2003 Wyoming Public Land Muley
Torch
3/6/07 10:46pm
I posted a picture of this buck a while back, but I didn't tell the story I thought you might enjoy reading it....so here it is!
Our 2003 Wyoming high country mule deer hunt could not come soon enough! I had drawn a tag for Wyoming with Paul Kendall and Chris Snell who are two great friends and hunting partners of mine. We had all drawn tags the year before and Chris and I ended up hunting in one area while Paul hunted 20 miles away with some friends in a different area. Paul shot a nice buck while Chris and I went home empty handed.
Although Chris and I went home empty handed in 2002 we learned the country and found the areas where the big bucks were bedding. We filmed a great buck we named "the grey night" on one of our scouting trips and later saw footage of him on a well known hunting video from the following winter. We knew there were some great bucks in the area and we were very confident that we could shoot some nice bucks if we could draw the tag again. As luck would have it we drew the tags again in 2003.
In late July I went on a scouting trip to the area Chris and I had hunted the previous year. Both Chris and Paul could not make the trip, but another good friend of mine Jed Nelson volunteered to go with me. On the scouting trip Jed and I saw and videoed numerous good bucks and I couldn’t wait to get back and tell Paul and Chris the good news. Once I got back to town and showed them the video of the bucks we decided this was the area we would be hunting in just a few short weeks.
On opening morning we decided that Paul and I would take one ridge and Chris would take the next ridge to the North. By doing this we could hunt the avalanche chutes from both sides depending on which way the wind was blowing. My friends were also gracious enough to give me the first shot since I had found the bucks in the area. We started hiking three hours before the first glimpse of the suns rays would catch the tops of the high Wyoming peaks. We climbed 3000 feet in only 1 ½ miles through a tangled mess of fallen pines. After several hours of persistent hiking in the darkness of the Wyoming high country Paul and I had finally reached our destination. We didn’t know for sure if Chris was at his vantage point, but our past experience led us to believe he was there and also eagerly awaiting the first light on opening day of our high country hunt.
Once the alpine basins started to emerge from the shadows of darkness and the first hints of daylight started showing themselves in the high alpine basins there were no deer to be found! We started scouring the scrub pines looking for any signs of movement and well after the suns rays had filled the Wyoming mountain side with light a buck was spotted. Eventually more deer stood from there beds and we had five bucks feeding in the steep avalanche chute in between Chris us. We watched the bucks feed from 550 yards away and they eventually bedded back down again. Paul was giving me a hard time and kept telling me that he was going to take the shot as he watched the biggest buck in his scope.
The wind was blowing in the wrong direction for Paul and me to make a stalk on the biggest buck in the herd, so Chris knew he had an opportunity and we gave him the signal to go after the buck. He started his stalk at 11:00 A.M. working his way through talus slopes and clearings in between small stands of pine trees. Paul and I watched through our optics as Chris crept to within 250 yards of the bachelor herd of bucks. We watched him sit down, set up his shooting sticks, and get ready for a shot. By now a couple of the bucks were up feeding and from our vantage point we could see the biggest buck very well, but apparently Chris could not see it. However, a few minutes later I watched the buck drop in the spotting scope and heard the blast from his .300 Winchester Mangum a couple seconds later. The buck struggled back to its feet and then he finished it off. The rest of the bucks scattered and a nice buck ran by me and Paul, but we passed up the shot. It wasn’t quite what we were looking for.
It was now just after noon on opening day and Chris had his buck down. Paul and I started loading our backpacks getting ready to go and help Chris pack his buck off the mountain. As I was putting my backpack on I looked into the basin behind us and there was a deer trotting down the trail in our direction, “Paul, there’s a deer” I exlaimed. The buck stopped trotting and it was nervously looking around, but didn’t know we were there. Once he stopped broadside, Paul said “Do you want him; I’m going to take him if you don’t.” Nope, I’m going to take him” I said. I was sitting down with my gun resting on my shooting sticks and the crosshairs of my Remington 7MM Magnum settled behind the front shoulder of the buck. Twice as I was squeezing the trigger, the shooting sticks slid on the steep slope. I threw the shooting sticks, laid across a boulder, and the report of my Remington 7MM Magnum echoed through the high alpine basin. The buck jumped, stood there for a second, started wobbling, and then dropped and somehow only rolled 20 yards down the avalanche chute it was standing above. I yelled back over into the basin Chris was in that I had my buck down! I then ran down the mountain to check out my great Wyoming buck with Paul following me down the mountain. The buck had a great typical frame, but the body was so big that it made the antlers look smaller than they really were. We admired the buck for a few minutes, snapped a few pictures, and then I began boning the deer out while Paul held onto the antlers to keep the buck from sliding down into the avalanche chute right below us.
