I went out today in search of my first ever mule deer. I was drawn along with my good buddy Zach and his dad. Leading up to the hunt, Zach and his dad had seen this deer on a couple occassions and Zach told me he thought I might want to get a good look at this one.
Today started out with a very thick fog that was impossible to see anything moving...very frustrating. Once the fog lifted we headed out to the spot where they had seen him. I spotted a deer in the trees about a half mile away. I looked through the scope and saw a big bodied muley with a nice high and and wide spread. Zach and his dad told me this was the deer they had seen. We watched the big fella for a while before he moved west into a large bush. This set up perfectly for us as we had a nice west wind and we wanted to push the deer back to the east.
They dropped me off on the east side of a draw and I made my way down to the creek bed below. I walked a mile or so along the creek bed in hopes to get up to the point where we initially saw the big brute as this spot would give me a great shot at him. Zach and his dad made their way west of the bush and began pushing east in hopes that the big muley would come to me.
As I made my way up the creek bed I got to the initial point we saw him. I didn't really like this spot as it was down in a very subtle draw. I made my up to the top of the draw but cover was limited. There was some buck brush so I crouched down in it hoping I'd be concealed enough to get a shot.
After sometime I saw the big muley along with another buck and a doe bounding straight towards me. I put the cross hairs in it's chest but it was gaining ground fast and I didn't like that shot. As they got to about 75 yards from me they started heading north a bit then back east. They passed right past me at about 50 yards. Once I had him broadside I let a 150 grain Hornady Interbond fly out of my 30-06 and hit him high on the shoulder knocking him off his feet. He was down and I had my first ever mule deer.
He's missing his right rear fork but he's still tall and wide and has a great big body. He's not going to score very high but that isn't a big concern of mine. I'm very happy with my first mule deer and can't wait for whitetail season to open on Monday!!
Today started out with a very thick fog that was impossible to see anything moving...very frustrating. Once the fog lifted we headed out to the spot where they had seen him. I spotted a deer in the trees about a half mile away. I looked through the scope and saw a big bodied muley with a nice high and and wide spread. Zach and his dad told me this was the deer they had seen. We watched the big fella for a while before he moved west into a large bush. This set up perfectly for us as we had a nice west wind and we wanted to push the deer back to the east.
They dropped me off on the east side of a draw and I made my way down to the creek bed below. I walked a mile or so along the creek bed in hopes to get up to the point where we initially saw the big brute as this spot would give me a great shot at him. Zach and his dad made their way west of the bush and began pushing east in hopes that the big muley would come to me.
As I made my way up the creek bed I got to the initial point we saw him. I didn't really like this spot as it was down in a very subtle draw. I made my up to the top of the draw but cover was limited. There was some buck brush so I crouched down in it hoping I'd be concealed enough to get a shot.
After sometime I saw the big muley along with another buck and a doe bounding straight towards me. I put the cross hairs in it's chest but it was gaining ground fast and I didn't like that shot. As they got to about 75 yards from me they started heading north a bit then back east. They passed right past me at about 50 yards. Once I had him broadside I let a 150 grain Hornady Interbond fly out of my 30-06 and hit him high on the shoulder knocking him off his feet. He was down and I had my first ever mule deer.
He's missing his right rear fork but he's still tall and wide and has a great big body. He's not going to score very high but that isn't a big concern of mine. I'm very happy with my first mule deer and can't wait for whitetail season to open on Monday!!
that sucks...
