MAVERICK - My 2015 UT Archery Mule Deer

B

bugleboy

Member
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Hey fellow MM Guys/Gals!

I thought I would share some photos of "Maverick" - My 2015 Utah Archery Mule Deer.

There is a million details about this buck and I apologize ahead of time if I miss any of them.

To start, we hunted this same buck last year for my Dad with the small amount of time we had between our Utah and Wyoming hunts.
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Fortunately, he returned this year and I was able to find him the first week of July. Knowing he was around 180" last year, I knew this was the buck to keep an eye on and I watched him every week until the hunt.
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The first couple of the weeks didn't go as planned, but I was finally able to put an arrow in him at 39-yards on Aug.28th.
I thought I made a perfect hit, but found my arrow only penetrated about 10". I later followed the blood trail uphill 0.5-mile and decided to let him lay overnight. We ended up searching the entire following day and another 1.0-mile further but now downhill.

I ended up putting in (31) Hours Total of searching for Maverick and miraculously was able to find him 10-Days later. It looked like he had only been dead for a couple days prior to that and ended up traveling a total of 2.15-Miles on 3-Legs, as I actually hit him in his elbow, breaking his leg completely, and breaking the tip off in his brisket with the steep angle (passing just 2" below his heart).

I was completely devastated lowing Maverick, but I believe everything happens for a reason and am truly blessed to have found him.

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Public Land - DIY - General Tag - High Country.
Maverick ended up scoring 207 7/8" Gross - 30.5" Outside Spread - 24" Main Beams - 4" Eye Guards - 17" G2's and 43 3/8" of Mass.

Huge Thank You to my father, Ken Morgan for being with me every day we've hunted and also to Ryan Iverson for helping scout and glassing for us countless days. And a tremendous Thank You for everyone's prayers and positivity in me finding Maverick!

- Sean Morgan
 
>Congratulations Sean on a Great Buck.
>
>
>Just out of curiosity, What did
>he die from?

I would guess having a broadhead in his chest cavity...

Super Buck! I've been looking forward to seeing what you'd bring down this year, you didn't disappoint!


2a0fcsk.gif
 
Great job once again. Stud buck and dedication. You earned that one. Well, you earn them all.

Jason "The Big Ol' Muley"
 
Great buck!! I respect that you stuck with it and your time searching paid off. most hunters would go stick another buck. Congrats on sticking through it
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-08-15 AT 10:22PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Sep-08-15 AT 10:22?PM (MST)

No doubt that's an awesome buck. And everyone has made a poor shot in their career. No ones perfect. But losing the meat on an animal haunts me way more than losing the antlers ever could.
 
Yeah, sucks to loose all that great meat, but I appreciate the tenacity you showed in searching until you found him. Great buck. Sorry the shot wasn't quite what you'd hoped for when you released.
 
Good for you for sticking with it, getting a shot and then putting the time and effort in to find him. I'm very impressed buddy, you're a great hunter.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com
LIKE MonsterMuleys.com on Facebook!
 
>>Congratulations Sean on a Great Buck.
>>
>>
>>Just out of curiosity, What did
>>he die from?
>
>I would guess having a broadhead
>in his chest cavity...
>
>Super Buck! I've been looking forward
>to seeing what you'd bring
>down this year, you didn't
>disappoint!
>

Sorry I knew when I posted that question that someone was going to get offended.

Sean did an amazing job on finding this buck and more people should be like that. I commend him for the Tenacity, Will Power, Stamina, Persistence, and Respect for the animal to put in this type of effort to find him.

It was an honest question. He put in 10 days to find him and he mentioned that he looked to be dead for only two of them. He said he had a broken leg and a hole 2" under his heart. It sounds like none of the hit were fatal so I really was really wondering what might have killed him just for future knowledge.

That's why I asked, Maybe the wrong time and place to ask
 
Congratulations.
It does make a guy sick to find a deer that long after shooting him...but nice work and great deer for sure.
 
Jeez Sean, you better slow it down. In a couple years you'll need a whole stadium to put up all your giant deer..!!

Way to go on another fantastic buck. Keep it up. :)

"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Congrats Sean. You are a credit to all of us as hunters. Thanks for your perseverance and dedication. That's another super stud and you deserve him. You are welcome my camp and home any time.
 
Taking big bucks is awesome, but consitently taking big bucks, unguided, DYI, on general units is something entirely different! Congrats.
 
Great buck. Congrats.

Everyone knows the meat was un-salvageable. What bugs me is what seems to be a general lack of concern about that by most commenters. The rack size is obviously way more important. Just an observation.

Again...great buck.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-10-15 AT 06:16PM (MST)[p]>Great buck. Congrats.
>
>Everyone knows the meat was un-salvageable.
>What bugs me is what
>seems to be a general
>lack of concern about that
>by most commenters. The rack
>size is obviously way more
>important. Just an observation.
>
>Again...great buck.

You're right. More people should passive-aggressively guilt trip him before or after offering their congratulations. Thanks for leading the way.

Just an observation.
 