We loaded the head and all of the meat we could fit onto my backpack and I started the long decent off the mountain while Paul continued hunting. When I got back up the ridge I could see Chris in the other drainage packing his buck off the mountain. I turned my back to him as I was sky lined on the ridge so he could see my mountain muley. He gave me the thumbs up and we paralleled each other down off the mountain. We met down at the truck and the celebration began. It was getting dark and Paul emerged from the dark pines to join in our celebration.
The next morning Chris and I slept in until about 7:00 while Paul went out hunting. We then made our way back up the mountain to get the rest of our deer. I dropped into the basin where I shot my buck while Chris went into adjacent drainage where he had shot his buck. As I started to get close to where I left the meat I could see that my game bags had been torn open and scattered all over. A bear had gotten to it before I had. I still managed to get most of the meat and dropped of the mountain to meet my friends again.
It was early in the afternoon and we decided to head home and get our animals taken care of. Paul asked if we would clean up camp so he could go hunting for the evening. We told him to go and hunt and started cleaning up camp. It took Chris and me a few hours to get everything loaded up and we headed back in the direction that Paul had gone. Chris went ahead of me and I had a guy flag me down wanting to take a look at my buck. I talked to him for a few minutes and then took off to see if I could catch up to Chris. When I got to the area where Paul told us he was going to hunt I could see both of there vehicles parked off of the road, but neither of them were inside. I then look up on the mountain and could see Paul waving his hands. He had also shot a nice buck! We had three nice bucks down in only a couple of days of hunting! It was one of the shortest, but funnest hunts I have ever been on and I have a nice buck hanging on the wall to remind me of this amazing hunt on public land in the Wyoming high country.
Our 2003 Wyoming high country mule deer hunt could not come soon enough! I had drawn a tag for Wyoming with Paul Kendall and Chris Snell who are two great friends and hunting partners of mine. We had all drawn tags the year before and Chris and I ended up hunting in one area while Paul hunted 20 miles away with some friends in a different area. Paul shot a nice buck while Chris and I went home empty handed.
Although Chris and I went home empty handed in 2002 we learned the country and found the areas where the big bucks were bedding. We filmed a great buck we named "the grey night" on one of our scouting trips and later saw footage of him on a well known hunting video from the following winter. We knew there were some great bucks in the area and we were very confident that we could shoot some nice bucks if we could draw the tag again. As luck would have it we drew the tags again in 2003.
In late July I went on a scouting trip to the area Chris and I had hunted the previous year. Both Chris and Paul could not make the trip, but another good friend of mine Jed Nelson volunteered to go with me. On the scouting trip Jed and I saw and videoed numerous good bucks and I couldn’t wait to get back and tell Paul and Chris the good news. Once I got back to town and showed them the video of the bucks we decided this was the area we would be hunting in just a few short weeks.
On opening morning we decided that Paul and I would take one ridge and Chris would take the next ridge to the North. By doing this we could hunt the avalanche chutes from both sides depending on which way the wind was blowing. My friends were also gracious enough to give me the first shot since I had found the bucks in the area. We started hiking three hours before the first glimpse of the suns rays would catch the tops of the high Wyoming peaks. We climbed 3000 feet in only 1 ½ miles through a tangled mess of fallen pines. After several hours of persistent hiking in the darkness of the Wyoming high country Paul and I had finally reached our destination. We didn’t know for sure if Chris was at his vantage point, but our past experience led us to believe he was there and also eagerly awaiting the first light on opening day of our high country hunt.
