After a rained out antelope hunt in mid August, I left NC August 29 for NW Colorado. I was headed out for the mule deer opener in Unit 13 near Craig. It had been raining a lot in that area as well. Fortunately for me, the weather broke the day after my arrival. I was able to enjoy temps from 30`s in the morning to 80`s in the afternoon. I had originally planned to hunt near a water source halfway down a drainage leading to an alfalfa field. I had hunted this area with success a few years back. Most mornings had me glassing a large basin while bucks and does moved to high ground from the fields below to bed. There were a lot of scrub oaks in the area and the deer disappeared in them all over the hillside. I tried daily to pick the right trail to intercept a buck. They were still grouped up and they took a different trail daily. Basin and cattle tank id planned to sit. Rain changed that plan. one of my hides for the afternoon. nice buck about to bed near a scrub oak. I was about 200yds out on this one. No opportunity for a closer stalk. On day 4 , I thought I had the deal done. This nice buck came out 80 yards from my setup and was headed my way. He ended up dropping down the drainage out of range. I watched him over an hour til dark. On Day 5, I watched a really nice hard horned buck make his way up the basin with two other velvet bucks. I had seen this buck 4 other times thru the week. He was easy to identify as he was the only one out of velvet. Since this was the last day of my hunt , I decided to go all out and stay on the mountain slope all day. After he went out of sight , I waited about two hours until I was pretty sure he had bedded for the day. I closed the distance on the trail as much as I dared and waited the 8 hours in 85 degree heat till dark. I was hoping today was the day he would take the same trail down for the evening. Sure enough, about 30 mins before dark the other two smaller bucks came down the trail. They passed at 26 yds and never knew I was there. 5 minutes later, I got the break I needed. My buck came down the same trail. I took an easy 27 yard shot and hit him perfect. He made a 25 yard death run into a barb wire fence and was down. Turns out he is my best archery muley at 177 2/8" P&Y! Great end to a great hunt. Thanks for reading my story. I`m looking forward to sharing everyone`s success this fall!
That is a heck of a buck. Congrats on your success. Lots of mule deer hunters never see a deer like that.
Thanks guys, best part is I get take my 13 yr old daughter out to Wyoming for her first muley hunt 10/23-28. We are hunting near Sheridan. I love hunting out west! Living in NC is great, but there is nothing like the western states for hunting!
