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Once we got to our area we drove to the furthest corner near where we thought those bucks had been seen the day before. Just as we were about to make a decision on where to go next Steve spots something BIG cross the road. We parked the truck and bailed out to see what it was he had glimpsed. After cresting a ridge we saw a very nice muley buck on the next ridge over. He was on a mission and walking steadily away. I tried to get closer and actually got within shooting distance twice but I was so winded from climbing the ridges I couldn’t steady my gun well enough to make a shot. And there was no way I was going to try a marginal shot or fancy neck shot. We tracked that buck for over a mile, up and over rocks, hills and ridges. He just wasn’t stopping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made the decision to go back to the truck and try to get in front of the buck. The truck was pretty far away at that point and we were tired. Remember, ground level there is almost a mile above sea level in places. For us coastal flat-landers the going was… well… slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got back to the truck, eventually, and checked the maps to see if we could find a road near where the buck was heading. Since it had taken so long for us to return there was no telling if we would be able to find the deer again. We picked a road that looked likely and scraped our way in the general direction the buck was last seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note to future hunters: <\/strong>
Take a 4WD truck that you are not worried about the paint job on. Just sayin’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the obligatory number of dead ends and wrong turns we finally found a road that looked to head in the general area of where we thought the deer might<\/em> have been going. It was pretty much all guess work and prayers at that point.

Was I ever surprised to top a ridge and see the buck only a couple hundred yards away feeding in some scrub. Somehow we had stumbled across him again.

We parked the truck and began working our way into the wind to get into a better position to take a shot. The buck was slowly foraging up a ridge and unconcerned about our presence. He knew we were there, he just didn’t care. I closed the distance to about 75 yards but had to wait. I wanted a nice clear broadside shot and most of the time he had his hindquarters toward me. He finally turned and I let him have it. The shot was good!

At the sound of the shot the brush around the buck exploded with deer. Three other smaller bucks and a doe we hadn’t even seen came boiling out. They boinked their way to a distant hillside and disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yep, I said boinked. Mule Deer have this way of pogo-stick hopping that is almost comical. It’s like they have springs on their feet. I’m telling you they boinked away. I swear I could hear it. Boing, boing, boing.

My buck ran about 50 yards before crashing. When we got to him I looked over to see a road not twenty yards away! And it was a good thing too because that deer was BIG. We are used to dealing with deer a bit smaller than this guy. A 100 pound buck was considered huge where we usually hunted and this fellow was pushing 200. We were not looking forward to dragging him all the way back to the truck. Now we wouldn’t have to. I gutted him then Steve brought up the truck. It still took both of us and a lot of grunting to load him up but we got it done. I had just killed my biggest mule deer buck ever! This was the first day and we had only been hunting about three hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We took my deer back to the check station to get it logged in. Having an electric hoist for processing and a walk in cooler to put your deer in afterwards is awesome! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dewey, the hunt coordinator, had told us exactly where he had seen the deer the day before, we listened, and it paid off. We have learned to pay close attention to anything the hunt managers say. They are the ones who work the property all the time and know the animals and terrain intimately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he was looking over my deer, Dewy recognized it and said he was definitely one of the ones he had seen the day before. We told him about the other deer we had seen with my buck. Dewey said that the deer we had scared after the shot shouldn’t go far and that there was likely still a nice buck with them or close by. Our ears definitely perked up.

With my deer taken care of we headed back to try and find the deer we spooked and see if there was another good buck with them. Knowing where the deer went is one thing. Trying to find a road heading even remotely close to that direction is another. We finally found a road near the hillside where we last saw the deer. We got out and glassed for a long time before finally seeing a buck on a different ridge line. He was young and small but nice looking. He would likely be a very nice deer next season.

We watched him for a long time and then finally saw a second deer. It was a spike. Both bucks were intently watching a clump of juniper trees. We kept an eye on them and waited. When a doe walked out from behind the juniper we were pretty sure these were the deer we were after. Still there was no sign of anything bigger. Not discouraged we kept glassing. Finally we spotted a much larger deer. It had a huge body and the main beams were longer than it’s nose. But when it turned its head toward us it was evident that, while his antlers were indeed long, they were not near wide enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dang it! After watching the deer bed down we decided to keep moving and see if we could find something a bit larger. The next ridge over held what we were looking for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had just parked the truck and Steve took his camera and headed out to get some nice shots of the area. I took my binoculars and glassed around. Within a few minutes I found a decent deer. He looked a lot like my buck. I called Steve over and he traded his camera for his gun. We spotted a couple more bucks and some does. Surely there was a big deer around. Then I saw him. A huge bodied buck with nice antlers walked out from behind some brush. He was definitely wide enough. He even had that white face older mule deer bucks got.

Steve didn’t hesitate and quickly settled the cross-hairs on him. One long slow breath out and he squeezed the trigger. The buck kicked and then dropped. While I congratulated Steve on his shot the buck got back up. Steve hit him a second time and the buck stumbled then went down for good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Steve’s very first mule deer buck had a much bigger body than mine and, even though it doesn’t look like it, was wider. His buck came to rest far from the road but it was all downhill and it didn’t take too long to gut then load him up. And just like that we were done. The first day, with hours left, we had both gotten nice deer on public hunting land. ON MY BIRTHDAY!
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