Unit 231 Junior Mule Deer

Hello Everyone,

My son drew the Junior mule deer tag for Unit 231 and we were wondering if we can get some help with a few questions.

** We will be focusing on the muzzleloader season. Assuming the weather remains warm and there is no rain, should we hunt this just like the archery season? Get up high and start glassing before sunrise and just after sundown?

** Are there general areas that we should focus on? He is really not at all interested in taking a monster just a decent buck for his first harvest. It's also nice to know that the junior tag allows him to take a doe however this will be Plan B. I've already got pins in Google Earth stuck in Mt. Wilson, White Rock and Govt so perhaps we are already on the right track?

** If we fail at the muzzleloader season, then we can try our luck with rifle. I have heard it's a tougher hunt. Would weather be the factor here? If it stays warm, stay high but if a sudden snowstorm hits, follow the snow line?

I started planning this hunt like it was my own then remembered this is his tag. I just want to ensure that this experience will be enjoyable and hopefully lead to the beginning of a lifetime of fond memories hunting with Dad.

Thanks a lot in advance, all. I am brand new to hunting in Nevada and have only hunted the archery season for Area 17 but if you need help with that area, feel free to PM me.

I would hunt the pinon-juniper landscape above the fields in Dry Valley below Echo Canyon State Park, as well as the area around the fields in Rose Valley. Lots of does and a fair amount of small bucks.

I've hunted both deer/elk in 231 happy to help. Send me a PM.

I think I remember reading in the regulations that the juniors get to hunt a couple days after the regular rifle season closes anyone else noticed that?

> I think I remember reading
>in the regulations that the
>juniors get to hunt a
>couple days after the regular
>rifle season closes anyone
>else noticed that?


Most of them get till the 2nd

NVPete - thanks a lot for that! I've got pins in Google Earth now for that area.

Wapitiwilly - thank you for the offer. PM coming soon

buckhorn - if I'm not mistaken, I believe they shortened the rifle season for Unit 231 by a couple days so now adult and junior seasons end at the same time. Alwayshunting is right though, few other units give the juniors until the 2nd.

I'll be up there this fall for the archery hunt and I'm happy to share what I see. I generally focus on the areas around the fields but I'll shoot the first thing within 40 yards with horns.

LAST EDITED ON Jun-18-19 AT 10:01PM (MST)[p]Broadhead,
Congrats to you and your son on the tag. He should have no problem seeing bucks and getting as many opportunities as needed to shoot a buck. As far as your questions go:

1- Yes. Hunt it like an archery hunt. Glassing is a good way to hunt most of the unit but you dont necessarily have to get high to glass. Depending on what part of the unit your on you may be down low glassing up or vise versa. I would also suggest starting your evening hunts well before sundown as many deer start getting up and feeding or heading to water and hour or two before sunset depending on temps., moon phase, hunting pressure, etc.

2- All 3 areas you mentioned will have deer. With your son not being set on a high scoring buck you should have no problem turning up a decent buck in any of those spots with a some effort. I would abort your plan B, he drew a great tag. Even if it means coming back for the rifle hunt. If you do come back for the rifle hunt all the ag fields in the unit will have deer in and around them. Should have no problem getting a 1-3 year old buck heading to or leaving the fields from BLM.

3- All the talk about the rifle hunt being tough is usually coming from trophy hunters. If your looking for a 180+ buck then yes I think the rifle is a bit tougher than archery or muzzleloader but with your sons goal of just getting a buck that should be fairly easy. I wouldn't worry about following the snow level. Hunt lower regardless of weather. Once Wilson and Grafton start getting below freezing at night most the deer start moving down toward the winter grounds.

The best advise I can give is for you to have him confident and comfortable with shooting his muzzleloader. In my opinion that will be the biggest thing you can do to help get him a buck. Other than that have fun and you'll find plenty of bucks for him to go after.

>I'll be up there this fall
>for the archery hunt and
>I'm happy to share what
>I see. I generally focus
>on the areas around the
>fields but I'll shoot the
>first thing within 40 yards
>with horns.

Thank you for the offer, nelsonccc! Much appreciated. That would be a dream tag for me as I always put in for archery 23 but have yet to draw it. Either way, it'll be a great experience to be out there with my boy.

Good luck out there! Hope you harvest a good one and I would love to hear about your experience. We will more than likely be out there scouting towards the end of archery season.

