bucks you see now days.
Looks like Dad is as proud as ever & should be.
How about Mrs AWLB?
Or were you roughin it?

we are YoungCountry, we like all kinds
of music and people, 'cause we do draw some lines'
no our hair is not orange,we don't wear chains and spikes
but we know how to have fun come Saturday night
 
LOL - definately roughing it by her standards YoungCountry! We use the wall tent as a common area at elk camp and that's as much as she wants. She has been on several Wyoming antelope hunts but sleeping in her nice warm trailer. If we could somehow keep that tent heated all night I could probably get her in there. She's tough but prefers some of the modern conveniences of home, like that automatic heater thing.:D

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 
Exactly the reason we should all be hunting! Throw out horns and bragging rights and big money! This story is why we all should be going out every fall. Thanks for taking your daughter on a trip she'll never forget. Thanks for sharing it with us! This site gets too many big egos and clueless people sometimes. Your pictures and story more than make up for the other garbage! Thanks!
 
Jim good looking pictures. Looks like you had a great time. I love the picture of Meagan doing the dirty work, all I can say is wow! Tell her great job. You to Dad!
 
Congrats to you and your daughter on a great hunt. Your camp looks real comfortable....I like your setup.
-Raptor
 
After reading your story I can't wait to take my Son on his first big game hunt.
Congrats this will be a hunt you will never forget a memory maker for sure.
Yep it's cold in that country that's for sure.
Good Job
 
Congrats to you both on a successful hunt, great story and pictures to bring it all together, I like that last picture of the tent and lights...great shot.

Brian
 

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