My 4x5 Desert Muley

[Napalm68]

So I drew the tag....lucky lucky me I know.   

Going into this hunt my biggest fear was not knowing what a nice sized buck would look like and that I would make a poor decision early in the hunt.  I have only been hunting about 9 years (im 41) and all of my hunting has been for Okanogan Mules and Nile elk.  Okanogan, were I hunt anyway, does not really spit out monster deer.  So...I did the right thing and decided to scout at least 4-5 solid days prior to my opener.  I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of hunters in the area and found the good access points. 

Well...after all of the running around and talking I decided to put all of my effort in one area and started my scouting.  2-3 dozen doe and one ONE!  2x2 later after 4 days I was starting to freak out a little.  I was seeing tons of good sign and always seemed to be about a minute late when it came to running into a buck. 

Opener came around and I decided to really put some miles on and aroung 2.5 miles from my entry I ran into a nice little 4x4.  He was just sitting waiting for does to run by so I watched him for about a half hour or so.  Later I pushed past his area and flushed a very nervous buck that I saw for a total of about 2 seconds.  This dude was huge and never looked back at me.  His horns were past his ears about 6+ inches and so i decided to give hime a chase.  His tracks showed him bounding full out for the first half mile or so then he decided to slow down.  Needless to say I never put eyes on him again but was happy that he was heading in the right area and there would be a chance that I could run into him again the nex day.


The second day I headed out to the same area and about a mile into it I was able to sneak right up onto the same buck that I had passed on the day before.  I dropped some gear and brought my scope up to get a better look and right then another buck jumped up about 20 yards to my right.  One look told me he had nice mass and very tall horns on him so i decided to drop him.  I am not sure if he knew i was there or not but he was on his way out of the thicket and was moving on at a quick pace.  I am terrible at moving targets and my first shot missed because i led him a bit much.  My next was better as he turned away and gave me the old "Texas heart shot" look (which i am not a fan of) which i passed on but he decided to stop and take a look back.  I put one in his head and he went two steps, bedded down and took a nap. 


Now...I know there are a lot bigger out in the desert but I must say I am pretty happy with this guy.  His beam is a bit narrow but he has some very nice mass and I actually like how tall his set is. 

Hopefully before I die I will draw this tag again and try and hunt down the true monster that I know this gmu holds.  Hope you all had a good season.  Mine kicked ass. 

[BLKBEARKLR]

Very nice mule deer, congrats on that one. Hopefully I will draw that unit one of these years also

[agchawk]

CONGRATS on a great lookin' buck! Certainly nothing to be ashamed of there!

I love the mass on him. Very handsome buck!

[Ridgerunner]

sweet looking buck, thanks for the report on a unit most of us just dream of drawing.

[WAPITIHUNTER]

Congrat's dandy buck!!!

[bowhunterforever]

CONGRATS on a great lookin' buck! Certainly nothing to be ashamed of there!

I love the mass on him. Very handsome buck!

[wastickslinger]

Dandy for sure!!!

[NWBREW]

Thats a great Buck....Congrats

[509er]

Good work!

[wamuledeer]

Great buck, he looks pretty old. Nice mass and good forks.

[Buckmark]

Nice buck, i like how he is tall also..

[wastickslinger]

maybe him or a brother. This was last year.

[Track-er]

Nothing wrong with that buck.Nice job and will make a good mount.


                                                    Mike

[bankwalker]

well i think you held out for the right deer. good job

[fishunt247]

Great buck. And that may be one of the grossest looking deer faces I've ever seen, haha. Out of curiosity, how many points did you have when you drew that tag?