Unit 31 late Mule Deer Buck

dz · Nov 23, 2013

In all respects I got lucky on this buck. I didn't put much time into the hunt. I made three trips over. Friday afternoon I drove in from Oregon and headed up the mountain. With just a few hours of day light I thought I should get up away from the road. I climbed for two hours and only saw a few does. I headed back down a ridge towards the main road and jumped a group of does about 15 strong. I couldn't believe there was no buck with them. About two hundred yards farther down the ridge I jumped a group of deer that had a buck in it. They were doing Mach 5 when I found him in the scope. He was passing a doe, so I waited till he cleared and let one fly. I could tell he was hit. There was some crunchy snow on top so I figured I could find his tracks easy enough. I took my time and followed the direction they ran towards. Not 50 yards from where I had hit him, he jumped up and one front wheel was not working. So I took aim and let another one go. Nope, had a miss fire, cranked in another one and moved forward as he was headed down a steep and mostly open hill side. As I approached the does were all standing out at 300 yards, and looking back up the hill. He showed up by the does and was moving pretty well. I put my pack down for a rest. At about 350 I give him another one and I heard the hit. He went out of sight soon after the shot. I loaded up quickly and pushed down towards where I had last seen him. I was worried about having a wounded deer with not much day light left. After a 400 yard run, I had just slowed down and started to look for sign when he jumped up and took off down the hill. One more shot and he was down for good. Not to drag on too long, I boned him out with my heavy duty 2 D cell mag light that had brand new batteries. About two thirds the way done it went out. So out came the trusty IPhone. After finishing, loading up and heading down the hill, with 120 pounds on my back, it ran out of battery. So with the GPS screen for light I hung the meat in a tree and took the head and my gun to the truck. a mile and a half later I was at the truck only to realize that the keys to the truck was in the pack. So back up the hill, retrieved the pack and made it home by midnight. I came to the conclusion that this will be my second to last buck. I have 17 Utah points or it would have been my last one. I have shot many nice bucks. I will follow my six sons around and watch them. The Mule Deer Gods have been good to me.

DZ

eldorado · Nov 23, 2013

Nice buck. Congrats.

Eldorado

twsnow18 · Nov 24, 2013

Nice buck man! Sounds like an adventure.

I am scratching my head a little bit in regards to your conclusion.

dz · Nov 25, 2013

Here is a couple more pictures with my sons Idaho buck.

twsnow, Which part? I can give a little more info as why I'm getting out of the game. I love mule deer, they are my favorite big game animal, to hunt, but even more then that to watch. The last twenty years my family has been eating elk. Nobody in my family cares for deer. So it is always a challenge to make it into something that will get eaten (like Pepperoni). The deer numbers are down and my bones getting older, I think it is a good time to call it a game. I decided a couple weeks ago when I was up hiking around that this would be my last deer. But 17 NR Utah deer points will make the Henries the last place I deer hunt. Hope this is what you was looking for.

DZ

twsnow18 · Nov 25, 2013

Fair enough, thanks for the reply. Nice bucks by the way, I love that drop tine. I'm sure your last one will be a good one, good luck.

nontypical · Nov 27, 2013

Give up deer hunting? You look young enough to have a few decades of deer hunting left! There's no rule that says you have to kill something! The fun is in the journey, not the destination. I haven't killed a mule deer since 2009; but have passed dozens. I loved every minute of it!

I predict you will hunt deer again, and not just the Henrie's!

Kinda hard to get that out of your blood.