G MAN Deer Hunt

This was the day!

I was successful on my first mule deer hunt and could not be any happier.  All the planning, work, and struggles really paid off.   The weather was stunning (or terrible depending on your perspective) and the terrain left us speechless. 

Katherine and I did the typical departure of heading up to Ely on Friday evening after a long work week.  The Vegas northbound traffic is always an event on the 1-15.  It is all worth it though, once you are driving through the peaceful and desolate desert roads in route to your camp site.

Alan was able to head up on Friday morning to secure a good camp location.  Alan discovered that there was cell coverage there, which surprised us, so we were in touch throughout the day via text messages.  Where is "there?"  Well, if you can find Ely, Nevada on a map, just go west to the state prison, and then 20 miles north.  Previously, Alan has hunted sage grouse in the area and reported that the trails are in decent shape that it's a "must" to check out for my deer tag.  In our scouting during the summer, we looked in other parts of Unit 121, but Katherine and I had never been to this spot before.  Alan sent a GPS coordinate, and we arrived to camp in the dark having no idea what the surrounding terrain had in store for us.  It was a little weird getting excited to hunt an area that you have never seen in the daylight.

When we arrived around 10 pm, we set up camp and enjoyed a night cap.  We decided there was no reason to get up early since we were planning to hunt 3 days and had no real plan since we had not previously scouted this area.  So,  5:45 am was our "late" wake up time.  

The morning brought us low clouds and fairly cold temps in the lower 40's.  Upon pulling out the binoculars we immediately spotted deer.  Unfortunately, no bucks, but our excitement grew and Katherine and I geared up and went on a search mission.  We headed out to a thinly covered ridge, glassing though out the walk.  It was quiet and still and I felt like every step I took could be heard for miles.  Then came the snow.  It came down light and dry and did not stick to the ground, but made for a surreal view and cold hunters.

At the vista, we saw deer in two directions.  There were spikes, does, and fawns, but no bucks.  We had to keep looking.  We completely a loop and headed back to camp after an hour and a half only to spook up 2 does right by camp.  There were deer everywhere, just not big bucks. 

Me and Katherine at the open area with deer all around.  The snow was gently falling!

Back at camp we warmed up in Alan's tent with the dogs and snacked on some yummy food.  Our plan was to head farther to the north in the trucks and start glassing the big sloping mountainsides.  We were out for a few hours and saw deer everywhere we looked.  Once again, no bucks.  While returning from the out-and-back trip, we came back to our favorite area to glass once again.  I had pretty much given up on bucks in the area when Alan said, "We have one!"  The group of does had a small buck that refused to get up out of the sage brush!  We were on it. 

The mini herd was on the move and were out 300 yards away.  The buck was pretty still and K and I moved in.  We closed in to 160 yards and I put the crosshairs on him with the Bog-Pod tripod holding steady.  I decided not to take the shot.  He was too small.  And, it was only the first day.  It was good practice creeping through the sage to get within a very nice distance for a solid, clean shot.

We went back to the trucks and headed back to the last wide open place to glass.  After about 10 minutes, I noticed a bigger buck out at 500 yards or so.  Was this the one?  I wasn't sure.  It was surely bigger though and just chilling there with 5 to 7 does.  Katherine and I started our push towards them to get a closer look.  She had the great binocs rangefinder and I had the rifle with tripod.  We closed in through the sagebrush.  300, 250, 200..... A close look showed this guy as maybe a 3x3.  Big enough? Yup!  We are on a meat hunt this guy will feed us over the next 6 months or more.  It's on!!!

The range was good.  I had a good position.  But, K and I had to agree on which one I was talking about.  She had her eye on a different back in the group that was much smaller and it took us a few minutes to lock onto the same one. Her mission was to call the last distance and then stay on the buck with binocs if he ran.  My mission; get a good clean shot with a possible follow up.

Both of us decided it was a go.  POW!  The shot rang out.  Alan watched from way back at the truck.  Katherine stayed on the binocs.  I immediately felt the pain of the SCAR .308 report in my left ear and it was in screaming mode.  The buck reared up on his hind legs and then fell down.  The shot went through the shoulder and the top section of the heart.  It was a near instant kill.  Perfect!  Now for the real work.

Katherine stayed on the binocs guiding me with the radio to the site.  When I arrived and I saw him I took a minute to admire his beauty and be grateful for the sustenance he will provide for the next year.  I also felt relief that I had a good, clean shot that did not cause him to suffer.  I thought, "Let's get to work and do a cleaner and better job than before."  We took a few photos to remember the day. 

Katherine headed down once I was on the animal.  Alan drove a little down the trail and prepared to head out.  It was 3:30 pm and the weather was holding tight.  There could be rain, but there was no snow, and no sun.  We had 3 hours until sunset and the temperature was in the mid 40s and dropping.  This was perfect.

Alan's truck is on the middle ridge and the H3 a bit farther back.  That's K in the orange.

Here we are!

To our surprise, Alan had been in contact with another hunting dude from the week before.  Somehow, Casey was in the area and wanted to come help.  So, all of a sudden we had another set of capable hands on this animal.  We made quick and efficient work out of this situation.

You better believe it... we are getting the hide soft tanned.  (There is another 2 year wait!)

The four of us packed everything out in one trip.  We quartered the deer, kept the organs, hide, and head of course.  The coyotes will not get too much tonight.  

Casey, Alan, and me.  No sweating thank goodness.  The weather was perfect.

Heading back to camp.

That's me with K driving the H3 in the back.

Casey and I washed each bag of meat with the water on the back of the truck.  The temps this evening would be right around freezing, so hanging them in the tree would be ideal.  It's a little unnerving while sleeping thinking that every sound is a coyote trying to eat your meat.  We took care of that by "scenting" the area.  It was untouched in the morning.

Packing up tin the morning was a slow process.  It was cold, wet, and we needed coffee.  The meat was taken out of the tree and loaded in the new cooler in the H3.  Once we got it all in there, we headed out.  Well, almost out.

Alan had an area for us to check out with possible sage grouse.  We stopped and shuttled the trucks so we could walk down a beautiful wash with the biggest sagebrush I had ever seen.  Unfortunately, there were no birds, but that didn't matter.  The walk was nice before we started the 5 hour trek home.  

We called ahead to John Mulls Meats in north Las Vegas and were ready to do the drop off to have the meat processed.  There were some guys there collecting samples of deer for study with the state.  There were looking for signs of chronic wasting disease.  We were in good shape, but had to tell them what area we were in and in what type of terrain the deer was taken.  

78 lbs on the rack.  Not bad for a small sized 2x3 muley.

Back at home the next day preparing to enjoy the heart served in the Peruvian Anticuchos style.

Yum!

The trip and hunt was a massive success for sure.  Alan, Katherine, and Casey made for a great time and experience to always be remembered.  Looking at the deer stats in the area, I feel I got a good one and am thankful I waited on that first deer and didn't take the shot.  Now, the fun is getting that giant box of meat from the processor and enjoying it for the months to come.  And... the hunting parties at our house with Alan, and our new pal Casey.  

Last year, Katherine and I didn't have any big game tags.  Luckily Alan was successful with an elk so we had game meat for the year.  We do not eat meat most days, and prefer to not eat factory farmed meat, so our two small sized animals will provide us with more than enough for this entire year.   But, we have one more hunt left.....

Yes, Michael from Washington D.C. will be out here for a November mule deer hunt.  We will spend the weekends over Veteran's Day and the next.  It is in unit 271-272 and will be our most difficult one for sure.  Deer populations are sparse and the terrain is tough to enter.  It will be a blast no matter what.