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We drew 2nd Rifle Season (Nov 14-18) Tags for Deer in NM's Unit 16 (Gila Mountains) - the same unit we hunted Elk in in 2008. Since I had seen several good Mulie bucks (and Dad had seen a couple of good Coues' Deer bucks as well), we decided to hunt the same area. Much of the time we spent sitting on water holes. In particular, I sat over this waterhole (same one where I missed the bull elk last year)  This pond sits on a narrow strip of flat ground between two deep canyons, and is approximately 2 miles into the Gila Wilderness. The hike is rather easy, along mostly flat ground.  The first afternoon I sat a ground blind about 50 yards off the pond, resulting in only bird and javelina sightings. The second morning was much cooler (temps when I left camp were 26°F, with frost on the ground). IFirst, I saw a coyote, then at 7:54 a.m., three mule deer bucks came in for a drink. The first one was a yearling forkhorn. When I spotted him, I noticed another buck in back in the brush and quickly realized that he was a much bigger buck - a mature 4x4 (The third buck was a young 3x3). No need to decide if he was good enough or not - he was a mature buck with a classic mule deer antler confirmation, which was what I was looking for, so I send a 165 gr TSX out of my new Kimber 8400 Montana in 300 WSM through his vitals. He ran about 50 yards and piled up in the Cedars.  I'd estimate from tooth wear that he was probably 5 1/2 years old and his greatest spread is about 23 inches. Not a "magazine cover" buck, but I'm plenty pleased with him, and from what I understand he's a pretty good buck for this unit. Of course, being 2 miles out, now the work began. I quartered and caped him, hung three of the quarters in trees, along with the head and cape, then packed the first quarter out and went and got my wife & Dad to help pack the rest out.   As you can see in the top photo, Dad's not used to packing quite so much or so far. The next 2½ days I spent trying to help Marla find a buck (either Mulie or Coues'). We hunted a couple of different ponds, saw elk, 2 Coues' flagging as we hiked to a pond, and quite a lot of Turkey.    A couple of the mornings, temps were quite cool - lows in camp were 10°F resulting in quite thick ice on the ponds. Although we didn't see any more bucks, bird sightings were nice (we watched a large number of Ravens along with a Golden Eagle bickering over my buck's gut pile) and lots of Western Bluebirds.    Of course, we also enjoyed solitude and great scenery.  So, we had a great time, I got a nice mature buck, and a nice amount of fresh venison. I hope we can draw these tags again some time. | ||
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Great hunt and great buck, though your shot- placement looks to be 1/4 inch off. | |||
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Wow, Sounds like a great hunt. Great story too. Fabulous pix..... and I'm sure, a lifetime of memories to go along with the pix. I'm green with envy. GWB | |||
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That is a TRUE trophy for Southern NM. Were you hunting the wilderness? I hope I can carry a pack like your old man when I'm that age. ______________________ I'm not a great hunter...just a guy who loves to hunt. | |||
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Congats...and thanks for the report ________________________________________________ Maker of The Frankenstud Sling Keeper Proudly made in the USA Acepting all forms of payment | |||
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Yes, we hunted the Wilderness, or at least the edges of it. In my experience, places where you have to hike in (or at least go horseback) receive a lot less pressure than ones that can be accessed by road or 4 wheeler. Scouting, we actually saw several good bucks in the "not wilderness" part of the forest, but figured that by 2nd gun season, they'd be long gone out of the area. Dad's 62 and in pretty good shape. Just can't go as fast as he used to LOL. Troy Hibbitts | |||
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Great report and pics. All that hard work packing in and out makes for a memorable hunt! | |||
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Troy, You certainly did better than I did on my NM deer hunt. I saw one doe the whole time. Still had a great time though with my father, a friend and my 9 yr old daughter. How do you like that Kimber 8400? I've been thinking about getting one myself. ______________________ I'm not a great hunter...just a guy who loves to hunt. | |||
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Very well done...and it would be the boiggest mule deer in my neighborhood...that is a classic looking mule deer...very nice Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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beautiful bucu. Nice Pictures. Congratulations mario | |||
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beautiful buck. Nice pictures.Congratulations mario | |||
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What a nice story - thanks for sharing. Congrats on the mulie - good-looking critter! "Shoot hard, boys." | |||
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Hey Troy, Congrats on a great hunt and time well spent!! I was up in Camp Wood last weekend doing a low-fence blackbuck hunt. I also went to BJ's for one of their world class cheeseburgers! Good Hunting, Bob There is room for all of God's creatures....right next to the mashed potatoes. http://texaspredatorposse.ipbhost.com/   | |||
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That's what my wife saw (1 mulie doe we jumped the first morning) and Dad saw 1 whitetail (Coues') flagging. They did both see quite a few Elk.
I like it a lot. I wish I'd have saved another month years ago when I bought the Ruger M77 in 300 WSM . . . I finally bit the bullet, sold that one off, and got the Kimber that I wanted in the first place. I didn't have time to work with it extensively, so I'm not quite sure just how accurate that it is - but it is certainly "minute of deer" and being lightweight it was a dream to carry hiking back 2 miles every day. Before we do this hunt again(assuming we get drawn), I'm going to get an 84M in 308 for my wife. Troy | |||
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I shot one of those low fence Blackbuck last year in September. Did the hunt "African Style" - had my wife drive me around in the truck while I stood in the back and slapped on the hood yelling STOP (with Afrikaans accent) whenever we'd see some. Shot one about 20". I actually shot another buck earlier in the year, but it was a follow-up for a hunter that had wounded one that we brought our dog out to track. One of these days I'm going to have to go out and shoot one when its coat is black though . . . and with horns better than 20", too. Troy | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting American Big Game Hunting New Mexico Mule Deer Hunt - 11/14-17
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