Sands Muley

by Tara A. Gunyan

My deer season actually started during an Antelope hunt in the Sand Dunes area just North of Rock Springs, WY.

My Husband, Rich, and I were out driving around, when I saw a very unusual non-typical Antelope, one horn was striaght up and the other went straight out to the right. I decided he was a good shot, and worthy of a trophy for me. So I got in on him, the whole time he is watching me, I got within 500 yards or so, when he just started walking at me, and he just kept walking straight at me. At that time I am starting to get a little nervous, not being on very many hunts and not knowing what Antelope are like, I ask my husband what I should do, and he says let him keep coming, it is just that much easier when we have to get him back to the truck. So I wait, but the closer he gets the faster he goes, by then I am ready to just throw my gun at him, but I took a shot at him, missed, and he ran around me straight out into an open place and up the side of mountain and stopped dead in his tracks. So I decided to calm a bit and go after him. I finally got a shot off at him, missed again, when in my scope something to the right moved, I looked again and saw the biggest deer I had ever seen.

There were five massive mule deer springing up to the crest of this mountain and stopped and looked back at me. So needless to say, I quit Antelope hunting and followed the Mule Deer, for two weeks until the season opened. On opening day, I went right back to where these big boys were making their home, and we couldn’t find them. It had rained for two days previously, and it was very cold, and extremly foggy. For three or four hours our hunting party searched for signs of them. But just when we were about to give up, the fog cleared as I was sitting at the bottom of the mountain and there he was, watching me. I tried to get everyone’s attention, and my husband and his best friend went out after him. But to no avail he disappeared as fast as he came. So we decided to go back to town for a couple of days.

I figured by the time I got back out there he would be gone, and he was. I went to the same mountain, and nothing, my Husband took a nice little 2X3 that was there, but my guy was gone. So we ate lunch, talked with my boys who came along that day, and we decided to see where a road led, that went around back of this mountain. We were not paying any attention at all, when I looked out my window of the truck and there he was, as if he was waiting for me. He was a ways out there so I was very nervous, he wasn’t going to stay long enough for me to get a shot. But through everything he never moved. I got in on him and took a shot and now he is my trophy. It was truly meant to be.

Deer – 31 1/2 inches wide, 19 inches tall, 5X5

Equipment used:
New rifle .270 Ruger from Tara’s Dad, a new 4.5 X 14 Nikon scope from Tara’s Husband