Lifetime Draws Yield Epic Mule Deer Success Across States
March or April of each year, I receive the mule deer non-resident Nevada guide draw reminder from Greg Krogh, owner of Mogollon Rim Outfitters. Year after year, my hopes and prayers are crushed when I receive the “UNSUCCESSFUL DRAW” notification. Today was different, it said “SUCCESSFUL,” and I could not believe it. After multiple reads, my heart began to race. I immediately call Greg and booked the first week of the season with commitments to return later in the season if not successful the first seven days.
Being quiet and bored out of my mind in the very early hours on vacation, I decided to verify my points on my Arizona Game and Fish Portal. I wanted to confirm the Department credited my account for my bonus points. “SUCCESFUL DEER.” My heart was racing. I only applied for deer on the Arizona Strip, and my credit card was not hit. There must be a mistake! The Arizona Game and Fish Department would not open nor would my wife be awake for hours. I simply needed her to provide the passwords to our online banking and credit card accounts.
The door finally opened, and I greeted her with hot coffee and a look of anticipation. “Nope, the personal credit card is not hit.” I was convinced I got drawn then rejected due to my credit card being declined for some credit card malfunction. I was primed and stressed to call the Arizona Game and Fish Draw Department and plead my case. The draw manager professionally took my call, reviewing my Portal. She checked my draw results and very excitedly said, “You have the draw of a lifetime with the Arizona Strip rifle deer tag!” With reservation, I asked her to verify payment. She confirmed, “Yes, all is paid. Why do you ask?” Hesitantly, I explained, “My credit card is not hit.” She quickly provided me the last four digits of the credit card. “That’s one of my business credit cards!” That is when I remembered my personal credit card had a fraudulent charge and the card company closed that card and resent a new one. I had put the draw charge on a different card.
I arrived a couple days early to scout in Nevada, and Travis arrived to assist before we met up with Greg Krogh. Greg previously provided me some onX Waypoints to investigate. Two days of scouting in great habitat and we did not see a deer nor a fresh deer track. I started to question why Nevada says this is one of their top mule deer trophy areas.
We drove to camp in the late afternoon the day prior to season start. A white truck pulled in and out popped a burly beard. I didn’t recognize Greg with the beard. Mogollon Rim Outfitters has two hunters in my units this first week of the Nevada rifle mulie season. Travis and I went with Greg and the other hunter, Mike, went with guide Matt Kelly. We traveled to different locations miles away from where Travis and I had pre-scouted. A few good bucks were turned up over the next four days, just not “my buck.”
Mid-morning on day five, Greg glassed up the white face of a great buck. This buck was a couple miles away bedded under a cedar tree in the shade of large boulder on a northwest facing slope. Cutting the distance in half, I questioned whether this giant was “my buck.” Greg and I decided he would contact guide Matt and have hunter Mike stalk the buck with us in case I elected to pass. A lengthy stalk in rough bouldered terrain got us to 470 yards below the buck. I elected to pass. The buck was bedded on a steep incline, and we were exposed in the direct sun. The buck rose to reposition out of the direct sun. No shot taken. We waited for the giant to stand and relocate for shade. Mike’s shot was perfect, harvesting an amazing buck approaching 200".
Day six of my seven-day hunt arrived quickly. We drove for a couple hours followed by multiple miles on a bouldered ATV trail then a hike in the morning darkness to another of Greg’s remote locations. Greg and I began glassing canyons, rim rocks, and shaded ravines from multiple locations and angles. We were over a half mile apart when I received an inReach message from Greg stating he had found a big-bodied buck. The buck was bedded in a rocky ravine tucked under the shade of a cedar tree one and a half miles away. A rimrock outcropping fronting the cedar trees covered the majority of the buck with Greg seeing the top of his antlers only. We glassed and watched for an extended period of time, and this buck had it all – the mass, tine lengths, and a big, boxy frame. We made the right decision for us both to leave the butte and close the distance on this giant.
The Sig rangefinder read his antlers tucked in the cedar tree at 825 yards. We belly crawled up the exposed ridge to a small bitterbrush to break up our profiles. The rangefinder flashed 762 yards. Greg glassed and prepared his Phone Skope to video the shot as I readied my prone position. My buck rose and turned slightly to his right, presenting a quartering away opportunity. Watching the bullet’s vapor trail, my buck absorbed the 190 grain 28 Nosler and dropped in his tracks. Smiles, high fives, and giving thanks for a great buck and phenomenal hunt erupted. It was exactly the buck I had dreamed of.
I arrived three days prior to the opening of my Arizona Strip hunt. Expectations were high for another epic hunt with Travis accompanying me. We were hunting with guide George Garcia and spotter Connor Wittmuss of A3 Trophy Hunts. We had three days of scouting great country but no sightings from glassing and very limited tracks at waterholes and guzzlers.
With the four of us glassing, there were days of no deer and days of limited numbers of does and a few nice bucks, just no “Strip giants.” Nearing the end of the hunt, the rut was starting to kick in with sightings of a few bucks with swollen necks, bucks chasing does, and some breeding.
The evening of day nine started slowly. The rain had the roads muddy and sloppy. George got us to an area of an older chaining. I had archery hunted this area over a decade ago. We saw the only two fawns found during the hunt followed by a small 4-point staring down a doe. It was getting close to dusk.
“Big Buck!” Travis saw a 30"+ wide buck with a tall, boxy frame rutting a doe. Definitely the largest buck we had seen! Excitement skyrocketed as all four of us were together watching the buck. He was frozen in a small opening among the pinyons. Asking the range, Travis responded, “180 yards.” I chambered a round and adjusted the turret and magnification while continuing to check out the buck in the scope. Slowly squeezing the trigger, the suppressed 28 Nosler connected on the solo shot. The mule kick was followed by his quick burst over a small rise and out of sight.
We gave it a few minutes before tracking. There was good blood and turbulent tracks in the mud. My buck was traveling further than I had anticipated for a double lung. I began questioning my shot placement. My thoughts were taking me to a very dark space.
We continued on as we approached 100 yards from where my buck was when I took the shot. Zigzagging around the pinyons, we saw what looked like antlers sticking above the tall sage. I let out a huge sigh of relief as we realized it was him piled up in the pinyon spotted sage. The adrenalin rush hit us all. This was a team effort from the first minutes of the hunt. Having all four of us together at this time truly maximized the sweetness of this hunt.
Darkness was rapidly approaching as we honored this gorgeous buck with words of appreciation, hugs, high fives, and nighttime photos to memorialize the events. The full moon was cresting the skyline as we prepped my buck for tomorrow’s daylight photos and pack out. What a hunt!
My Nevada and Arizona Strip hunts will be relived and remembered but never replicated. I still cannot believe it, two impossible draws on the best of the best hunts, two tremendous bucks from two different states in one year with a combined total of over 400" of bone. I’m thankful and humbly appreciative to have been able to experience and share these adventures with my great bro Travis, Mogollon Rim Outfitters, Greg Krogh, and the A3 team of George Garcia and Connor Wittmus. We will share the campfire again.