well i got my first mulie. its a long story so bare with me. although i may be to tired to type an shorten it. as most of you know i didnt get the tag i wanted either in the draw or leftover, thats a long story in itself. so i bought a tag to a unit i have never been to before. a guy on here had hunted it before an pointed me to where he had hunted. THANKYOU. so i pulled into this new area thurs for a saturday opener ml date to do some scouting. well first off there was so much private land, people, etc an NO place to camp like all the other places i have been on national forest. there were two campgrounds in the area but i refuse to pay for what i can do for free. so i drove all over looking an finally settled into an area for parking but no place to put a tent up. so, i unrolled my bag in the back of my trailblazer with all my other stuff. im 6 ft 3 so to say i was uncomfortable would be a huge understatement. i havnt slept since wedn an am tied up in knots all over. anyway, i scouted thurs an friday morning in the area i was told to look an saw very very little sign. lots of cars, but no deer sign. friday nite i decided to look in a new area right above where i was parking. i climbed to the top as saw a couple piles of old dung but nothing fresh.as i was sitting there glassing somebody decided shooting there rifle uphill would be a good idea. there were literally bullets ricocheting an pinging all around me, within a few yards. i dove behind a rock, when he stopped to reload i grabbed my pack an ran to the other side of the mountain. then started back to camp. well i thought i was headed back to camp. i got lost up there. an didnt realize it til i was a long ways the wrong direction. it was getting dark when i finally stumbled to the road. i was really ready to leave. but, on the way back a gy stopped an was talking to me. he hunts the area an was done hunting htis year so he told me of a ridge i should look at. so, at daylight this morning i started up the ridge. i hadnt got to far when i heard antlers scraping a tree. i slowly went that direction an saw them down below me but way to far to shoot. so i kept going that direction on my knees. when i finally got to the edge i leaned up an a doe busted me. she went up the hill with her fawns. a few seconds later here comes another mulie, i glassed him an knew he was a small buck. i cant see well due to a eye problem an iron sights look like snowflakes to me. this buck was 80 yds away. i debated about trying it then decided i was going to. after blinking several times i aimed as best i could an shot. he went down immediately an was trying to crawl downhill. i reloaded but by the time i got there he was dead. lung shot. he is a small forky, with velvet on his antlers. i was an am elated. about the second cut of deboning him i cut my knuckle to the bone. dumb move. but, after several hours of bleeding, literally, steri strips, hydrogen peroxide, super glue, an bandaids i think i finally have it stopped.
im gonna have him mounted. yes, he is way to small. but as i was thinking about it it dawned on me. for me its not about the antler size. its about earning the animal. i have alot of memories of getting shot at, lost, cut, cold, uncomfortable with this buck. he has the white face an big ears an velvet so will look cool back in mo.
i will try to post a pic later if i figure out how to download them from the camera.
im gonna have him mounted. yes, he is way to small. but as i was thinking about it it dawned on me. for me its not about the antler size. its about earning the animal. i have alot of memories of getting shot at, lost, cut, cold, uncomfortable with this buck. he has the white face an big ears an velvet so will look cool back in mo.
i will try to post a pic later if i figure out how to download them from the camera.