This was a pretty tough hunt, I think all four hunters would say this and all of us have experience hunting mule deer. The deer were not moving well, the staff felt it might be just a bit early on the rut phase, and the deer I shot was the only mature buck I saw. Only saw four does, two of which were yearlings. Saw a bunch of spikes and forkies that were very young. On the first afternoon, I saw a "classic" framed 4x4 about 900 yards away and took about 400 yards off the distance and decided he was only about 3 1/2 and I just wasn't interested. As fate would have it, I saw this deer the last morning in the same area but on my road in the dark. He was about 15 yards away. I rolled down my window and talked to him, he did not wander off. In about 3 years when he stops putting everything into skelton, he will make a dandy for some lucky hunter!
I had parked my truck on the perimeter road of my unit before daylight on my final morning and wanted to work back up the road still hunting the ravines that crossed the road and glassing the slopes. I worked my way up the road with the wind in my face and sun behind me for two miles until I got to a point that the FBI crossed in front of me going up to the top of the mountain to work on some of their monitoring stuff on the top. I hadn't seen anything so I started the 2 miles back. On the return, I saw only the 2 yearling does and a whitetail spike. I was a bit discouraged.
I decided to drive out the way I had been and go to the west side of my units. As I approached the point I turned around on my still hunt, I saw this deer moving down a gradual incline toward the perimeter fence. My truck was at a choke point on the road with heavy brush on both sides and the sun behind it so I got out and started to move slowly up the road. I honestly thought that I would not see the buck again as all it had to do was stop in the thicket but just as I thought that the buck came out on the road ahead of me and slid to a stop (literally). I think he saw my truck but not me as I was on the edge of the road in the shade. His nose was about six feet from the fence and had he crossed he would have been good for another day. Instead, he turned and started to run down the road away from me.
I had already slid my left arm through the Savage Scout's shooting sling and brought the rifle up. He was running straight away and I was bellering at him but my crosshairs were pretty solid on him. As he hit a raised rainfall diversion across the road, he twisted around to look at me and I lit it off. The "splat" of the bullet hitting him echoed down the valley, it was loud. I had shot about 200 rounds the week prior to this hunt and had instinctively taken all the slack out of the AccuTrigger and when I thought "go", it went". I love that trigger!
I also couldn't believe that I had shot at the buck standing, offhand, at what I figured was about 160-yards. At the shot the deer had just pranced over the diversion and went out of sight. I waited a few minutes and easied up the road to the point I could peep over the diversion and I saw some blood and a bit of lung in the road. I went back and sat at the truck for another 15 minutes and let myself relax. I used the rangefinder to measure from where I stood to where he was and it was 171-yards. Once better suited for another follow up shot, if needed, I worked up the road and immediately past the diversion could see that the rocks leaving the road where sprayed with blood. He laid in some rocks and yuccas about 15 yards away. It was quite a sense of accomplishment and relief that the hunt was completed. The 180-grain bullet hit the exact spot that I had aimed at, on the last rib and out the forward edge of the opposite arm pit. It had sliced the aorta off right across the top of the heart and taken out the bottom of both lungs.
I had camped at the "primitive" site which is as it is described and is very remote from the headquarters and anything else. They do have awnings with picnic tables, a compost toilet, fire rings, and a tap with non-potable water. I placed my tent under the awning and a tarp over the table. Hey with almighty sky and horizon, I didn't find the need for that dark, nasty toilet either! When the lights go out in this country, they go out and it gets cold. The first night, the night before the hunt, it froze pretty hard. All my water was frozen. Wasn't as bad the following nights. It would be windy at times but not bad during the night. Coons and javelinas will mess with your sight at night.
Staff is very friendly and willing to help. There is a walk in cooler to store the deer but once you shoot, you are done. You cannot go back into your units, only the campsite.
Finally, to describe this deer as a 2X3 just doesn't do the old fellow the justice he deserves after living the tough life he surely led. Here is how he places with some of his compadres immediately across the WMA's eastern fence that I have been lucky enough to hunt a bit over the years.
I was extremely lucky in that I saw five desert bighorns, four rams and a ewe. Not many Texas hunters get to make that claim. I also saw five mature cow elk and a flock of turkeys. The only thing I didn't see was a black bear but they are out there! I sure would like to own a slice of these mountains, anywhere in the Alpine area. What a slice of heaven for an outdoorsman!