Thanks again!

huntinfanatic,

I really appreciate the information. Thank you for the detailed reply! Between your advice and everyone else's I think we are good to go.

1) Good info on the evening hunt. I'm used to waiting just before sundown. We'll get on the glass way before that as suggested

2) Plan B has been aborted.

3) Ah, understood. I didn't know most of the banter regarding the rifle season was from the trophy hunting crowd. Makes sense now

Thanks again and yes, my goal is to get him to a confident and comfortable state with the muzzleloader and rifle. He has done well at the range but we will make a few trips out to the desert to have him shoot from various positions.

Thanks again to everyone for the help. Everyone's advice was spot on. My son could not connect on our first two trips up there but the third time was a charm.

You never did post pictures for us BroadHead!

Snakins10 said:

You never did post pictures for us BroadHead!

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he got what he was after here.....

Left us high and dry lol

Snakins10 said:

Left us high and dry lol

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Oh, man. Really sorry. A story and some pics are due here. ** This is a long story - pics are at the bottom **

My son is mildly autistic and averse to anything outdoors. As hard as I tried, I was never able to get him into sports, the one activity that kept me out of gangs, drugs and other trouble in high school. Compound this with the inherent social challenges that autistic folks deal with and you can just imagine the uphill battle I faced.

So, instead, naturally, I decided to introduce him to sports of the shooting variety. I bought him a .22 rifle to ease him into things and relentlessly preached the concept of safety first. Once he got comfortable with his .22 and learned proper stance, breathing and trigger control, I slowly introduced him to my .50 BMG

Kidding

I figured the AR was the next best candidate. He took to it very well and was soon lying prone and firing my cheap Savage 6.5 Creedmoor rifle. I handload for this caliber and generally load my rounds fairly hot, 43 grains of powder topped with a 140 Berger projectile. It flies out a little faster than 2,800 fps.

I was concerned the recoil would turn him off - but it didn't. Now, the next challenge was to have him hit the books and learn the Hunter Safety course.

Check. He picked up on it very quickly. Next was the 8 hour classroom and final test. Check. He passed

Within the course of 9 months, I took this shy autistic child of mine from a timid video game-playing teenager into a proper outdoor loving hunter.

Fast forward to Unit 231. We spent a couple of weekends scouting for deer and found a few herds with promising bucks to shoot. I generally hunt with a bow and was willing to park the truck and get close and intimate with the mountains to look for a monster but he would have none of that. I suppose I have more work to do...

In all honesty, I almost forgot that this was HIS tag and had to remind myself that he would be calling all the shots and of course making the final shot. Since he drew the junior tag, he was allowed to harvest a doe, however that option was a last-ditch resort.

Armed with the information that the awesome folks here at MM provided, we ultimately found an ambush spot and waited.

At a distance of around 230 yards, we spotted some movement. I look through the glass and see a doe and a fawn, however just as I was about to put the binos down, I see something move at the edge of my view. It was a forky buck. I whispered to my son and asked him if he wanted to take it or wait.

He was visibly shaking from either the excitement, the cold or racked nerves. I told him to stop, close his eyes and remember the breathing exercise I taught him. He opened his eyes, looked at me, no longer shaking and whispered that he wanted that buck.

Again, I reminded myself, this was his tag.

He finds a spot to get comfortable and I tell him to hold over just a hair above the buck's back. The rifle is zeroed at 200 yards and for some odd reason, I thought the bullet drop would be enough at 230 yards to warrant a holdover.

I was wrong. He squeezes a round off and it zips above the buck and explodes in a fantastic cloud of dust. I thought this particular stalk was over, but nope, the young buck raised his head, looked over in our direction and stared curiously.

I whisper to my son to put the reticle where it needs to be for a double-lung shot. He holds his breath and squeezes the trigger smoothly.

BOOM. The buck drops and is DRT. I tell him to chamber a round and just wait. No movement

He ejects the round and puts the rifle on safe. I was welling with pride for this young man and gave him a proper hug. I think I cried at that moment

We get to the buck and find that the shot was a little high, just under the spine but after gutting it, we saw that the round shredded the upper lung and the hydrostatic shock must have taken care of the spine.

The 140 grain Berger created a decently large exit wound. I guess the term "Berger Grenade" is accurate.

Homer said:

he got what he was after here.....

