a huntin' story turned blog amidst the greatest muley hunt ever...

[Hopewell Tom]

Man, that sounds like fun. Great story and the telling.
Whip got it right, I look forward to your posts, keep at it!

[huntnmuleys]

well, no hunting for me today.  did thanksgiving with the family. now I work four days so I wont be able to hunt until Friday.  

this was in my yard when I got home.  Im deer hunting even when im not.

 
 

[huntnmuleys]

got an extra day off, and its nice out.  hunted this morning.  

hold on to your hats for this one.

nice and calm at daybreak...
 

right away I noticed plenty of coyote tracks around, and even saw one at a great distance, but no deer were around.  I was in this spot as a buddy of mine had viewed one of the big typicals Im after in here just a day or two ago, and I figured with all of the does around, they wouldn't go far.
they didn't.

I ended up hiking in a ways, along a deer canyon. no deer were in the bottom, but finally I got to a place where I could see a couple does on the top where I was, about 80 yards away from me.  and, they were obviously looking at more deer.  seeing as I had the typical really loud snow, I held tight in what cover I had, and watched another doe walk out with a buck on her tail.  a BIG buck.  I tried to call him to me, but there was no way he was leaving this doe.  in this pic, hes not looking at me, hes looking FOR me.  in my other hand is my can call, behind my back.  I took a few as he moved his head around looking for this other doe but this is the best of em.

about 60 yards out here.  once again, I really don't like loud snow..
 

[huntnmuleys]

after a while, one of the other does got downwind enough to get me and they moved off, though not as fast as you would think. they dropped into the next large canyon, and I thought if I hustled around the top of the canyon maybe I could set up and rattle him in.  so away I went.

while not the same deer, obviously im not as sneaky as I think.
 

it took me a while to get around on these deer and they kept moving.  I lost them for a good while but did eventually find them again further up the hill.  this was over a mile from where I was on em first.
 
 

however, I could get no closer than 150 or so at this point.  between the open country and that wonderful loud snow, there was just no way. I was helpless until they fed over the top.

someone want to tell this little guy that its winter?
 

[huntnmuleys]

when they moved over the top, that's when this hunt got REAL interesting.  I half circled to try to not go straight at them, more get the wind right and have a better angle. I crested the small top, and hadn't went very far when I spotted the buck about 70 yards out, with his nose on the ground.  ahh, I have a chance here!  I quickly knelt and rattled, and the big guy raised his head and started moving my way at a somewhat steady pace.  I readied for the shot, but failed to see a small forkhorn that had also come in to just under 20 yards on my right, and he blew the whole thing.  dammit!!  I quickly stood up to see if I could get a shot but my big guy was already 50 yards out and hustling back toward the does.
then something unexpected happened.

as the buck was nearing a small tree by all of these dang does, I saw a giant, heavy antler swing out from behind the tree, and the big wide buck moved off a little. there was another buck! I don't know where he came from, but it was obvious that the big wide guy wanted nothing to do with this tall, narrow, heavy kicker guy.

 
 

the pics don't do this guy justice. he kept the wide buck at bay the whole time.  I took almost 40 pics, but not a one turned out very good. it seemed I was always a second late with the camera.  of course, I was watching and hunting while trying to do this. the herd finally moved off into a spot where I couldn't get to quietly (yet again dang snow), and I knew theyd been pushed a good bit so I left em.  will probably give them a day or three to settle down (and get closer to a road. i hiked just shy of 10 miles today on this hunt) but i will return. i couldn't believe that big wide buck was playing second fiddle, but he was.  just two big, big muley bucks.  and i was this close....

a parting shot.
 

[Sockrsblur]

Wow...  

[ron w]

Must be nice to get into that many deer on a single hunt. Great stuff......thanks for update.

[Hud]

Thinking about those big muleys is habit forming.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Great Updates.  Good luck next outing!

