14 October 2013, 08:47
Todd WilliamsCO MZ Mule Deer Hunt
Probably one of the shortest hunts I've made, at least lately but when opportunity knocks, I've learned to take advantage. Where: Eastern Plains of Colorado
Outfitter: Aaron Neilson and Sean Sander of Royal Mountain Adventures
Weapon: .54 cal "Hawken" MZ, .295gr Powerbelts
Game Hunted / Taken: Mule Deer Buck
Upon arriving at the ranch house, my son, who tagged along as cameraman, and I commented to each other that there couldn't be a deer within 100 miles of this place! It was Kansas flat with hardly any trees or breaks of any type. Of course, that opinion was short lived.
Opening morning found us sitting atop of a nice vantage point scanning the scrub brush for deer. Within the first 15 seconds of glassing, I had spotted 3 does approximately 100 yards distant. By 8:00am, we had watched well over 100 animals, including one nice mature buck that was probably a better "character" shooter, than "score" shooter. We passed on making a stalk simply due to it being very early in the hunt.
After a quick trip to town, we went back to the ranch house for a late breakfast, then a bit of a siesta. I'm not sure what I was dreaming about at the time, but I remember it was something good
, when all of a sudden I heard Aaron barge into the room and shout, "Todd, get all your gear and let's go"! Shaking out the cobwebs, I finally figured out he had seen a nice deer.Aaron and Sean had been out scouting a bit and jumped a group of 4 young bucks. While watching them run through a Milo field, Sean noticed a nice set of antlers sticking up over the crops. The old buck just watched the youngsters run past him without so much as turning his head. That's when Aaron made a dash back to retrieve his sleepy hunter.
When I arrived, Sean had the 60X Swarovski set up on the buck. He was completely unaware of our presence approximately 1,000 yards downwind. Making things better, he was facing into the wind which was blowing steady, giving us the needed sound cover we would need while approaching in the tumble weeds and remaining crops.
With Jeremiah shooting the entire event on camera, Aaron and I made our move. With his ears pointed back in our direction, we called it "good enough" at 68 yards, when Aaron grunted to get the buck's attention. We'd hoped he would stand giving us a broadside shot but it wasn't to be. This old muley pulled a whitetail move and stretched his neck, looking back at us over his body. Aaron knew this move and told me to shoot as he jumped up and began running almost directly away. The old Texas Heart Shot was about all I had but that's all I needed!
He was a nice OLD buck with washed out antlers and almost completely white face. He had broken off quite a bit on the left side with a large piece of dried velvet still attached.
This has to be one of the quickest hunts I've done in the recent past, if not ever. We drove up from the DFW area on Friday, shot the buck about 1:30 pm on Saturday, then drove home arriving back in DFW around 4:30 pm on Sunday! Quick and easy.
Aaron and Sean certainly have the bucks on this property. The ranch house setup is great with home cooked meals from the ranch family and all considerations appear to have been taken care of. I'd highly recommend this hunt!
