six weeks till my first mule deer hunt!!
harvey
8/15/09 6:53pm
Well it will be six weeks and my father and I are going on our first and probably only mule deer hunt. My father is 75 will be 76 just after the hunt. He had two stints put in last summer and has a stress test scheduled the first of september. At 75 he is not in the best of health. All he has left in life to enjoy is deer hunting. This year I can't take him up to northern michigan deer hunting. He lost his mom, My Grandma last winter and his brother the year before. So with nothing left cept his hunting I felt pretty bad. I decided to take him out west mule deer hunting. He has really perked up this year since finding out. I bought him a new scope as he was using a 4 power pumkin on a stick type scope that 45 years old and he couldn't see through it! I bought him a Nikon Monarch 4x16x50. A very nice scope I think! He is shooting a 30-06 semi auto. It is a very old remington 742 Woodsman. well the first time at the range he was shooting a 2 foot group (not a group) at 30 yards! I was pretty scared! I let him rest a couple of weeks and we went back. I explained to him to let the target fuz out and to concentrate on seeing the scope crosshairs crystal clear. He shot about a one inch group at thrity yards and when we went to a hudnred yards kept them to six inches. Not great but I feel a lot better. We will go to the range at least once more or twice before the hunt. I am shooting a 7400 semi-auto 30-06 also. Mine is shooting about a two inch group at 100 yds. Hopefully that will be good enough. I think I would be alright out to 200 yards. Well yall wish us luck. We will be hunting private property in the northwest corner of Utah. Up near cotton junction grouse creek area. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated and if anyone has knowledge of that area would like to hear what you have to say. I will let yall know how our goes and how my father does. I would like for us both to get a deer but will be pleased if we can get him a nice one. The largest white tail he has ever shot was a 3x3 with about a ten inch spread.
2,976
dont know about your area, but you have my good luck! post back and let us know how it goes
I've enjoyed reading your posts and can tell that you are excited for your hunt. You been asking the right questions and it seems that you're preparing as good as possible. I've always hunted the southern portion of Utah and always on public land. I don't have any knowledge of the area you'll be in. I would like to say best of luck to you. I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to get an opportunity at a buck that is better than a 10" 3point whitetail.
Enjoy the time with your dad and it will be a great hunt regardless of the harvest. Please take time to share the hunt with us. Snap some photos and have a great time.