09 Bow Mule.

[packhuntr]

Been at it for pushing 2 straight weeks, hunting half a dozen monster to world class mule deer. The turf is some of the toughest open country spot and stalk archery hunting in North America. I will try to keep a very long story short. I was daily putting on 2 miles in the morning with a headlamp to get into position on these deer that were stretched out in some very rugged country. I had numerous close calls on each individual buck in the varying 100 yard range, but only twice able to close on them into bow range. It was a very fragile situation and had to be played carefully. More often than not I was backing out to keep from spooking deer, however every other day I was in position to carefully bump deer to jockey for where I needed to be. I managed to close to an even 45 yards on the smallest of the big deer in the area, and was able to get drawn. His Green Gross comes in at 185 4/8. He unfortunately broke off his left G3. I saw him with the point 3 days earlier, it was right in at that 7 inch mark. Giving him what he had afew days earlier, he would have came in pushing 193 inch. All in all, Im mentally exhausted, physically drained, and happy as I can be about how this extremely tough hunt turned out. I think this one could very well be the poster boy for fair chase hunting. Not a hunt or a mule deer Im going to be forgetting any time soon.

Hope every one has a safe and enjoyable fall.
Keep a strain on er.