Mule Deer at 12,000 Feet
Mule Deer
Was in Colorado last week on a solo, DIY, high country mule deer hunt and was lucky enough to tag this guy on day 6. I waited and watched for a tense hour and twenty minutes at 30 yards knowing it would be over in seconds. He finally stood up to stretch, and was down within 40 yards after the shot......then gravity took over! He slid and rolled down a rock washout for 300 feet giving his beautiful, perfect, lush brown velvet antlers a little more character.
Congrats on a outstanding Mulie!
Beautiful Buck!! Congrats
Congrats! What an amazing buck.
Beautiful deer! Congrats.
Man, that is so awesome! I'd mount him just like that. Well done!
Awesome country, awesome deer!
That's a great buck. Congrats on a fine adventure ! Hunt
Congrats on a great mulie and getting it done solo!
What a great pic of you and the buck well done Thanks Shane
Congrats. That's an awesome looking buck.
That is awesome!! Good for you.
Way to go, what a sight that must have been! How about the 6 day FULL story? Congrats on a dandy
Awesome & great Deer. Congrats. I've never done 12,000 but took 13 at just under 11,000. None as good as yours but I was always happy.
Very nice John...Congrats.
You are da man! Congratulations on a beautiful buck.
really nice representation of the caliber of high country Muleys we have. Sweet!
That is a great buck, congratulations.
I almost didn't recognize you with that many arrows in your quiver. If memory serves, you (inadvertently) used them to mark your way back down the mountain in BC. ;-)
Great deer and super picture. See I can spell
Great buck. Was he tough to pack out with those skinny arms you have? Lol.
You look mighty happy! Enjoy! C
Your smile says it all! I'm hoping to draw in Colorado next year for a hunt at similar elevation.
Your smile says it all! I'm hoping to draw in Colorado next year for a hunt at similar elevation.
Awesome buck! Congratulations!
wow, congratulations on a beauty! I would like to hear more about your entire hunt.
Thanks for the nice comments guys. Matt...........HAHAHAhaha......yes, that arrow thing. It's a great, but expensive, way to mark your trail! I'm heading back up there in about two weeks for moose!
Quick recap: Days 1 & 2 were hit and miss rain/small hail/even snow, and since it was labor day weekend.....absolutely over run with hikers!!! I ended up hitting a big framed 3x3 on day one at 55 yards after a branch kicked my arrow low and I'm almost certain hit him in the brisket. Tracked him almost a half a mile (by GPS) over the rest of the afternoon and into the next morning until I ended up seeing him again and he appeared fine. Days 3 & 4 were better weather, still off and on rain, but at least the sun came out a little. I had 2 really nice bucks coming straight uphill towards me at dusk on day 3, till a hiker came skipping down the trail. The big 4x4 bolted out to 80 yards, but that was as close as he was going to get. Day 5 & 6 were beautiful days. Day 5 I had a buck bedded, facing down hill, breeze in his face. Took me over two hours to get to him, had my landmarks pegged perfect. As I eased up behind the last trees at 60 yards and got my first visual of him........he had flipped 180 degrees in his bed and was now laying there staring at me!!! After a 20 minute stare off, he had enough and was gone. After that I saw a BIG 4x4 down in the bottom of the basin so off I went. 2 hours later I got to within 100 yards and the wind swirled. Gone. Day 6 I spotted a nice 4x4 only 250-300 yards behind camp as I was brushing my teeth. He bedded in a perfect spot........I thought this would be an easy slam dunk. Till I got to 80 yards and saw him and his tow buddies high tailing it out of there. Wind swirl....again. Then I was going to go after a nice 4x4 I had saw two days in a row at the bottom of this basin. Of course now today I couldn't find him......but did see two more tents, hikers, even 3 people on horseback down where he USED to be. Went over to another basin, spotted a bedded buck about halfway down, I had got about half way to him but still 5-600 yards away when a different buck spooked from below him........taking the whole works to parts unknown. After that I hiked back to the top and was going to sidehill over to an area I'd been seeing deer every morning and night........but was next to impossible to get to them without being exposed on the bare slopes. Since it was almost noon they were all bedded which is what I needed and would try to get close to the clumps of trees they used to bed in during the day, hoping one would come out that evening and feed close enough for a shot. About 100 yards from where I wanted to be, I ended up spotting the buck I shot, bedded. The rest of the story is in my firsts post! :) After so many stalks with MUCH HIGHER odds of success ended in bad luck, hikers, swirling winds, etc. The one I was successful on never should've happened, but I'm glad it did!
Congratulations on the beautiful buck John. You were persistent and made your own luck. Great job getting 'er done!
I did this hunt solo and unguided. 18 hour drive one way, no cell service, hunt all day alone, get back to camp in the dark, eat and go to bed, get up in the dark, eat and head out, get back at dark, repeat. It takes a couple of days, but it sure clears your head. Even though this was "only" a deer, it was probably the biggest bodied deer I have ever shot, and the packout took 2 trips, plus the first one when I brought my hunting gear out with the head, antlers, and cape. The 18 hour solo drive back home went a little faster with antlers in the back of the truck. :)
What a great looking deer. Doesn't appear the surrounding scenery is too bad either.
Congratulations.
I missed this thread as I was chasing critters when you posted your story John.
Congratulations John! I would love to here how your CO experiences differ from your local experiences with MD. (As I hope to repeat your same feat some day!)
Congrats, that is a great buck and even better pictures. You are going to love looking back at those for a long time.
Really nice buck. Congrats. I believe I got a pic of this buck from Jeff. Did you use him for this hunt?
Wow. I missed this too. Glad it got brought back up and I caught it. Congrats!
YOU DID THE WORK AND WERE SUCCESSFUL. MY BEST, Paul
Wow , awesome buck ! congrats !
Outstanding.... congratulations. Ed F
Nice work! Pics are awesome with all the velvet hanging like that. I'm trying to decide what is bigger - the buck or your arms?? jk, awesome buck.
Brian, the main differences are not having oxygen (LOL), and huge country. On my "local" hunts I have never needed or wanted a spotting scope, I wished I wouldn't brought one to CO. Other than that it's not much different. They still bed in the same spots, etc.
Branden, yes on Jeff. You thinking of using him?
APauls, definitely the buck! LOL!
