2006 Utah Archery 29" 3/8" Wide Buck

DR. DEATH, ::wel to Muley Madness! Great buck =D> and I'm looking forward to the story behind it.

That's a really nice buck! =D> Can't wait to hear the story, thanks for the pics, and Welcome aboard!

yes welcome DD to MM,great pics.can't wait for the story =D> =D> :thumb

As already stated that is a DANDY of a buck, super cool.

Thanks for posting the pics, look forward to the story.

Looks like a blast with you and your buddies!!

:good post

OK guys I appreciate you wanting to share in the experience. I have been bow hunting for 18 years here in Utah in the same area. I can't afford to go out of state. I get an over the counter tag every year, and have been hunting basically with the same group of guys. I'm the hunter in the group that always seems to get so excited that I miss deer and elk all the time. In fact in my earlier years, on a 4 day hunt I had lost or broken all 8 of my arrows in my quiver, and not even been close to hitting any animals. I was quite good at trees and rocks though.

All this time I have chances at shooting some good size deer but nothing of this caliber. Now to get to the story, we spotted this deer on the hillside after a morning hunt for elk at 12:00 feeding along the north side of the slope on a terrace. He was 152 yards uphill and we watched him bed down. We then got with the rest of the group at the truck and let them know that me and my best friend Jake spotted this buck and he was bedded down. We then went back to camp, which was only 1/4 mile away and changed into new clean shirts because we were all sweaty after the morning hike.

After we decided a plan to get this deer me and 3 of buddies hiked on the south side of the slope to come above the deer in hopes of a spot and stalk. What we had decided to do was put 4 guys above him on the top terrace in hopes that we would have all exit escape routes covered. We then had the other 3 guys wait until we got to the top of ridge and then go around to the north slide of the slope where we had seen him and make a drive to see if they could stalk him or push him into one of us.

The plan was set and with a lot of luck would hopefully give one of us a shot. As me and 3 other buddies got to the top of the ridge we started having them drop off onto the North Slope and set up on the ridge for hopefully a shot at this great buck. After we dropped off 2 of my buddies we keep going and finally it was my turn. I was walking as slowly and quietly as I possibly could. This North Slope was fairly open with Pines and Quakies. As I approached a Pine a fawn came busting out from under the tree and I thought man I just blew it... I let the fawn bounce off and waited a few minutes to see what else might come out of the trees, but nothing showed so I resumed the creep position, Hunched over watching every step and scanning every bush, tree, and blade of grass before taking the next step. I finally reached the top terrace and stood in front of 2 Quakies growing together. I took a deep breath and felt as I had arrived at the perfect spot. I ranged a bush of the top of the next terrace and it ranged 15 yards. I then proceeded to range some quakies to the East of me (my left) and the first one was 43 yards then the next one was 23 yards. With all the practice and 3 D shoots that I had been on that summer I knew that I could make both of those shots with confidence and had already done so hundreds of times in practice sessions. Only one small problem, whoever gets buck fever while shooting 3 D Targets. I continued to scan to my right searching for the buck ,and then it happened. I saw antlers and knew it was the buck we had spotted earlier. All I could see was the tips of his horns and that he was a wide buck. He was on the terrace right below me moving from east to west at about 25 yards. I dropped my range finder that was luckily on a string around my neck otherwise it would have hit the ground and scared the buck off for sure. I then hooked my release on the loop of my string and pulled back my bow. In the time it took me to hook my release onto my bowstring and pull back, the buck decided to walk straight up the terrace next to the bush I ranged at 15 yards. I was now looking at him face to face at 15 yards though my peep sight with the pins glowing on target. I thought to myself this isn’t the best shot should I wait for him to turn broad side.The buck stopped in his tracks and raised him head in the alert state staring at me not sure of what he was looking at but, I could tell by the look in his eyes he knew something wasn't right. I realized at that moment it was now or never because the buck was getting ready to bust out of there. I focused on my top pin on his heart and touched off my Matthews LX bow. The gold tip arrow armed with the 100 grain WAC'Em broadhead flew true. The hit was a good one and I immediately knew that I had hit the heart as I saw blood come out the deer's mouth. The buck spun to the north and went onto the terrace heading east. I watched intently knowing that I taken a shot that would not leave a blood trail like a double lung shot and needed to make precise mental notes of where the buck was going. The buck was not running off like others I have shot in the past. More like you would expect a deer to walk/ run with a 29" arrow stuck in him from the heart to the pelvis bone. The buck made it 50 yards and fell over dead. I let out a ya….hooooooooo and the whole mountain knew that I was excited. I then proceeded to some kind of dance which included arms in the air, stomping and kicking of the dirt, as I was spinning and jumping in the air, up and down. I have no idea where that came from but I couldn't do it again..Well, maybe if I ever get the chance to shoot a big bull Elk.... My friends that we had dropped off below me showed up and then the one above. We then all stared in awe at this magnificent buck until the rest of the group arrived.

Finally the guy (me) that has more stories of missing deer at close range and hitting more rocks and trees that all other 7 guys in our hunting camp combined has the stars align and gets a public free ranging mule deer with the help of great hunting buddies.

I know he's not the biggest deer on the mountain but for me he is a true trophy and will be a legend in my family and on the wall.

great story and buck DD. i would love to get a buck like that

thats a really nice buck!!!

Very nice buck, congratulations. Thanks for taking the time to post the photos.