Let's go mulie huntin with pics

[steadman]

Well this is the first time trying to tell a story  publicly. So here goes,
Sat was opening of the mule deer hunt here in UT. My Dad and my 8 yr old son were to be my partners.(Successful already isn't it). Any way we arrived Fri evening to camp to cool temps and threating thunder storms.
 
This was camp for a couple days
 
This is the typical mule deer country where I hunt

[Jerry Jeffer]

Hope there is more to the story.

[steadman]

As you can see, there are a lot of dead pine trees. This is due to an infestation of some kind of beetle. The beetle pretty much devestated the pines in this part of the state.
Back to the story: After setting up camp we decided to have a look around. We ran into this little guy while out and about.
 
We glassed where we wre going to hunt the next morning and were very excited at the numerous bucks that we saw.
The next morning we awoke to overcast and threatening skies. We fought the army of other hunters up the mountain, apparently we weren't the only ones to see the bucks  :(  But this is UT and you have to learn to deal with the pressure.
Me and Tyler (my son) decided to sit for awhile as this has been productive in the past. But he had gotten a cold and was not feeling well so we cut the sit short. After getting back to the truck I decided to drive to our pick up spot. When we got there, I parked the truck just in time to look back and see a 30 inch 4 point and a 26" 3x4 cross the road. I asked Ty if he would like to try for the bucks. With a huge smile he said"Heck ya Dad!" Out the truck we went and up the hillsid e to try to cut the bucks off, but no such luck. Those big ones don't get big by stopping. We went back to the truck to wait and while doing so counted several more buck cross in the same place and go to the same saddle.

[steadman]

I asked Ty if he wanted to go back up, but he was not into it. He said go Dad. So I locked the truck turned on the DVD, and head back to the saddle. Now before anyone asks about leaving my son in the truck, the saddle was only 300 yard off the road and I could see the truck by movig a little. When I reached the saddle, I stopped before being skylined and looked around. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the rack of a 25" 3x4 and a 2 point not 50 yrds away. The only problem is that they were steadily going away from me. I sat tight watching them dissappear aroung a rock when I heard a "THWACK!" Somebody got a shot. I walked up to see a young man shaking his head. Bummer for him. I sat there for about another 15 min when I started to get nevous about Ty. It had only been about 20-25 min, but I decided to check on him. As I turned around, I took one step and froze, 20 yards in front of me was another nice 4 point. Only he had me pegged. I could see others behind him, but they weren;t stcking around. They all took off to the left, and in my frustration a took a dumb shot at a 2 point, and shot over his back. Now I was not happy, two mental breakdowns in about 30 seconds. I decide to head back to the truck and wait for Dad and the others in our party.

[steadman]

Back at camp the raining started. me and Ty hung out in the truck. The rainin was still pelting the truck and I was almost asleep when Ty yelled "Dad! Two Bucks right there!" I just about had a heart attack when he yelled at only three feet away. I lokked for them but couldn't see them. He kept saying "they are right there Dad!" Finallt I saw then, a lot closer then I thought they were. Only 150 yards away, and not very spooked. The rain let up and my son "encouraged" me to go after the bucks. I was able close the distance to about forty yard s before the 3 point and 2 point got nervous and headed out. My two friends who were camped with us saw the whole thing, and so did Ty.  

[steadman]

That evening turned out beautiful, cool, with a breeze and a few clouds in the sky. I knew where ty and I were headed, you guessed it the saddle. On the way up I saw 6 hunters headed around the bowl towards the saddle, I knew I could use this to my advantage. Ty and I got to the saddle and we wern't there for more than a half hour when I heard footsteps on the rocks. I readied my longbow and looked down ten yards to see a rack with a pine tree in between it. The buck stopped, well because the wind was blowing right at our backs. He whirled to the right and stopped in an opening 18 yards away. I lost it, I drew not even coming colse to anchor and shot. I thought I hit it, did you see it Ty? My mind was going a million miles a minute. Dand he was sure a good buck, but I couldn't believe my total melt down prior to the shot.
I will keep going on the story in a while, I get to go shoot with my step sons for a minute

[Huntrdfk]

Keep it coming man, these early seasons just serve to fuel my fire......


David

[steadman]

Now before I continue, I have to say that this years goal was to take a buck and rid my elk curse with good shots. I shoot every night and I shoot a clicker to control my panic. Well it didn't help this time. I went over to where the buck was and 15 yards beyond was my clean arrow. I was heart broken. I had practiced so hard for so long. I had worked on my form over and over just for this one shot. I have never had a miss hurt so badly. Me and Ty went back to the truck, the poor kid didn't know what to do, he'd never seen me like this. We got in the truck with about 45 minutes of light left. I called my wife and she cheered me up by saying that I was not as bad as I told her I was. Whaen my Dad got back he just rolled his eyes and said"Heck if your not hunting the saddle I'm going up there!" That's when my eight year old stepped up to the plate. He said" Dad, just concentrate and don't freak out next time." Those words of encouragement as long with those of my wife were liked a kick in the butt. I had a half hour left. I asked Ty if he wanted to go back out, he said no, but told me I should go about 100 yards away in the pines so I could still see him. While watching the sun go down, I realized how lucky I was, to have an incredible wife who supports me like no other, and an amazing son who just doesn't care that I missed, he just wants to spend time with Dad. This was probably the most humbling experience I have had to date. I am a very , very lucky man.
 

