High country mule deer hunt

Well I just returned from my hunt a few days ago. Here is a recount of some of my hunt along with a few pictures.

All told I hiked over 70 miles in the gnarliest country that I’ve ever been in. I found plenty of young bucks, lots of elk and mountain goats, but only found 3 bucks that I would have been willing to shoot. All three happened to be hanging in the same drainage and I sat on them for 4 days before the opener. I learned alot about their habits, and how to glass effectively in those 4 days. I was camped a little over 12,000′ which allowed me to roll out of bed a little before first light and I could be to my glassing point before it was light enough to see through the glass.

Opening day came and like clockwork I found two of the bucks feeding up a avalanche shoot towards their bedding area. I watched them till the sun started to get high enough to push the daily thermals uphill. I made a little sketch of where they were bedded and was off to attempt my first stalk. From my last good vantage point I made mental notes of where they were bedded and It was looking really good for me to get a shot on the bigger of the two. He was a 4×4 that I figured to be in the 170-180″ range with a 25-27″ inside spread.

After dropping close to a 1000′ in elevation and then regaining some 1200′ I reached my marked tree to drop my pack and kick off my boots. After sliding on an extra pair of socks I knocked an arrow and began my decent to where I had last seen my buck bedded. The plan was to get to a line of krumholz(small trees that grow above timberline) that should have given me a 35-40 yard shot to his bed. Unfortunately in the time it took me to get to where I was the buck had switched beds and had moved 20 yards or so uphill. I was creeping downhill at a snails pace when I spotted his back forks through the krumholz and the panic button was immediately pushed….he was 22 yards away, facing downhill. With the wind in my face all I had to do was take two steps forward, get my release hooked and I’d have a chipshot. Typing this it seems like a pretty easy task, but I was rattled like I’ve never been in my life. I can remember looking at my release hand and it was shaking uncontrollably. I concentrated to ease the calipers closed to make sure that they didn’t “click” when the jaws closed. I did fine in that respect except that my shaking through my aim off and they clamped onto the D-loop and then slid off making the dreaded metal on metal clink That was all it took, he snapped his head in my direction then proceded to vacate the basin taking his little buddy with him.

To make a long story short I didn’t manage to tag out but I consider it a successful hunt none the less. Being that I had never set foot in the unit or hunted mulies I went into the hunt expecting to put on many miles and just hoped to be able to learn a little about hunting them up above tree line. I got to see some really beautiful country, met some nice folks, got some blown stalks under my belt, and in general had a pretty darn good time(or at least as good as can be expected when carrying 40-50lbs at 12,000′ )

Here’s a few pictures from the trip.

Sounds like a great trip

Awsome read! You don’t always get the big one, trust me I know having fun is all that counts for me, were you alone?

Thanks guys! Yeah QDM I was by myself….finding a friend to go on a hunt of this type isn’t easy, it definitely isn’t for everyone. Going solo worked well as I was able to set my own pace and didn’t feel pressured by anyone. Most of my friends would have a hard time eating tag soup after spending money and vacation time on such a hunt…for myself I expected tag soup and a lot of hiking, hard to be dissappointed with the right attitude I guess

That is pretty awesome. Especially to do it all on your own. I wish I would grow the hardware to just do that instead of look at pictures and read about it everyday. I have wanted to do that type of hunt for the last few years, but always seem to find the excuse not too. Can I ask which state you were in and how you decided, prepared yourself to just do it? I have been applying for points now the last couple of years and am jealous of all the people I know that go out west. Time to grow a pair and let them drop I guess. Thanks for the photos and story

I hear ya on eating tags. Don’t mind eating tags as long as your having a great time. By the looks of those pics, you had one of those trips. Mt Goat, Elk and Mulies, life is good. Thanks for sharing.

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That is pretty awesome. Especially to do it all on your own. I wish I would grow the hardware to just do that instead of look at pictures and read about it everyday. I have wanted to do that type of hunt for the last few years, but always seem to find the excuse not too. Can I ask which state you were in and how you decided, prepared yourself to just do it? I have been applying for points now the last couple of years and am jealous of all the people I know that go out west. Time to grow a pair and let them drop I guess. Thanks for the photos and story

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Waterswat,
I was in central Colorado right along the divide. I’ve been building points for a few years also and decided that I had better get some experience under my belt before I go and blow my points on a quality unit. I was in a unit that can be drawn with zero points, but it’s the same type of country that I intend to hunt when I’m ready to spend my points.

As far as what I did to get ready, I just made sure that I was proficient with all of my camping gear. I’ve had alot of experience with camping so that helped, but really all you have to do is take a few trial runs at local camping areas/state land/back yard whatever. I spent the summer running or hiking with a pack on whenever I could find time, but I was definitely not in olympic athelete shape or anything. As far as choosing an area, I basically learned all I could as to what mulies look for in highcountry living and then searched google earth and forest service trail descriptions to find areas that weren’t easy to access(wilderness areas) and held feed, cover, water. Solitude can be difficult but if you keep yourself busy(looking for deer, getting water, hiking, cooking etc.) it can be dealt with pretty well. Other than that just getting over the altitude was the only major obstacle, it took me 5 days to feel pretty much normal and for the headaches to subside. I’ll be heading back either next year or the year following, maybe we could team up as a buddy hand signaling the stalker in to the deer would definitely provide a huge advantage.

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us Shed

Non-drowsy Dramamine is very helpful with the altitude stuff

Unreal country!

What a great read!!! Thanks for bringing back the memories of a great trip to share with us.

Awasome story!!! Thats the way it goes…I just got back Friday from Elk hunting in Colorado and had 4 different trophy mule deer within shooting range and no shot at an elk…Now it looks like you had Elk but not the right muley …One of the muleys I had at about 30yards was so big I thought it was an Elk at first…it was unbelieveable.

Thanks shednut for taking us along on your muley hunt. It sounds like you made the most of your hunt and had a great encounter to boot! That’s all a hunter can ever ask for. I agree with you – attitude, setting goals and expectations is everything when hunting by yourself. For me, it’s all about the quaility of the hunt and the lessons learned along the way. I would also love to do this type of hunt so keep me in mind as well.

Awesome Read Sounds like a great trip

Thanks for sharing

I think the teamwork approach would help out a lot on a hunt like that. Thanks for the offer and lets talk at some point. Thanks again.