Mule deer hunt

[Andy]

I was hunting with a friend, Marshall, down in the southwest corner of NM (unit 27). We were on a private ranch that borders the Grey Ranch ( one of if not the biggest ranches in NM. Don’t quote me on this but I think it is around 500,000 acres. We were on a 20, 000 acre ranch that Marshall had made connections with. He sells red angus cows and sold some bulls to this rancher. He then went over and helped on the ranch several times and instead of paying him they gave him two tags and guess who got the second tag. I made the 5 ½ hour drive from Albuquerque on Friday and got in around 10 PM. Saturday morning we were up on the edge of a big draw glassing, but only for about 45 minutes we walked up the draw and made a circle back to camp and hopped on the 4 wheelers to head to the north end of the ranch after coming through a gate in the bottom of a draw marshall pointed and all I saw was a huge buck (pushing 30 inches wide and so thick that I thought he was in velvet) just going over the edge of the draw we were in about 250 yards away. We had no chance at a shot so we raced to the edge of the draw and got the guns and climbed out of the draw, in the direction the deer went and didn’t see a thing. There were actually 4 bucks in the group but I only saw the last one. It was wide open on top and they just disappeared. We were both in awe of the size of deer we had just seen so we pressed on. We did a lot of waking in some smaller washes but didn’t see anything else. We went back for a quick lunch and were back at it at noon in another big wash on the north end of the property. This wash was a lot bigger than the others and had huge fingers coming off of it that had a lot of deer and sign. I took the high side and walked up and down in all the little fingers and cuts and Marshall took the bottom and we were hoping to push the deer between us. We had gone about a half mile and I saw about 30 doe running across the ridge of one of the fingers in front of me, but I didn’t see any bucks so I swung around them and continued walking. I found those does again and they were running parallel to me and I looked out in front and there were 2 nice bucks running also. They dropped out of sight and I figured they were headed for a draw about 200 yards ahead of me. If they ran up the draw it would bring them into range and maybe a possible shot. I ran across the flat to the edge of the draw and sure enough the bucks angled up the draw and were just about to the top of the other side about 80 yards away. They stopped and were looking back down the draw. I had to act quick. One was in the open, but facing straight away the other was lower down, but behind some brush. I pulled up the gun and looked at each one real quickly and decided on the one in the open because he was incredibly heavy and tall. I couldn’t tell how many points because he was straight away. I held on the back of his neck and dropped him in his tracks. I wouldn’t normally take a shot like that except he was so close I felt real comfortable about the shot. After the shot the other buck ran up and out of the draw and I realized I might have shot the smaller buck. He was a typical 4x4, but not as heavy as mine. I walked over to my buck and was so happy to find the biggest buck I have ever killed. His right fronts are a little weak, but he makes up for in with his mass. He is a 3x3 that is 23 inches wide. We hunted hard the next day and I switched spots with marshall and took the low side and let him walk up high and wouldn’t you know it I spotted a bigger buck than mine about 175 yards away down towards the bottom, so I tried to push him to marshall, but they were both surprised when the buck popped out about 50 yards behind marshall and he only had a running shot as he topped out about 250 yards away. Marshall did connect Monday morning right before we were going to leave on a little fork horn. It was a great hunt. We also saw a ton of quail, I found a coues shed, a small 4x4 muley skull, saw a bobcat, coyote, a rattler and some javies.

 

Here is the story

I must first admit that I am a mooch hunter. Don’t mention a hunt that you have or are putting in for because I will probably invite myself or just show up so watch out. I was hunting with a friend, Marshall, down in the southwest corner of NM (unit 27). We were on a private ranch that borders the Grey Ranch ( one of if not the biggest ranches in NM. Don’t quote me on this but I think it is around 500,000 acres. We were on a 20, 000 acre ranch that Marshall had made connections with. He sells red angus cows and sold some bulls to this rancher. He then went over and helped on the ranch several times and instead of paying him they gave him two tags and guess who got the second tag. I made the 5 ½ hour drive from Albuquerque on Friday and got in around 10 PM. Saturday morning we were up on the edge of a big draw glassing, but only for about 45 minutes we walked up the draw and made a circle back to camp and hopped on the 4 wheelers to head to the north end of the ranch after coming through a gate in the bottom of a draw marshall pointed and all I saw was a huge buck (pushing 30 inches wide and so thick that I thought he was in velvet) just going over the edge of the drawk we were in about 250 yards away. We had no chance at a shot so we raced to the edge of the draw and got the guns and climbed out of the draw, in the direction the deer went and didn’t see a thing. There were actually 4 bucks in the group but I only saw the last one. It was wide open on top and they just disappeared. We were both in awe of the size of deer we had just seen so we pressed on. We did a lot of waking in some smaller washes but didn’t see anything else. We went back for a quick lunch and were back at it at noon in another big wash on the north end of the property. This wash was a lot bigger than the others and had huge fingers coming off of it that had a lot of deer and sign. I took the high side and walked up and down in all the little fingers and cuts and Marshall took the bottom and we were hoping to push the deer between us. We had gone about a half mile and I saw about 30 doe running across the ridge of one of the fingers in front of me, but I didn’t see any bucks so I swung around them and continued walking. I found those does again and they were running parallel to me and I looked out in front and there were 2 nice bucks running also. They dropped out of sight and I figured they were headed for a draw about 200 yards ahead of me. If they ran up the draw it would bring them into range and maybe a possible shot. I ran across the flat to the edge of the draw and sure enough the bucks angled up the draw and were just about to the top of the other side about 80 yards away. They stopped and were looking back down the draw. I had to act quick. One was in the open, but facing straight away the other was lower down, but behind some brush. I pulled up the gun and looked at each one real quickly and decided on the one in the open because he was incredibly heavy and tall. I couldn’t tell how many points because he was straight away. I held on the back of his neck and dropped him in his tracks. I wouldn’t normally take a shot like that except he was so close I felt real comfortable about the shot. After the shot the other buck ran up and out of the draw and I realized I might have shot the smaller buck. He was a typical 4x4, but not as heavy as mine. I walked over to my buck and was so happy to find the biggest buck I have ever killed. His right fronts are a little weak, but he makes up for in with his mass. He is a 3x3 that is 23 inches wide. We hunted hard the next day and I switched spots with marshall and took the low side and let him walk up high and wouldn’t you know it I spotted a bigger buck than mine about 175 yards away down towards the bottom, so I tried to push him to marshall, but they were both surprised when the buck popped out about 50 yards behind marshall and he only had a running shot as he topped out about 250 yards away. Marshall did connect Monday morning right before we were going to leave on a little fork horn. It was a great hunt. We also saw a ton of quail, I found a coues shed, a small 4x4 muley skull, saw a bobcat, coyote, a rattler and some javies.

 

 

 

 

[azcouesandelk]

That is definately one of the most massive 3 points I have ever seen! Great write up also!

[Coues Sniper]

Good looking buck, Congrats! Love that mass.

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Nice job and story Andy...good looking buck. I hope you caped it.

[jasjacks]

good buck, tell marshall hi for me jason jackson