Once the alpine basins started to emerge from the shadows of darkness and the first hints of daylight started showing themselves in the high alpine basins there were no deer to be found! We started scouring the scrub pines looking for any signs of movement and well after the suns rays had filled the Wyoming mountain side with light a buck was spotted. Eventually more deer stood from there beds and we had five bucks feeding in the steep avalanche chute in between Chris us. We watched the bucks feed from 550 yards away and they eventually bedded back down again. Paul was giving me a hard time and kept telling me that he was going to take the shot as he watched the biggest buck in his scope.
The wind was blowing in the wrong direction for Paul and me to make a stalk on the biggest buck in the herd, so Chris knew he had an opportunity and we gave him the signal to go after the buck. He started his stalk at 11:00 A.M. working his way through talus slopes and clearings in between small stands of pine trees. Paul and I watched through our optics as Chris crept to within 250 yards of the bachelor herd of bucks. We watched him sit down, set up his shooting sticks, and get ready for a shot. By now a couple of the bucks were up feeding and from our vantage point we could see the biggest buck very well, but apparently Chris could not see it. However, a few minutes later I watched the buck drop in the spotting scope and heard the blast from his .300 Winchester Mangum a couple seconds later. The buck struggled back to its feet and then he finished it off. The rest of the bucks scattered and a nice buck ran by me and Paul, but we passed up the shot. It wasn’t quite what we were looking for.
It was now just after noon on opening day and Chris had his buck down. Paul and I started loading our backpacks getting ready to go and help Chris pack his buck off the mountain. As I was putting my backpack on I looked into the basin behind us and there was a deer trotting down the trail in our direction, “Paul, there’s a deer” I exlaimed. The buck stopped trotting and it was nervously looking around, but didn’t know we were there. Once he stopped broadside, Paul said “Do you want him; I’m going to take him if you don’t.” Nope, I’m going to take him” I said. I was sitting down with my gun resting on my shooting sticks and the crosshairs of my Remington 7MM Magnum settled behind the front shoulder of the buck. Twice as I was squeezing the trigger, the shooting sticks slid on the steep slope. I threw the shooting sticks, laid across a boulder, and the report of my Remington 7MM Magnum echoed through the high alpine basin. The buck jumped, stood there for a second, started wobbling, and then dropped and somehow only rolled 20 yards down the avalanche chute it was standing above. I yelled back over into the basin Chris was in that I had my buck down! I then ran down the mountain to check out my great Wyoming buck with Paul following me down the mountain. The buck had a great typical frame, but the body was so big that it made the antlers look smaller than they really were. We admired the buck for a few minutes, snapped a few pictures, and then I began boning the deer out while Paul held onto the antlers to keep the buck from sliding down into the avalanche chute right below us.
We loaded the head and all of the meat we could fit onto my backpack and I started the long decent off the mountain while Paul continued hunting. When I got back up the ridge I could see Chris in the other drainage packing his buck off the mountain. I turned my back to him as I was sky lined on the ridge so he could see my mountain muley. He gave me the thumbs up and we paralleled each other down off the mountain. We met down at the truck and the celebration began. It was getting dark and Paul emerged from the dark pines to join in our celebration.
The next morning Chris and I slept in until about 7:00 while Paul went out hunting. We then made our way back up the mountain to get the rest of our deer. I dropped into the basin where I shot my buck while Chris went into adjacent drainage where he had shot his buck. As I started to get close to where I left the meat I could see that my game bags had been torn open and scattered all over. A bear had gotten to it before I had. I still managed to get most of the meat and dropped of the mountain to meet my friends again.
It was early in the afternoon and we decided to head home and get our animals taken care of. Paul asked if we would clean up camp so he could go hunting for the evening. We told him to go and hunt and started cleaning up camp. It took Chris and me a few hours to get everything loaded up and we headed back in the direction that Paul had gone. Chris went ahead of me and I had a guy flag me down wanting to take a look at my buck. I talked to him for a few minutes and then took off to see if I could catch up to Chris. When I got to the area where Paul told us he was going to hunt I could see both of there vehicles parked off of the road, but neither of them were inside. I then look up on the mountain and could see Paul waving his hands. He had also shot a nice buck! We had three nice bucks down in only a couple of days of hunting! It was one of the shortest, but funnest hunts I have ever been on and I have a nice buck hanging on the wall to remind me of this amazing hunt on public land in the Wyoming high country.
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Keep the pics and stories comin' my friend. I always enjoy your posts!