[ChuckC]

I like it already.  Someday I want to go mule deer hunting. The mountains are always wonderful places to hang out.
ChuckC

[steadman]

Fast forward to this morning. I left last night from home. Ty went to his first day of school for the year, as did my two step sons. I was on my own, so with my wifes encouragement I headed back out. As I headed out in the pre-dawn the words of my son were ringing in my ears. It was a beautiful sunrise. I love being out watching the sun come up over the mountains.
 
As I sat overlooking the saddle I couldn't help but have the feeling that this was going to be a good day.
 
This is a pic of the saddle I was overlooking. The actual saddle is to the left. The deer have been moving up to the edge and the come straight towards me below the cliff I was on. After sitting for a couple hours I was messing with my new camera, I heard a noise down the ridge. I looked over and there they were 2 incredible bucks with a couple little friends in tow. Unfortunately, they went straight over the saddle, about 80 yards away. I had my camera out and tried to snap a picture of the two giants.
 
If you look closely you can see the one buck towards the middle of the picture, his buddy is about 10 yards in front of him. Look for his white rump patch.
I wish I could have gotten a better pic of one of these two. Like with me holding ones set of antlers  :rolleyes:  But it was not meant to be this morning. Just seeing big bucks like that makes the morning extra special.

[steadman]

By 10 I was headed back to the truck when I ran into the friend who we shared camp with. He was headed back to pick up his trailer that had blown a hub on the way up Fri. We compared notes on what he had seen, and told him I would help him get his trailer onto another trailer to take back down the mountain. He took off as I put my stuff away. As i headed up the road I continually looked for deer. When I rounded a bend I saw what I thought to be a deer a few hundred yards up the hill. I quicly grabbed my binocs and confirmed it to be a buck. I had nothing to loose, so i grabbed my stuff and headed after him. I closed the gap to 60 yards relatively easy. The buck, a nice 2 point, was feeding towards the left. I waite dfor what seemed an eternity for him to get to some cover, it was more like 10 minutes. When he finally entered a patch of pines, I decided to make my move. I skirted the hill side to cut underneath him and to keep him from seeing me. Suddenly the wing switched to the back of my neck. I slowly crept around some pines with an arrow nocked, fully expecting to see the white patch of a mulie buck bouncing away. But there he was 25 yards away and broadside. I drew, all the while hearing my son's advise,reached full draw, picked a spot and released. The buck jumped at the sound of the string, and the arrow struck far back. My heart again sank, until the buck jumped back, and it looked like someone had spilled a glass ofruit punch. He raced off down the hill for about 5 seconds, then a crash, followed by more crashing. I knew I had hit the femoral, an extremely lethal hit, but not one I was going for. But as all bowhunters know, things rarely play out perfectly.

[steadman]

I headed back down to the truck after marking the trail. I then headed back to the camp to help Ryan, load the trailer. After getting that done we headed back up to track the buck. The first blood was good,
 
Then after 20 yards of good it got great!
 
Then after 10 yards of great it was unreal
 
Once at this point, I looked down the hill and there 20 yards away there he was. He didn't go 70 yards on a dead run. It was a great feeling to walk up to this buck. Here in UT we only get 2 tags a year unless you win the lottery called the draw. So we usually don't get a whole lot of opportunity. I was glad I had capitalized on this one.
 
Truer words have never been spoken by an eight year old..."Just concentrate and don't freak out"

[xia_emperor]

nice job.  

[BlkDog]

Way to go!  Congratulations!!  Many fine memories for you and your boy.

[Louutah]

Steadman...nice work and a great story...I spent the weekend in central UT...passed on acouple of spikes and a really small two point, saw lots of deer as well, just could not get close enough...I figured I still have until Sept. 14th..did not want it too end too early..again great job.

[the Ferret]

SWEET    Congrats big time.

[steadman]

Just a Note:This story had a great ending for the circumstances that happened. I did make a good shot, or I felt was a good shot, the deer was looking at me and I know that contributed to him jumping the string. The buck lunging forward was out of my control, but the fact that my wensel was scary sharp was not. Keep them sharp, you never know when good can go bad in a shooting situation.

[Huntrdfk]

Congrats Ryan, way to go!!!


David

[vermonster13]

Great hunt and you even made meat!    

[fredbear92]

Nice!