Daughters First Mule Deer
I got my daughter out on her first mule buck hunt right in the heat of the rut. We were slowly walking into the wind along a brushy creek bottom and it didn't look good as there were no tracks in the snow. We were having trouble staying on course because of the winding creek that hadn't frozen yet. I signaled for her to come over and join me and we would leave for another area. Just then I glassed ahead and saw the white bums in the bush. Game on- but how to get to them and see if a buck was present? As we stood pondering our next move I looked out to the west and across the wide open pasture I saw a buck heading our way with his nose to the ground. We hit the dirt and I got her set up with her rifle on her hunting pack. We let him come right in and when he hit 65 paces away he stopped and raised his head. She nailed him right in the center of the brisket with her own 25/06 (named Black Betty). He reared back on his hind legs like a bucking stallion and crashed to the ground stone dead. Pretty spectacular. She was blown away by the experience and I got to be right beside her for it all. I was a pretty proud dad. The 3 day hunt took an hour and a half. Better still we could drive right to him for the pick up.
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