leanin' H
Well-known member
My mule deer hunt was last week. Thought i'd post some pics. Ya may have to click on the pics to see them right. Some have a gray area on my computer. I had the entire 9 days off and had a blast hunting deer for 8 days. Guess a smart guy would'a waited one more day to punch his tag, but i have never been very smart! 
Hunting is a family affair in our part of the world. Littlest H behind the spotting scope helping find deer the night before the hunt opened.
Some of our canyons have old mining roads up them that makes access on a wheeler simple. Others are horse or hike and i favor those greatly over the others. I lost 11 pounds in 8 days of hunting. Maybe i ought'a start a diet plan called "H's plan to lose pounds while finding deer". Probably wont sell well! :lol: Had a good friend draw the same tag and another good friend from my day job came out to help spot and be an extra set of eyes. The crew that spent the first weekend before heading home to work and school.
Now this is a better representative of the country i chased big bucks in. It's nasty and rough and great habitat for desert mulies and cows. Chased 2 good bucks in this canyon for a day or three but they won the battle. That's why it's called Hunting right!
If you think tracking a buck is tough, try it after he heads off into a draw filed with stuff like this. I got on his track after he slipped past me and followed him for 4 hours. He'd hit the slide rock and then drift back into the mahoganeys and oak brush where i'd pick up his track again. Big mule deer are the smartest critter i've ever hunted. I love them!
Did i mention it was steep? Still was more fun than a guy should be able to have. If any of ya'll feel lucky, PM me and i will tell ya how to apply for a non-resident buck tag in our area. It will be awhile til i draw again and i'd love to help somebody else give it a whirl.
Early morning light sure makes all of God's creation look pretty. Desert Mountain was nicely framed by some rolling ridges in spring canyon. Probably averaged seeing 30 bucks a day and passed them all til day 8.
We had a cold front move through on day 5 that brought clouds and a perfect sunset. The snow on the top of the mountain sure was welcome to me as a rancher and a hunter!
We covered some country. The deer are scattered this year on account of the drought. We found em' high and we found em' low. My buddy was rock solid at the practice range but came apart at the seams when a buck was in front of his rifle. He missed 12 shots before he connected on #13. It was entertaining as heck for me though. :lol: :lol: Here he is taking a break before we pushed on down the ridgeline.
His buck was a cool deer. Had a 4 1/2 inch browtine on his right side. Whitetails have big ol browtines but mulies rarely do. Had great mass and was a fine buck! After all his warning shots he finally got'er done! Congrats Judd!
Same buck from behind. He wasnt a wide buck, but Judd was happy as heck to get him. I was almost as happy for him as i was for me......almost. :wink: He took his buck about 100 yards from a wheeler trail! :shock: Must be livin' right!
My buck has dark chocolate colored horns and awesome front forks. Fair mass and 2 foot wide. I would of passed him earlier in the hunt but not on day 8. The thing i am pretty proud of is the shot i made. 359 yards uphill and moving. I center punched him and he never knew what hit him. A clean, 1 shot kill is the icing on the cake. My old .270 winchester with 140 grain Hornady boat tails reloaded by my Dad-in-law was just what the doctor ordered.
There are bigger deer on our mountain, but there isnt one better. I know of 7 bucks over 200 inches that were taken this year. I hunted my guts out looking for a giant. I love my buck and the fun i had drawing the tag, scouting all summer and hunting hard on the desert mountains this fall.
Back at camp on my flatbed. Great friends, awesome family and fall on the mountain. Pretty special and an amazing bunch of days. Mine is on the right and Judd's is on the left.
Rear veiw of our bucks. We drug Judd's to the wheeler pretty easy. Mine was a pack job. Took off the hind quarters and packed them down and then went back for the other 3/4ths. Took two trips and was hard on my back. But even a sore back cant make me stop grinning!
We got him home and we processed the meat ourselves. Had backstraps last night and they were GOOD!!! Took the cape to a taxidermist pal of mine and he got it taken care of. Not sure if i will head mount this buck, but his cape is gorgeous and i might put some big shed horns on it. I will honor the buck by either a head mount or a plaque with his horns. Here's a final shot with my two hunting buddies who were pretty excited their dad knocked down a buck.
