Just back yesterday I think from a two week tour of the south west. To all living there, I am envious! My wife, dog and I spent a week with Matt/ Borderland and a week in a rented motorhome in Northern New Mexico/ Arizona, southern Colorado/ Utah. Lovely country, fine, fine people and very comfortable weather. I'm inclined to think I couldn't live there due to the lack of wing shooting opportunities in the sage brush, (yes we did flush some quail,) but it is just a wonderful region regardless.

Anyway, Matt made the 2 hr drive to Albuquerque from the ranch near Corona NM to pick us up three days before the hunt began only to find that I had goofed the reservation date and decided to stay home and drink coffee that morning. Sorry Matt. I did get my act together the following day, made the plane and Matt picked my wife, dog and I up two days before the hunt. I brought the dog because I'm having a harder and harder time separating myself from her these days and we were going to have Thanksgiving in the motorhome so,......

We spent that afternoon and the following day hiking around and spotting for deer. I was concerned about my fitness for the hunt and had wanted to get my lungs used to the elevation change and my ass used to not being on it all day. It seemed no problem and Matt thought we made as long as 5 mile walks around the ranch. I just don't road hunt. No interest in it, won't do it. Spot and stalk is the only method I'd use on a deer hunt and made that clear to Matt. Matt concurred 100% and indicated and demonstrated the ability to burn the boots up.



Lovely country on the ranch.



Gently rolling hills that made for plenty of deer habitat and good walking for us. Babe, (the dog,) generally went along for the walk but was sleeping in the truck when we took the buck. She's no particularly interested in big game anyway and never seems to give a darn around the dead or alive moose here.

Opening morning was spent out on foot glassing from a high ridge and subsequently stalking the lower country we'd been glassing. One in particular nice buck was seen at long range that we decided not to pursue but was fun to see anyway. We stalked thru some particularly good cover with some exceptionally large buck tracks but never saw the fellow.

In the afternoon we headed to the south end of the ranch for an evening walk in lower, flatter country. Getting toward last light three bucks, two good ones and a smaller fellow got bumped and after a little cat and mouse, My -06 and I managed to catch up with this fellow at about 180 yds.



Well that was quick! The wife and I are a little different in that we generally aren't in a hurry to get everything over with, so case in point, five days of deer hunting is better than four, four better than three, and on. I had no intention or interest in shooting a buck on the first day but he was and is a very fine one so we both were happy.



Very tall, not particularly wide and good forks all around.



The next couple of days were spent walking and scouting the ranch for our own enjoyment and Matt delivered the three of us to the rv rental co in Albuquerque on tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving. Babe got the occasional cactus needle in her paw but is a good sport about field doctoring.



FWIW, I used an old Remington lh 30-06 and 165g tsx's. Two shots, a pass thru behind the shoulder got the lungs on the first and a quartering away another 70 yds later got him thru the flank up into the lungs again and out the ribs behing the shoulder. Dumped on the spot at the second shot. I followed the blood trail back to the first shot and it was noticable. Both exit wounds were 2" apart, entry wound better than 2'. Before the hunt Mark Young had made some off subject refrence to Accubonds and after following up with him I tried them out at the range with impressive accuracy results, I seriously contemplated taking them instead of the tsx's but as I already had a box and a half pressed and ready to go I stuck with what I had. I think the tsx works great and it has proven itself to me even just this year with the 450g on big moose and the 165g on big bucks, but we all know how it goes, "Grass is always greener,".

At Matts suggestion we had the deer processed in Albuquerque and brought it home with us as summer sausage, steaks and hot italian. I absolutely slobbered down the front of my shirt when the butcher mentioned chorizo as an option but it turned out he didn't have the fixin's to prepare with until after we had to be back at the airport. We've just had a little summer sausage and steak for dinner last night and it has all been very tastey. I'll grudgingly share this years moose but the mule deer is mine.

FYI, the idiot in one of the Albuquerque Post Offices adamantly refused to mail my rifle from myself to myself inspite of the rifle case proudly wearing previous priority mail stickers. Airline travel with the rifle, dog, deer and usual luggage is a friggin' fiasco and not something I wast to do every month but once or twice a year I can survive.

Nice buck... I love hunting mulies in the desert!

That's a great buck, congratulations

Very nice buck!

Gonna eat some of the hot italian mule deer sausage tonight.

Doggone it was fun and thanks for the compliments. I just really like hunting mule deer. For whatever reason elk hold little appeal, white tail or cous the same.

The mulies have just always had my passion and I can't wait to get back after them.

One of my favorite memories is belly crawling over a cactus ridge to spot for a buck I saw go into the coulie below from a distance only to find he and his gal had long seen me first! I did manage to bring the rifle around and take him before he bolted but I can still see him looking at me in my bino's like it was today.

Great fun and hopefully in less than four years Arizona is next. Mebbe Montana in between.

Really nice Buck.Congrats!!!

I love that area down around Corona. I've hunted it many times am originally from not to far from there.

Nice deer, pretty country and good companionship. What more could a guy ask for?