WY Region C Mule Deer

[Dwrecknfish]

This is my first outdoor adventure ive ever wrote so please bear with me. First off I want to say this isn't a story about giants or anything monstrous. Just a little read about 2 guys and their first out of state hunting trip. This year I really wanted to get into big game hunting. Messed around here in Washington last year with my first year bow hunting. Got a few chances and missed a decent buck. That was all it took to get me hooked. Never grew up hunting big game but last year was such a blast that this year I wanted to try an out of state hunt. The beginning of the year was spent applying in multiple states. After not drawing anything anywhere the Wyoming deer deadline was approaching so we decided to try and go for a pretty easy draw. June 1st quickly approaches and BOOM! Successfully drawn for a region C tag. Nothing overly exciting for big buck chances but it was a first chance to get a "real" deer.

Fast forward to September 28th and we're on our way! We spent quite a bit of time researching where to go and using Google Earth to scout. We arrived to where we were going to hunt and set up camp higher than anyone else. We spent the next 2 days scouting for deer up high. IN those 2 days we rounded up 6 does and no bucks. Luckily we chatted with some guys who had hunted here 2 years prior. They told us to not give up as there were tons of deer if you knew where to look. Come opening day we hunted a draw where we had seen some sign but wasn't fresh. We weren't finding much at all to help our confidence. Heard a total of 9 shots opening morning and with the amount of people we saw we were thinking we chose wrong. After the morning hunt we met up with the people we talked to the days prior and we asked them how many shots they heard. Without blinking they said about 30.that's when it clicked. We were up too high and all the deer were down in the sage country. Proceed to the first evening of opening day we were driving down a road towards some ravines that lead from the sage lands up into the hills. As we were driving to our spot to park something caught my eye up the ridge in some brush. I stopped the truck to get out and look. Wasnt sure if it was a hunter or deer so I didnt grab the gun. Got out and went behind the truck to look and of course 100 yards away in the trees I see a tall tied buck just staring at me. IT was the first buck of the trip! Grabbed the gun out of the truck and loaded it with 2 shells. We were going to put a buck down even if it was just outside the truck. Got the guns loaded and looked where the deer was and nothing. Was glassing around when we caught movement up the ridge and that buck with the biggest buck i'd ever seen with him topped the ridge. We decided with the pressure from the lowlands that we wouldn't chase those bucks and wait for more to come up the draws. We ended up splitting up to hunt different draws. As I was making my way down the draw I ended up running into a little 3x3 on the trail. He wanted absolutely nothing to deal with me and took off like a bat out of hell. No shot chance but my spirit was rising cuz we were seeing bucks. No other bucks for the night for me so as shooting light ended I went back to the truck. Waited there for close to an hour on my hunting buddy and he finally showed up as I drove up the road wondering if he came out somewhere else. I ran into him walking on the road towards the truck and he was just smiling so I asked if he saw anything. We'll turns out he did and shot a little basket rack 4x4 whitetail. He had packed him out solo as to not interrupt my hunt. The next day was me hunting by myself as he was regrouping from his solo pack out. Only saw 3 does that day but that night going back to where I went the first night I over extended my ankle. Over the next few days I was getting bummed out about my ankle. It was throbbing anytime I had to hike up or downhill which was everyday and everywhere we went. In the middle of our hunt I decided that a decent fork horned was going to catch a bullet due to my ankle and it becoming progessively harder to walk on. On our 2nd to final night we had a massive wind storm that pretty much blew our tent sideways with us in it. That morning we for went hunting to clean up camp and there was still a decent amount of wind.

We decided to ridge hop the last evening in hoping of jumping a buck. With my ankle I was slowed down quite a bit which in hindsight probably helped me as I walk a little too fast in the woods. We ended up jumping a few small groups of does but no bucks.  WE came up onto a cliff face and decided to take a peak over. There was 6 does feeding at the bottom. And we decided we would still hunt here from the top. As I moved down the cliff face I spotted a few more does bedded up under some small trees. My buddy came over to talk to me and I happen to jut look down at the very bottom against the cliff I saw a little 2x2. We watched him and I was deciding if I wanted that small of a 2 point. Directly 15 feet down passed him was a bigger 2x2 bedded too. That's the buck I wanted and that was my chance. I crawled up to ledge and a single shot from 60 yards vertically anchored him in his bed. I did it! My first mule deer and our first out of state successful hunting trip. We made our way down the ravine and that's where quartering 101 started for me as I never quartered a deer out. Luckily my buddy has deer hunted a lot longer than me. After quartering him out we made a hellish walk back up the ravine and the 2+ miles back to camp. After a week in Wyoming all the ups and downs and struggles I was hooked. I knew I have to continue hunting when I got home and out of state next year. Hopefully this story wasn't too all over the place but as my first story I hope it was able to capture your attention and join me on my adventure.

[Dwrecknfish]

My deer packed up and my buddy's whitetail head

[huntnphool]

 

[Bob33]

Great story. Congratulations.

[Muleyslyr]

 

[WAcoyotehunter]

That's AWESOME!!   GOOD WORK!  Nice two point too!!!

I hope your ankle heals up, I bet you forgot all about it as soon as you saw those bucks! 

[tonymoe]

Nice work! I love out of state hunts, I believe they making you work harder due to the time and fees involved. Wyoming weather can turn on a dime! I remember 1 particular hunt about 7-8 years ago (my pops only out of state hunt). It was my dad, bro and me. We hunted/harvested 3 lope bucks in 3 days. The first buck was shot in 75 deg, next day was 45 and raining, then woke up to 4" of snow on the ground. It was last week in September!
I'll never forget that hunt!

[Dwrecknfish]

Nice work! I love out of state hunts, I believe they making you work harder due to the time and fees involved. Wyoming weather can turn on a dime! I remember 1 particular hunt about 7-8 years ago (my pops only out of state hunt). It was my dad, bro and me. We hunted/harvested 3 lope bucks in 3 days. The first buck was shot in 75 deg, next day was 45 and raining, then woke up to 4" of snow on the ground. It was last week in September!
I'll never forget that hunt!

Yeah we had nice warm weather and 2nd day of our hunt it down poured with thunder and lightning for 16 hours. Enough storm that it continued at 11 am. Never going to forget that