I've only hunted white tail up until this year my Dad found a great spot to get mule deer. We both drew 3 tags in the area for does, but no buck tags unfortunately-- maybe next year.
Anyway first day out I spot a group of deer bedded down along a fence post, and after carefully sneaking up for over 30 minutes to get within 100 yards this is what I found.
In case you missed the big fella in the middle here's a blow up of what I could have taken if I had a tag.
Wow, that is the best buck I've ever gotten that close to with a rifle in my hand, in season. Had to let them go, as the whole group of 14 were bucks!! Obviously the rut hasn't started up yet, eh?
By mid afternoon of the second day I had all my tags filled believe it or not. 2 really nice sized does and one buck with no antlers-- not even nubs on him! Took the first one at 204 yards through the spine (bang flop), the second about 120 yards through the spine (bang flop) and the little buck I hit from a prone position at a whopping 275 yards! Normally I wouldn't take such a long shot on an animal, but because I could do it prone I decided to try it. He ran about 30 yards and dropped.
Can't say enough about my rifle combination of a Browning X bolt and the Federal Fusion ammo. 300 wsm using 165 gr bullets was just deadly on the deer even at those distances, and very little meat loss because I could hit what I aimed at.
Here's a pic with my first mule deer ever.
Anyway first day out I spot a group of deer bedded down along a fence post, and after carefully sneaking up for over 30 minutes to get within 100 yards this is what I found.
In case you missed the big fella in the middle here's a blow up of what I could have taken if I had a tag.
Wow, that is the best buck I've ever gotten that close to with a rifle in my hand, in season. Had to let them go, as the whole group of 14 were bucks!! Obviously the rut hasn't started up yet, eh?
By mid afternoon of the second day I had all my tags filled believe it or not. 2 really nice sized does and one buck with no antlers-- not even nubs on him! Took the first one at 204 yards through the spine (bang flop), the second about 120 yards through the spine (bang flop) and the little buck I hit from a prone position at a whopping 275 yards! Normally I wouldn't take such a long shot on an animal, but because I could do it prone I decided to try it. He ran about 30 yards and dropped.
Can't say enough about my rifle combination of a Browning X bolt and the Federal Fusion ammo. 300 wsm using 165 gr bullets was just deadly on the deer even at those distances, and very little meat loss because I could hit what I aimed at.
Here's a pic with my first mule deer ever.
