Mulies in Wyoming

cloningerba

cloningerba

Old Mossy Horns
The after of Oct. 15 my dad and I were riding around looking for a new area to hunt. He noticed a couple does and with an hour left to hunt decided to shadow them and see what we see. As we were working up the ridge to them we noticed the first group move off and another group feeding behind them. All of a sudden i see antlers coming up the hill behind them.

The unit we are hunting, the bucks have to have 3pts on one side. As this buck clears the ridge I assume he is a shooter immediately. He was to the ears and looked like he had a field goal on his head. Well, I take off after him on the opposite side of the ridge before he can notice me as my dad is acting as spotter. As I come up the ridge about 100 yards out he hops a fence and heads into a small ravine and up the other side. It’s then I notice that he is only a HUGE 2x2… and in velvet!?!? I’m guessing he was a catcus buck. It would have been a chip shot as I watch him slowly work is way over a ridge with a doe.
 

ncstatehunter

Twelve Pointer
Yesterday Sam and I pulled an audible on the way to where were headed because of a stud 4x4 and his smaller but still a shooter buddy feeding on public by the road in the dark. Got turned around where we could park and worked over a few small ridges not far from the truck to hopefully catch them if they crossed the road and headed up into the breaks.

Setup well before daybreak but after 4 hours and me making my way up on the butte and working around each dip to see if maybe they went high or crossed before daylight, nothing to show for it but a pronghorn sheath/shed and a big dead one that’s definitely over 70” and might break 80” if his prongs don’t hurt him too much. Slipped into some awesome looking mountain country just inside a wilderness study area for the evening. Lots of deer and elk sign but the only deer seen were two does that came hopping behind the truck as I was backing up to park. First day no one saw a deer while out of the truck.
9179D954-9424-4AEF-81B0-3B624CB30E2B.jpeg2574139D-1437-4E8A-B300-63E3A199ABBD.jpegE9A225E8-FA4B-473D-95BB-F7F677DC9566.jpeg
 

ncstatehunter

Twelve Pointer
Today finally felt like we were in the game. Knew we could make it back to the area we got stuck Wednesday and that it would be the only day as we have another 4-8” of snow headed in tomorrow afternoon and night after rain/snow in the morning. Get back to where I wanted two go and there’s a lone buck beside the road then a doe and one or two other deer not much further up it. Head out a two track and park, then work our way up on top to glass side slopes and the bottom.

We sat til 8 and only saw two does before unfolding our gameplay of walking and checking every nook and cranny. Tracks, beds and crap everywhere on slope 150 yards in front of us made me realize they are using which side of the slope based on wind direction. This dials us in on which slopes and bowls we need to look. Sure enough, Ben and I walk up on a herd of 12 does and a buck in one bowl at 250 yards. I unfortunately knew better on how to approach the edge yet still didn’t do it, this they saw our heads. Couldn’t tell what we were or smell us but definitely knew something was up. Had multiple chances to shoot but we couldn’t make that buck grow a third point on one of his sides. Just a decent, tall 2x2 that I think I saw back in July in a group of 5 bucks. Ended up seeing two more groups of 5 does after that.

This afternoon after breaking camp I took the guys up on the mountain and we still hunted through pines to the sagebrush, following fresh tracks and bumping a doe that had no clue what we were and walked to within 40 yards of us. I made a big loop along the edge of the sage and had a small forkie at 350 yards, but he didn’t have a bigger friend. At the cabin now, showered and ready to pass out. Gonna try to stay out all day tomorrow, 3 days left.
 

ncstatehunter

Twelve Pointer
woodmoose said:
sounds like 30% of my hunting time up north,,,, dang fog and "low clouds",,,

good luck!!
Click to expand...
Deer were up and feeding in that soup but all I saw and stalked on my 4 miles back to the truck was does. Had an inch and half of snow on me when I got back to the truck at 2:15. Went and checked out ag fields and found some deer up close to public but just couldn’t handle being wet in the snow and wind after riding around trying trying to dry out. Figured best course of action was to head in early to dry out our gear and get rested for the final two days.
 

ncstatehunter

Twelve Pointer
So the story starts with mine and @Smarr28’s decision to go back to where we hunted opening day and hopefully see the same deer we saw then or some different bucks. Figured if I really looked them over with the spotter I could tell if they were worth waiting for to move from private to public. 3-4” of snow and a full Hunter’s moon greeted us and we walked the short distance in to the boundary corner in the moonlight and sat in the dark for 45 minutes after getting setup.

Daybreak finally started creeping in and I could see deer way out in the ag field with my binos. Could tell one was a buck just by body size but waited for a little more light to put the spotter on them. Finally felt like I had enough light for it and sure enough it was a buck that I felt was a shooter based on everything we had seen the last 7 days and he was heading towards us. There were more bucks further out with a bunch of a does and as I continued to watch them I could tell there were two other shooters. Eventually the closest buck that we named First Buck (It will make sense later) got in some big sagebrush about 800 yards out behind a barn and we never saw him again for like an hour. About 8 all the other deer started filtering in like he did, eventually working there way into about 700 yards out. The first buck joined the group about that time and they proceeded to split into two groups, does/small bucks and the 3 shooters and a 2x2.

While the bucks were milling around eating and sparring, I could really look them over and decided we needed to figure out something to keep track of them and know which one we were talking about. We decided on First Buck (tallish 3x3 that kinda flared out), Dark Horns/Brow Tines (3x3 with the darkest horns of them all and only one I noticed had a brow tine at the time) and Big Boy (3x4 with yellow horns and the biggest body and antlers of the bunch). They bedded down and the wait out began. I actually watched the one I shot sleep the entire time they were bedded.

