ok. so Ive been wanting to get a mule deer for a few years. always liked them. I tried teanaway a few years ago with no luck. So this year i was supposed to go with a friend to the banks lake area. well he bagged out on me at the last minute. so i called another friend in walla walla. They dont hunt but atleast i had a place to stay. I went over the day before season and spent the day locating FFTH land and talking to a few land owners. I got permission on one place. I was there for the next 6 days. I Saw a bunch of two points the first day. I figured something bigger would come in but i was wrong. I kept seeing the same big two pt for the next week. aswell as a bunch of smaller deer. I would see 30-40 deer a day and nothing i could pull the trigger on. I did manage to dump a few coyotes though. So on friday morning I saw the same two point and frustration got to me. I decided i had enough and was going to head back to the wetside. Well on the way i got a call from a friend of mine in Roslyn who said to stop in. I had nothing planned so i went up teanaway til he got off work. when we met up another friend of ours called and said he was almost to ellensburg and to head to the cabin. i Just happened to have all my gear with me. well we had a long night and I for some reason woke up at 7am. and decided to hike up the ridge. I got a little ways up and saw a white rump patch.. it turned out to be a two point. so i started glassing around and off to the left there were two more deer. I noticed one was much bigger but couldnt count the points because they were sparring. After they took a break i saw the forks and realized it was a legal buck. I sat down and couldnt find a rest so i used my knee, i estimated him at 300 and aimed for the top of the back. i pulled the trigger and shot over him. Both of the bigger deer took off running up the ridge. they finally stopped to look back down at me a while later. I kinda guessed on my hold over and pulled the trigger again. they Immediately bolted and i thought i had missed again but about 30yds later the one i aimed at bedded down under some sage. all of a sudden his legs kicked out and he flopped over backwars and slid down the hill, still kicking, til another bush caught him. I ran back to the cabin and woke my buddy and his gf up to go get him. as we walked up the other buck was still standing by the sage where he first bedded. we kept watching and thought maybe i had wounded one. but as we got closer I made out the ear and left antler sticking out of the one i shot. Finally when we were about 20 yds away the smaller buck took off and i noticed he was a two by three. so after a quick and painful drag downhill.(tines in the back of the leg hurt) he went and grabbed the tractor and we got him hung and skinned. It was a fun hunt and its good to have friends in the right places.
