Well I have been wanting to bag a North Idaho muley for quite some time. I didn't buy my tag in time last year and did not get to hunt. I didn't make the same mistake this year and had my tag well before they sold out. My buddy and I had been planning on hunting a drainage that I have quite a bit of experience in. This area has high peaks and holds good numbers of game and particularly mule deer. I have hunted it for probably 15 years or more with my hounds and know the area well. My buddy got his camp set up and elk hunted the first couple days of the season. He saw a few elk but said there were people everywhere and decided to pull camp and go elsewhere. I am hunting for mule deer and not elk so I decided to hunt the area I had originally planned.
Saturday morning I get up at 4 and am already later than I wanted. I get the hounds taken care of and first aid all done. A couple dogs got some holes from a bear the week before and need cleaning everyday. After talking to my buddy the day before I don't have a lot of optimism for this hunt today since it is the first Saturday of elk and deer. I get out the door finally and over to the area of the hunt. I pass quite a few camps and several vehicles on my way up. I had been planning on hunting a large clear cut that has a gated road that comes into it from the northwest and on the bottom edge of the clear cut. There is a good way in from the southeast side as well which would put the sun at my back for glassing. This is the area I wanted to go. Around 645 it was light and I was just getting to the lower road. It's another 30 minutes to the top side and I decide I have already wasted to much time and I need to get hunting. My guts were rumbling too and I needed to care of business.
I get back to mu pickup after my short hike and hear a yote open up below me in the creek bottom. I glass the opposite clear cut but never see him. I am pretty excited about the coyote because like I said I like to hunt this area with my hounds and that means the wolves that used to live in there may not anymore. I grab my gear and head on my way. I hike about 3/4 mile before I get to the edge of the clear cut where I can see pretty well. The road was frozen mud and I felt like you could here me walking from miles away. There are some elk, deer and quad tracks frozen in the mud so at least there are a few critters around.
I start up the bank and make it a few steps when I hear brush breaking to my left. I look over and see a small bull moose. Then a cow that is with him. I keep going up the hill and another bull starts moving around too. All three are walking parallel to me at 50 yards going up the clear cut. We do this for about 200 yards when I find a good stump to sit on. Not sure if this is the place I want to sit for long I don't take off my pack. Just pull up my binoculars and start glassing the opposite side of the clear cut bowl I'm in. After a few minutes I get a little discouraged because the area I'm glassing is way further than I would take a shot, and with how loud I was walking in I don't think I could make a decent stalk if I saw something.
I look over at the moose that are now moving away from me and are about 100 yards to my right. That's when I see it. about 50 yards above the moose is a face looking at me. A deer face! Right away I'm confident its a muley from his unibrow. Problem is he already sees me, I shoot right handed and my rifle is laying across my lap facing left. Do I raise up fast and shoot or do I go slow and hope he doesn't run? I can't tell if he is a shooter or not so decide to go the slow route. As we stare each other down the years of staring contest in my youth started to pay off. I slowly slide my rear off the stump so I can more easily turn my body. As I'm doing this and turning I am bringing my rifle around and up to my cheek. That whole time he did not move or shift his sight from me. I bring him into my sights and see right off he is the buck I want to shoot, but he is standing with his body facing me. Not the shot I like to take. I am in a horribly awkward shooting position and my arms are starting to shake. For literally 5 minutes we stare at each other while I wait for him to turn. The moose are starting to work up behind him now and he starts turning his head but not his body looking at them. I decide if he turns he will just run and I won't get another shot. Now is the time if I want to take him. I bring him back into my sights and squeeze off a round. When my sight re-settles on the deer I see legs flail behind some brush and a deer run off. It looked to be a doe that ran off though. I ready for another shot just in case but nothing moves. I gave him 10 minutes to expire then went looking for the deer.
My shot hit good and blew his heart in half. Just barely nicked a gut so not to bad inside. It's my best deer and easily the shortest hunt Ive ever been on. Needless to say I was pretty excited about this buck!
