The above photos are of my deer and elk from a second season hunt in Colorado this past October. The deer complete a 20 year quest for a 30 inch mule deer. He is just over 30 inside spread and was taken from a private ranch alfalfa field near Howard, Colorado. I was shooting a Ruger MarkII in 338 topped with a Leupold 3.5x10AO and loaded with factory Federal Barnes 225 grain ammo. The shot was from 282 yards and resulted in a DRT. That was my 96th deer of my career that began in 1974. He will score in the high 180s.

The elk was the first legal bull to get in range. My guide, Bill Cantebury, spoted that bull and another similar sized 4x4 about 3000 yards away up on Nipple Mountain near Howard, Colorado. We had ridden about 8 miles into a drop camp the evening before to pack out an elk for one of his clients and Bill wanted me to go and hunt a bit that morning before we packed out. About dark it began snowing and dropped about 6 to 8 inches in the high country and was was colder than a North Dakota well digger's butt in the morning. We hiked out from a high wall tent camp and were trying to catch elk in some high parks that morning. We saw two nice 6x6s, but they were over 900 yards away and made dark timber before we could get to them. The bull I shot and his companion fed down a steep ridge and after an hour and 45 minutes finally fed within 200 yards. I used the same rifle and ammo to shoot him and he only ran about 30 yards before piling up. The trophy from that hunt wasn't the animal, but the effort it took to get him and get him out. We now had two elk, one to be quartered, eight miles as the crow flies to get to the trailhead and it was 10:00 a.m. We finished with my elk and got him loaded at noon. Because we had to use my horse as a pack animal, we now had to walk out. Thank God it was mostly down hill. We made it to the truck and trailer at 4:00 p.m. tried, sore and thristy but in time for a hot shower and dinner back at the ranch. It was a great hunt in some beautiful country and I hope to go back next year for a trophy bull.

Perry

WOW! Nice muley!

Congratulations on the deer and elk. I'd have been happy to see an elk like that! I just finished a 4th season hunt, didn't see one deer or elk where I hunted.

thanks for the story and pics now i need to get one of each

That is one awesome buck

Congrats on both animals, but I'm diggin that mulie buck Perry. Holy crap what a buck.

So, what's your take on the Barnes ammo? Was that the TSX bullet?

Dang Perry, what a deer!

Sounds like a great hunt.

Real nice mulie buck you got there!

Beautiful Mulie!!

Congrats on the hunt.........and WHAT a mulie!!!

Bob

GREAT BUCK congrats...TH

Perry:

I hope you have a COUPLE of freezers!!!!!

Congrats. Gorgeous Mullie.

Glad you had a great hunt.

Congrats to you, nice work; I particularly like the muley, being a fanatic, I'll bet he'll gross really close to 190....

Regards,
Craig Nolan

It just shows the 338 win mag is the perfict elk gun and awesome for deer also.I have taken 95 deer with my 338 win mag.It tears up less meat than any 270 I have ever seen.That will most likely be an awesome eating elk.I have gone back to meat hunting instead of horn hunting.My walls are full of deer and i love deer and moose.You cant eat the horns no matter how long you boil them!

Very nice. Congrats on both animals. Mule deer are my most favorite animal in the world and you just got a world class animal. Any elk is a good elk and the 338 is good for everything. Good job.

PWN375:

You shot my dream mule deer, darn you!!! Congratulations, I'm on the same quest!

Regards, D. Nelson

Heck of a Mule Deer!

Just got back from church.... 'thou shalt not covet thy neighbors mule deer' I keep telling myself...

Someday I hope to have that deer's twin on my wall!

extremely nice buck there---chris

Way to go PWN!

Great stuff, and the muley is a real keeper. Congrats...sounds like you earned it!

Cheers,
Canuck

Nice going Perry!
Well done,

John

Members,

Thanks for the kind comments and congrats. The buck should make a beautiful mount and addition to the my collection. This mule deer hunt was easy, but the miles, hours and money I have spent over the last 20 years chasing these guys eased my guilt a bit. Now I need a wall hanger elk, but I like eating them too much to pass on legal bulls.

Doc,
The bullets were TSX and worked great. They are very accurate in that rifle. Total penetration with good expansion on both critters. I have used the old X bullets in 338 in the past and they always worked well. In fact, last year I killed a slightly larger racked bull in the same area with a 411 yard shot and got nearly end-to-end penetration. I usually don't like to shoot that far, but it was the best shot I was going to get on the last evening of a hunt and the conditions were perfect, I knew my range exactly, knew the bullet drop and hit exactly where I intended to.

Perry

Geat buck! nice bull

What a muley! Congrats on a great hunt and super trophy.

Congrats Perry! One for the wall and one for the pot. I'm envious.

465H&H