While this was happening we had a separate set of 13 deer work their way down the fence line and onto public, eventually splitting up with 4 does and 2 small bucks bedding 120 yards from our setup on the boundary. Oh, and we had 2 whitetails coming running in below us and do the same thing right before the mulies bedded. I had the head of the buck in my scope and he was a shooter 8 pt with some decent time length, but he never stopped so I could get a shot. Thus the waiting continued for the group of deer 600 yards away to move 250 yards to public. Breakfast time, story to be continued.
 

ncstatehunter

Twelve Pointer
Now that all the processing work is done and I have signal let’s conclude the rodeo that was yesterday at lunch. So the group of does and small bucks that were bedded behind what we dubbed “our boys” finally got up about 10:45-ish I believe, while we were snacking. Took awhile after they fed past them, but the group of shooters eventually stood up and fed with them, sparring occasionally. I think it was then that I knew we were going to punch at least one tag all the while we were giving @cloningerba updates as he had hunted down near the cabin in the morning.

Eventually the group of 4 does and small buck worked their way 100 yards below us, the little guy giving a small bush all he could making a rub. To our dismay Big Boy started back to where he washed been bedded and we were worried the other ones would follow. Luckily they didn’t but I was pretty bummed he had bedded back down. Slowly and methodically working their way towards the line 450 yards out in front of us, the 2x2 running g with them started walking away at angle and we started to worry when First Buck started to follow. But he eventually got back on the original course with Brow Tines in tow. Sam wanted to shoot First Buck and I was good with that as I like Brow Times darker antlers. I mentioned waiting for Big Boy but with it being the second to last day I didn’t know if I would regret that so I was pulling the trigger of I got a chance.

As they kept working towards the line I’m reading out yardages and looking at their location in regards to how we were facing because that was they only way to know when they crossed the imaginary boundary line. I knew when they got to the left of the barn that when they when they crossed the 370 yard line that the at were on public.

From that point to when the shooting commenced, the convo went like this with me doing all the talking: “420, 400, 390. They are gonna hit the fence and work down it just like that group this morning. They are on public now, it’s 250 to the corner if they do like the does opening morning, 325 to the second fence where those does and bucks crossed below us this morning. Here we go, they are doing like that group this morning. Just let them work to the fence and you shoot first then I’ll shoot. My buck isn’t gonna go far, if at all, when you shoot. Ok they are at the fence, shoot when you are ready”
 

ncstatehunter

Twelve Pointer
Then the rodeo started. Sam shoots and First Buck hops up and looks around, he had shot under him. I take my time as Brow Tines is standing there, about pull the trigger yet stop to collect myself before finally squeezing the shot off. He stumbled maybe two 2 feet and was done. 4 more shot ring out as Sam’s adrenaline and anxiety of watching them come in was too much for him and he wasn’t hitting anything. He tells me he’s not sure he hit it and is afraid his gun got knocked off at some point after we got out here. I can see it’s head behind some safe down there, then it disappears. I told him I think he hit and it just fell over but I was gonna go down there since mine was down and look for blood or a dead deer and if it wasn’t dead or hit he’d see it get up. So I snake my way down, the deer bedded beside us standing up now watching me.

I get down there to the fence where they were gonna cross and up jumps his buck up at 20 yards, none worse for the wear. No blood down there at all. Walk over to my buck and pull his head out of the tall grass, turn around and there First Buck is looking at me at 40, not a scratch on him, and proceeds to hop off. Go look for blood between there and when I first jumped him up and nothing. No blood anywhere and a perfectly fine deer confirms all clean misses which is further confirmed when I go up the hill to go talk to Sam who says he watched him the whole time and never saw a mark on him and he was perfectly fine. He knew where he went and was going to sneak above him to get a shot, so I told him to take my gun. He’d never shot it so I’m standing there explaining the Mauser-style safety to him when I look down and there’s a buck standing down near where mine was laying just looking at us. Throw binos on him to confirm legality and it’s Big Boy. I tell him it’s the same 325 yards, to hold dead on and take his time squeezing the trigger. Click. I had forgot to chamber a bullet for him, yet the buck is still standing there. He fumbles with the safety, racks one and then proceeds to drill him. 25 yard death run and he was down 5 yards from my buck. Celebration turns to “we gotta get Ben up here for First Buck”. A quick phone call and I’m sure him doing about 100 mph like everyone else in Wyoming results in Ben showing up 15 minutes later.

We give him the run down of what happened and where the buck was. I tell him to go low instead of high that way if he gets up without a shot opportunity he’ll run further on to public and not back to private. Off he goes, the whole time I’m watching out ahead of him with binos. Ben gets down there to the top of the dip we had concluded the buck was bedded in and I see, in my mind at least, his eyes get real big based on his body language and he slowly raises his rifle. Boom! I see the buck go through an opening followed by one more boom. It’s quiet for a second and Ben turns and gives me a fist pump. A 6+ hour wait concludes at 12:30 on the second to last day with 3 bucks as Ben was able to stalk up to within 40 yards of that buck and etch a memory into our minds and personal hunting history that will last a lifetime.

Pictures were taken, deer were quartered and meat was packed out. All that was followed up with hot showers, good Wyoming beer and big steaks. Hit the road back to NC tomorrow and can’t wait to make it back out to Wyoming next year chasing some kind of big game animal.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top