Although it hasn't really been mentioned. I highly doubt any archer doesn't cringe when he knows he put an animal through hell like that. I guarantee that's all that was going through his mind while he was looking. I lost a cow elk and I still feel sick when I think about it. Guilt tripping isn't necessary. Its usually self inflicted plenty as is.
 
you guys calling him out for not caring about the meat are ridiculous. He spent 31 (THIRTY-ONE) hours over many days after he shot the buck to find him - he obviously cared about the entire deer not just the rack. Pretty ballsy to call a guy out for not caring about the meat when you don't even know him and ignore the actual time he put into finding the deer.

HUGE congrats Sean on an AWESOME buck and an even bigger congrats on devoting ALL of your time and energy to finding him after a less than perfect hit (which happens to everyone if you hunt long enough)!!!
 
Not ballsy at all. Just an observation. Never said Sean did not care about the meat...in fact, I'm certain that he gave it his all trying to find the animal before it spoiled. Not trying to pick on Sean. I've been on here longer than most, and I know a great trophy mule deer hunter when I see one. And Sean is one of the few on here that consistently kills giant mulies year in and year out. And with archery tackle to boot!!

Not trying to lay a guilt trip down, either. I'm sure he has plenty without my assistance. Nor did I ignore the fact that he spent 31 hours trying to find the buck. I don't know Sean, much as you don't know me.

My statement was a generalization and covered ALL hunters.

Just a blanket statement that pretty much covers the way I see modern hunting. Probably some bad timing to post that on this thread, however. For that, I apologize. But I stand by my words.

Out.
 
Sean congrats man you earn all those big bucks. It sucks you didn't find him sooner so you could enjoy those delicious backstraps and the rest of the meat. But you did everything you could and way more than most. There are guys that wound 2 3 4 and even five deer a year on that brutal unit. They put in piss poor effort looking for them and have the mindset I'll get another one. You don't fit into that category, i'm guessing the cape was junk, but I know you'll find a way to bring that trophy back to life. Truth is anyone who does alot of bowhunting will wound a buck and possibly never find it that's just bowhunting. And the thought of anyone wounding a big buck is a feeling that sucks as a hunter Huge congrats man and I hope you have a great rest of your hunting season.
 
Tremendous deer and tremendous effort in locating him. We all should follow his example of persistence in locating an animal we have hit with arrow or bullet. Congratulations!

NRA Life Member

www.swanspointoutfitters.com

The critters have to win every time. I only have to win once.
 
Who cares if the rack or meat was the concern? He wounded the deer and put in the time to find it. Great job. Instead of moving on and killing another buck, he put in the time to find the one he wounded. I would rather see this out of hunters than taking another animal after wounding (and eventually killing). While it does suck that the meat was bad, at least he did not take another animal from someone else.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-11-15 AT 08:55PM (MST)[p]Myself and a couple hunting buds gave up on Archery hunting because we, as a group, lost a couple smoker bucks from things beyond our control, like them jumpimg the string, and one we thought very well hit but i do know the feeling of taking a archery buck with stick and string and there is tons of emotion and satisfaction when things do go right. To each his own i guess...

This is a true Monster Buck and i'm not really surprised that you keep bringing them in. Congrats young man, i'd love to see your trophy room in about thirty years! Heck, i'll bet it's something to see right now!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
I have wounded animals also, it sucks no doubt, but stories like this make me wonder if the big congrats and high fives are really in order.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-14-15 AT 11:08AM (MST)[p]Piper, Why wouldn't there be? He spent 31 hrs searching for this deer. Found it, put his tag on it and called it a hunt.
Had he bragged about hitting a 200" deer and then put his tag on another trophy, maybe no high fives.
Your comment is just obtuse!
 
Thanks for sharing your story. Things don't always go as planned but way to stick with it until you recovered your deer. It's nice to see hard work and dedication pay off each year for you. Great buck!!!!
 
Great effort. Way to stick with it and find that buck. You are a hell of a big buck killer. Another year and yet another monster.
 
You're a top notch sportsman and hunter in my book. Wish everyone in the field had your tenacity and ethics. A tremendous buck. He'll make a beautiful mount.
Congrats!!!
 
That was a great follow up, Awesome looking buck. Hats off to ya.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
>[Font][Font color = "green"]Life member of
>the MM green signature club.[font/]
 
Thanks for all the great responses! I really appreciate it!

And I knew going into it that sharing this story would bring the negatives associated with losing an animal. Unfortunately that's just part of hunting and I'm not ashamed in the least. I felt it was important to not hide the truth and in the end was for the best as I believe I've now gained more respect from other hunters doing so.

Part of the reason I spent (31) Hours looking for Maverick was because I felt so incredibly bad and owed it him to keep searching. The emotional rollercoaster I put myself through those 10-days was self inflicted as said previously, but ultimately the hunting gods rewarded my hard work and dedication with the miracle of finding him and being able to recover what I could.

All is good! Thanks again, even to those who aren't supportive :)

- Sean Morgan
 
An absolute STUD of a buck man- Well done sir!








He'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly.
 

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