[huntnmuleys]

tonight was fun, but not like this morning...

hunted my old standby, my favorite spot.   hiking in, it was 50 degrees and the snow is melting fast. deer were moving everywhere!
 

but I wasn't seeing any bucks.  well, scratch that. I wasn't seeing any mature bucks. I had a predetermined spot I wanted to sit, and honestly it ended up being as far as I was going to get before I had deer in every direction, albeit nothing even remotely close to me.  finally, my favorite buck in that area, the big, heavy 4x3 made an appearance.  however, he was a ways away and going the wrong direction.  just ended up being an observer tonight.
 

was a nice moonrise however, and I think ill be back in here in the morning.
 

[steadman]

Good luck Brad! Think I'd of already shot a small buck  

[dhermon85]

Really enjoying this thread. You got some great hunting there! Best of luck, thanks for taking us along.

[huntnmuleys]

early setting moon this morning.  neat watching the few clouds cover bits and pieces.  this is from my driveway..
 

hunted where I did last night.  the thought was I might get a good crack at that 4x3 while leaving the two big guys from yesterday morning alone for a day. tonight im on em again!  

right at first light I saw a small top fork three point and a couple does moving along. I had a predetermined spot I was going to sit, but another herd in the distance swayed my opinion.  10 or 11 deer were mingling, with a big bodied one right in the middle.  still pretty dark but I moved in as close as I could get and took a look.

all does.

dang it....

the sunrise was making some crazy colors.
 

my good buck was nowhere to be seen, so I made the trek to my favorite peninsula over a big canyon.  this is where this particular buck seems to call home.  on the way, I spotted a large, mature buck hounding a couple does in the distance. figured id keep that in mind for future reference.

out on the peninsula, there were a couple does moving around and a baby forkhorn but that was all I could see. so from the spot I took my buck a couple years ago, I set up and rattled. FOUND HIM!
 

the problem is, he was 300 yards out and had a couple gals with him.  one of which he was very much interested in. I watched for a while, but seeing that he wasn't moving to me at all and there was no sure way to get close, I snuck away. don't want to push him out of the area.  I ended up making the long trek to where the other mature buck was, and never did find him.  hmm....

not the most eventful morning, but a pretty one at that.  tonight im back after the two monsters.

[huntnmuleys]

ahh the magic of google earth...

I might have just found something here.  a new way into where I was yesterday that is MUCH shorter.  might be a steep climb involved but those don't frighten me at all. going to try it tonight. I really hope I have a good night, the next two days my deer hunting is going to be limited.  tomorrow I have to be out of town in the morning (might get an evening hunt), and sunday I believe a few of us are going pheasant hunting..

[Tater]

Thanks for the update,  stay after them.

    Good Luck tonight..!

[D. Key]

Man, what a rush to read this.  Hope you have enough time to get one of the big boys.  Best of luck.

[huntnmuleys]

wowsa.  this new spot was a tad rugged!!

 
 

wasn't a quick hike in but well worth it.  I think I mighta found something here!  there were animals everywhere.

 

[huntnmuleys]

and there were deer as well.  lots of them.  in fact, I never did get to where I was trying to go as I just kept tripping over deer.  saw possibly the most impressive deer ive ever seen, a giant forkhorn.  baseball bat barrel thickness and just huge.  no pic though.

in all of this deer everywhere business, I did find a good herd on the ridge I was on.  two dandy bucks running it as well.  being about 300 yards away from all of em, I set up to rattle.  

nothing noticed.

they wouldn't even look.

so, I made a sneak across the open field toward em, using a terrain break for cover.  and it almost worked.  heres the small buck at about 100 yards.


 

but I just couldn't get close enough.  a doe picked me up and alerted the troops.  the big guy was a dandy! deep forks all around and a bonus kicker on his left side.  pics of him weren't the best though, but you can see his body size compared to the buck in the past pic.

 

that is as close as I got to a buck however.  what gorgeous country!  what I was mainly hoping to be an in season scouting trip turned into a killer hunt.  gorgeous night too.
 http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0446.jpg

no hunting for me in the morning, but tomorrow night ill be back at it..

[ron w]

I hunted near Greybull WY. years ago, same look to it as your new spot. Great looking country, I'm jealous.

[huntnmuleys]

Greybull area is neat.  were you after deer, elk, or both?