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

[ron w]

I was on a gun hunt......Mule deer back in 1990. Really loved the area and had a great time. I also hunted antelope near Sundance on a private ranch. Then whitetails on the border of S.D. in the Black Hills.

[Chisler]

Thanks for sharing.  It's been raining pretty much all week here in PA, so this makes for a great Saturday afternoon read.
Good luck tonight!  Looking forward to your next post...

[huntnmuleys]

last nights hunt was eventful, yet not much happened...

dad went with me on this one.  wanted to see some of these deer.  anyway, we hiked into where I got the pics a couple mornings back. walked right into a group of 5 or 6 does, and three bucks.  a so/so fork, a smallish 4 point, and this guy.  while only a mainframe fork, hes just a neat deer.
 

however, getting close wasn't an option, and he would do nothing more than give me this look at any call I threw out. we never got closer than about 100 yards, and a gorgeous sunset ended up being our reward.
 

today im going pheasant hunting, so no deer for me. Monday ill be back at it, going to put up a ground blind on a food source in there and see how it goes.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

No hunting for me today and I just caught up on my FAV thread.

Brad What a great season you are having. Those big Mulie bucks are amazing!! Good luck in the morning!!

Your photo's are awesome!

[Dick Langer]

Great thread, you have seen more deer on one outing than I have seen in three months of hunting, just don't have the numbers of white tails in my location of CT.

[kennyb]

Good stuff Brad! Thanks for all the updates!

Kenny

[habujohn]

Brad you are so lucky to be hunting still and in such beautiful country.  Sure hope you get one of the big boys soon.  Give them hell.

[huntnmuleys]

anxious for morning now. of course no deer hunting today as we were chasing (and limiting out on) pheasants. but I certainly thought about it plenty.  bring on the daylight!

[Jerry Jeffer]

Really enjoying this!

[huntnmuleys]

dear tradgang community,

[huntnmuleys]

dear tradgang community

I hope Monday is treating you well.  let me tell you about mine.  

this morning I hiked in to where I could see the spot im going to put that ground blind this afternoon. there was a herd there with three bucks running around.  one tall, heavy horned but narrow one was in charge.  a shooter for sure. I tried to parallel them and get in front of them before they went to bed, but no dice.  so, I started looking around.

then I found him.

 

this big guy was bedded alone over a quarter mile away. I made a LONG sneak down and round to get near the buck. about 300 yards out, I came to a spot where I had to cross some of that dang loud snow. man I hate that crap!  anyway, I did the best I could, but when I got out of that hole I could see my buck was nowhere to be found.  have I mentioned hating loud snow?  anyway, I figured id move up to where he was and try to figure out what direction he had went.  my original plan was to get within 100 yards and do some light rattling, see if hed get curious. and if not, lose the boots and sneak in.  of course that is all moot now.  

so, I started up to the spot, and what in the heck is that? why its the big buck that was there all along standing up, and running away quickly.  there wasn't even time for a pic from the 70 or 80 yards that separated us.  I AM SUCH A MORON!  been a long time since I felt so stupid. I quit looking for deer, turned around, and hiked out of the woods. I have no idea how many cuss words I muttered, but it was a few.

anyway, in closing, I truly hope this is a good Monday and starts a great, cuss word free week for you.  DONT BE ME!

regards

Brad Jones
AKA the genius

[recurve3]

Brad, loving this article and your honesty!! I have felt exactly as you just described on whitetail many times!!

Keep it coming, Again appreciate your telling the whole story!

[Hopewell Tom]

"dear tradgang community"... Oh, Oh that has a "dear john" sound to it.
A boot in the arse is all you're allowed to give yourself. We're still with you on this.
I don't know how you guys hunt that open country, you're doing great. What deer you're getting into.
You're getting close.

[huntnmuleys]

I certainly have been close.  tonight is a prime example.

I went in early to set up the ol ground blind.  got a hot food source!  as I was finishing the set up, from the direction I typically see the deer come into this field from I see a BIG buck chasing a doe.  let me rephrase. I see a doe leaving because of me and a hapless buck following her.  on a good note though, I was only in the blind a few minutes when 2 does came in.  they hung around for most of the evening, though certainly not the whole time in range of me.  finally, just before dark, I see this coming my way.
 

he marched right in in front of me, but id put the camera away to get ready to shoot.  had 4 on one side and 3 on the other (5x4 if you count brows).  nice buck. anyway, this is unbelievable. with about 20 minutes to go before dark, he ends up about 14 yards from me, feeding, head on. over the next 15 minutes, he moves NOWHERE!  I mean, yeah, he dodged around a big, but was straight at me or quartering too the whole time.  I could hear another big deer behind the blind but it was dead calm so I didn't dare take a look. finally, the buck sees something that interests him and turns to go. I stop him as im drawing but I guess he saw the movement at that range and trotted off. FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!  ive had a day of it lol.  he ended up working down to the other end of the field as he wasn't really very scared.  hiking out in the dark, he was in sight feeding back toward the blind.

luck is NOT my middle name..

[snag]

Have you tried rattlin' them in? I've done it with  blacktails but haven't tried muleys. Keep after them. I know what you mean about that crusting loud snow...hate it! Worse than a non-stop chattering of a pine squirrel.

[ron w]

Just seeing that many of that quality is pretty darn cool.........      

[mangonboat]

I'm starting to think this Brad fella kinda likes spending his days hunting mulies even more than he lets on..he's been out there for more than a month in the most challenging conditions trying to sneak up on the one or two he's got his heart set on instead of just shooting the first one he gets close to. He seems to be pretty handy with a DSLR, too.    

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I know the feeling of getting close and still not being able to get a shot. Usually its the head on problem like you describe.

When will these guys follow the script????    

Good Luck. It seems you get closer every time you venture out!

[habujohn]

That buck was one lucky dude for sure.  Brad your break seems to be right around the corner.  Good luck and shoot straight as my brother always says to me.

[huntnmuleys]

no hunt this morning.  tried the ol duck hunting thing again. anyway, thought id have a pretty good shot at taking a buck tonight from the blind, so hunted there.  really nice out today, so I went in early.  call it a hunch?  anyway, this guy was out feeding aways in front of the blind when I got there.
 

anyway, he heard me coming and moved off.  so I got set up. in no time, I could see deer moving out on the hill in front of me.  look at this monster!
 

these deer joined up with a few more and fed out.  one more buck joined em, about the same as the guy in the pic.  so, I had deer around me most of the afternoon.  even could have shot one of the little bucks, but of course didn't.  I just knew that one of the good bucks was going to come out before dark, but no dice.  

did stumble into this guy walking out. I actually left a tad early, could see far enough after the first herd fed away that nothing was going to make it before dark, so I thought maybe id still hunt some spots on the way out.  again, not a shooter but this one is better.
 

at least the evening wasn't boring.