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Sorry Sir. Hope I redeemed myself

Oh, and of course, only after I process the buck did we decide to get it mounted and preserve the memory of that day. Dang it. By that time, I had already destroyed the cape.

I took it to my taxi and asked him if he had a cape I could buy. He sure did so that's what I did. The bummer is that the left ear on that cape was messed up. Oh well...still looks beautiful on the wall and every time I look at it, I remember everything it took for us to be blessed with that harvest.

Great story and first buck for your boy.

Definitely redeemed yourself! Great story, any man worth his salt would shed a tear in the moment no doubt. Thanks for inspiring us all, love stories like this!

That’s a great first buck for your son! Congrats to the both of you and thanks for coming back around to share your story and photos. Hopefully you got some good photos of your son (and the two of you) with his buck as well!

Horniac

One of the best hunting stories I’ve read. Congratulations to your Son on the first of many?Proud Dad moment???

CONGRATULATIONS to your Son on his 1st Buck and to You as a great Dad & Mentor ... Bruce & SilverGrand

Thanks a bunch, guys. Much appreciated. I didn't think to post a story since it's just a forky buck and really nothing spectacular, so I came online and thanked everyone who helped.

Should have remembered that a hunt is more than the harvest, it's the experience and memories. I get caught up sometimes in the logistics and numbers.

Horniac - I do have a pic of my boy with his buck. I asked him if I can post it online and although I didn't get a verbal, the body language said 'no' pretty much. lol

Interesting little part of the hunt I forgot to include above - when I was gutting the buck, I pulled the heart out and was about to put it in the game bag but he stopped me and said no. It wasn't just a 'no', it was a firm and emotional 'NO'. I dropped it on the ground like it was a grenade with the pin pulled out.

Weeks later, I broached the subject again and asked him what's up with the heart. He didn't want to talk about it so I just dropped the topic altogether. He had no problem with the gutting and he loves eating his harvest so it's just the heart thing. No idea.

Very cool. Just reading this made me think a few years in the future when my son will be in the field with me (he is 5). I can't imagine the emotions you felt watching your son accomplish what he set out to do. Congratulations to you both.

BroadHead said:

Thanks a bunch, guys. Much appreciated. I didn't think to post a story since it's just a forky buck and really nothing spectacular, so I came online and thanked everyone who helped.

Should have remembered that a hunt is more than the harvest, it's the experience and memories. I get caught up sometimes in the logistics and numbers.

Horniac - I do have a pic of my boy with his buck. I asked him if I can post it online and although I didn't get a verbal, the body language said 'no' pretty much. lol

Interesting little part of the hunt I forgot to include above - when I was gutting the buck, I pulled the heart out and was about to put it in the game bag but he stopped me and said no. It wasn't just a 'no', it was a firm and emotional 'NO'. I dropped it on the ground like it was a grenade with the pin pulled out.

Weeks later, I broached the subject again and asked him what's up with the heart. He didn't want to talk about it so I just dropped the topic altogether. He had no problem with the gutting and he loves eating his harvest so it's just the heart thing. No idea.

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No worries BroadHead. I was just hoping that you did get some good pictures of your boy and his 1st buck! Glad to hear you did. Great memories for the both of you to share/enjoy for the years to come...

Horniac

Great story! Thanks for posting. Reminds us it’s not always about the inches.

Great story with awesome outcome! I have three sons, and I am a HE instructor. I was able to mentor, teach, and coach/help all three get their "first buck". the oldest is now 43 and youngest 32, but the memories from the training, preparation,scouting, hunting, camping out, the harvest...the whole experience for each are as vivid in my mind as if they happened yesterday! Thanks for posting your experiences and all the reflections/observations of your son's hunt!

NVPete said:

Great story with awesome outcome! I have three sons, and I am a HE instructor.

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Thank you, NVPete! You nailed it. It's all about the experience and it's something I will take with me and cherish 'til the end.

Being an HE instructor must be extremely rewarding. I admire that. Thanks again for your help with this hunt!

Thanks for getting back to us! Makes it worthwhile for those of us that provided some guidance and suggestions. I love 231.

THAT is a great story.....you are redeemed....Thank you

nelsonccc said:

Thanks for getting back to us! Makes it worthwhile for those of us that provided some guidance and suggestions. I love 231.

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Thank you again!

Homer said:

THAT is a great story.....you are redeemed....Thank you

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Much appreciated. Me and my son still talk about that day. Brings a smile to my face each time.