Scouting Pays Off in Epic Mule Deer Success
“Successful.” It’s the coveted word we all search for during the application season. Having struck out on Wyoming non-resident elk because of the ever-growing point creep (and all other western states for that matter), I threw a Hail Mary application at a near max point mule deer unit. My only hope was hitting the one available non-resident random tag in the special draw, and I was now staring at the word “Successful” in disbelief.
Knowing what the mule deer herd had been through in the last few years, I was cautious in my excitement. After talking to the biologist and a couple resident contacts, I was optimistic it would be a great hunt. Being an avid self-guided hunter and wanting to make the most of this rare opportunity, I decided to make a trip out in September during the archery season to scout. I went alone on this adventure as it was a 16-hour drive, six-day turn and burn-sleep in the truck type of trip. It’s on these marathon trips when you realize your passion and love for hunting outweighs the misery one puts themselves through, especially the older you get.
When I arrived, I lived behind the glass, covering as much ground as I could. I was turning up quite a few average bucks, with a couple in the 160-170" range. Then I came to a drainage that just felt special. “This looks promising,” I thought, so after checking out some more country, I came back to this drainage later to glass until dark. After getting settled in at my vantage point, deer began appearing below me. Then I spotted a buck that got my attention, a 5x6 with a double split G2 and stickers coming off it. “That’s a good buck,” I thought to myself, and I quickly named him “Stickers.” I estimated he would easily score 180". After glassing him until dark and then some more the next morning, I decided not to try a stalk with the bow due to lack of cover and other deer feeding around him, but rather return in October with the rifle. I finished up my marathon scouting trip and felt confident with the deer I saw and the intel I had gained that it was going to pay off.
Fast forward to October and I was heading west again with my good friend, Paul, joining me on this trip. We have been on many hunting adventures together, and I was very grateful to have his company and another set of glassing eyes. As we returned to the hunting grounds, I told Paul I wanted to start the hunt at my special drainage and go after “Stickers.” We arrived at the spot where I wanted to camp, and we were in luck. No one had claimed that spot yet. With rifle season opening in the morning, I told Paul I wanted to go to my vantage point and glass until dark. After glassing for about an hour and watching some smaller bucks, Paul suddenly said, “Wow! There is a big buck bedded right below us!” I couldn’t believe it, 309 yards below us he was hiding in plain sight. Another set of glassing eyes was already paying off. I looked him over and told Paul he looked like Stickers. As daylight faded, he got up and slowly walked into a patch of timber.
“Man, that’s a good buck,” Paul said. I remember thinking at that moment that Stickers looked bigger than a month before. We excitedly went back to camp to discuss strategy for the next morning. There was also an impeding winter storm on its way that was in the back of our minds. Snow, cold, and high winds were forecasted to hit in a couple days. We decided the best option was to start the morning at the glassing vantage point as to not spook any deer from the drainage and go from there. That night, Paul said something I’ll never forget. “Don’t worry, you are going to shoot that buck first thing in the morning and we won’t have to worry about dealing with bad weather.” “That would be awesome, but I am not counting on it,” I replied. I went to sleep thinking, “It just never works like that.”
The next morning found us back at the vantage point scouring the landscape for deer as the sky began to get light. We also couldn’t believe our luck that no other deer hunters had showed up in the area we were hunting. “Everything is going perfect so far,” I remember thinking. After a bit, Paul suddenly said, “I got a good buck over here, and I think it might be him!” I got the spotting scope on him and saw the signature double split G2 on his left side. “Yep, looks like Stickers!” I said. He was calmly eating in the open 350 yards away surrounded by does. Due to the open country and wind direction, I decided to shoot from where we were. Our glassing spot was on a steep incline, and I could not get into a good position to take a shot. I told Paul I was going to slither down to a little rock outcropping 30 yards below us. “I’ll keep an eye on him,” Paul replied.
I slowly slid down towards the rocks because there were a few does feeding about 150 yards below us as well. After what felt like an eternity, I got to the outcropping and started getting into position. My foot hit a rock, and it began rolling down the hill. “That’s not what I need right now,” I thought. I froze, expecting the deer below me to spook. Nothing ran, but all eyes were looking in my direction. I quickly got into a shooting position and got him in my scope. He was looking right at me, standing broadside. Feeling rushed and breathing heavy, I put the crosshairs behind his shoulder and squeezed. As the gun went off, I felt my body shift a little, moving my point of impact. It looked like I hit him back some, and he started trotting down the hillside toward a patch of timber. I jacked another round in and got back on him. He was hurting and stopped after going about 100 yards. “Make it count,” I remember thinking and squeezed another shot off. My .300 Remington Ultra Mag barked again, and the buck disappeared from my view. I reloaded and waited for any movement.
After a few minutes, I looked up to Paul and asked if he could see him. “He’s down! He’s down!” Paul replied, “I saw him drop and start kicking on your second shot, but I can’t see him now.” After scanning the area for a few minutes looking for any movement, we started making our way carefully to where the buck last was. Paul hung back behind me some to watch in case the buck was still alive and mobile. I worked my way into some deadfall and pines where we last saw him. I looked back at Paul, and he was waving me back toward him. As I took a couple steps back toward him, I saw nothing but antler sticking up! He had died up against a small conifer and some deadfall. I began pumping my fists in the air to let Paul know I had found him.
It was a very special moment when Paul joined me and we began celebrating this incredible buck. He seemed to get bigger as we got right up to him. I was in disbelief as I looked over his massive 5x6 frame. “That’s a buck of a lifetime right there. It doesn’t matter what he scores.” Paul commented. I agreed and was feeling very thankful he was there to share this experience with me. Then I realized he didn’t have any sticker points on his rack! After looking back at some pics from scouting, it turned out this was not the buck “Stickers” but a different (bigger) one with an almost identical rack and the same double split G2 on the left side. I told Paul I must have shot his big brother!
As I was tagging him, I saw we were an hour and 10 minutes into the season on this incredible hunt – unbelievable. It was a beautiful sunny morning, so we got to work getting him to camp. We got back to camp about noon and enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing and admiring my buck. Later, I told Paul I couldn’t believe he was right that we shot that buck first thing in the morning and beat the weather. It was just a perfect hunt on all levels. That night as we were reflecting on the day, I told Paul, “Ya know, you just can’t script a hunt any better, from the scouting trip to the end result and everything in between, it was the perfect script.