Hunting is a family affair in our part of the world. Littlest H behind the spotting scope helping find deer the night before the hunt opened.
Some of our canyons have old mining roads up them that makes access on a wheeler simple. Others are horse or hike and i favor those greatly over the others. I lost 11 pounds in 8 days of hunting. Maybe i ought'a start a diet plan called "H's plan to lose pounds while finding deer". Probably wont sell well! :lol: Had a good friend draw the same tag and another good friend from my day job came out to help spot and be an extra set of eyes. The crew that spent the first weekend before heading home to work and school.
Now this is a better representative of the country i chased big bucks in. It's nasty and rough and great habitat for desert mulies and cows. Chased 2 good bucks in this canyon for a day or three but they won the battle. That's why it's called Hunting right!
If you think tracking a buck is tough, try it after he heads off into a draw filed with stuff like this. I got on his track after he slipped past me and followed him for 4 hours. He'd hit the slide rock and then drift back into the mahoganeys and oak brush where i'd pick up his track again. Big mule deer are the smartest critter i've ever hunted. I love them!
Did i mention it was steep?
Still was more fun than a guy should be able to have. If any of ya'll feel lucky, PM me and i will tell ya how to apply for a non-resident buck tag in our area. It will be awhile til i draw again and i'd love to help somebody else give it a whirl.
Early morning light sure makes all of God's creation look pretty. Desert Mountain was nicely framed by some rolling ridges in spring canyon. Probably averaged seeing 30 bucks a day and passed them all til day 8.
We had a cold front move through on day 5 that brought clouds and a perfect sunset. The snow on the top of the mountain sure was welcome to me as a rancher and a hunter!
We covered some country. The deer are scattered this year on account of the drought. We found em' high and we found em' low. My buddy was rock solid at the practice range but came apart at the seams when a buck was in front of his rifle.
He missed 12 shots before he connected on #13. It was entertaining as heck for me though. :lol: :lol: Here he is taking a break before we pushed on down the ridgeline.
His buck was a cool deer. Had a 4 1/2 inch browtine on his right side. Whitetails have big ol browtines but mulies rarely do. Had great mass and was a fine buck! After all his warning shots he finally got'er done! Congrats Judd!
Same buck from behind. He wasnt a wide buck, but Judd was happy as heck to get him. I was almost as happy for him as i was for me......almost. :wink: He took his buck about 100 yards from a wheeler trail! :shock: Must be livin' right!
My buck has dark chocolate colored horns and awesome front forks. Fair mass and 2 foot wide. I would of passed him earlier in the hunt but not on day 8. The thing i am pretty proud of is the shot i made. 359 yards uphill and moving. I center punched him and he never knew what hit him. A clean, 1 shot kill is the icing on the cake. My old .270 winchester with 140 grain Hornady boat tails reloaded by my Dad-in-law was just what the doctor ordered.
There are bigger deer on our mountain, but there isnt one better.
I know of 7 bucks over 200 inches that were taken this year. I hunted my guts out looking for a giant. I love my buck and the fun i had drawing the tag, scouting all summer and hunting hard on the desert mountains this fall.
Back at camp on my flatbed. Great friends, awesome family and fall on the mountain. Pretty special and an amazing bunch of days. Mine is on the right and Judd's is on the left.
Rear veiw of our bucks. We drug Judd's to the wheeler pretty easy. Mine was a pack job. Took off the hind quarters and packed them down and then went back for the other 3/4ths. Took two trips and was hard on my back. But even a sore back cant make me stop grinning!
We got him home and we processed the meat ourselves. Had backstraps last night and they were GOOD!!!
Took the cape to a taxidermist pal of mine and he got it taken care of. Not sure if i will head mount this buck, but his cape is gorgeous and i might put some big shed horns on it. I will honor the buck by either a head mount or a plaque with his horns. Here's a final shot with my two hunting buddies who were pretty excited their dad knocked down a buck.
