CHD Report post Posted November 2, 2004 (edited) I took this 6.5 year old buck in a desert area in central Wyoming on October 15, 1996. This was in a unit that has unlimited over-the-counter tags for residents. He is another PJ/sagebrush BLM land buck scouted and whacked all by myself. He isn?t my biggest, but he is my best due to the circumstances described below. Don't have any field pics, but here he is on my living room wall. When I lived in Casper in 1995, I was cruising some new country scouting for antelope and keeping an eye out for some new big muley country. I new this particular region had a decent gene pool for big muleys from talking with locals over the years, primarily at my buddy?s taxidermy shop. I got to looking at this area that is at the base of a large mountain and is the bottom of a bowl-shaped mountainside. The reason it struck me as a good big muley spot is because it had incredible feed in the middle of some fairly barren desert country. The feed consisted of various low-growing shrubs thickly covering the lower, flatter portion of the bowl. Quality feed is the first thing I look for when searching desert country for big muleys. Quality feed and water come first to old bucks, with bedding cover a lower priority. Anyhow, my first hike thru this spot to search for tracks ended with me almost stepping on him as he was bedded in some tall sagebrush. I watched in awe as he bounced away. I knew he was the one I would pursue. Turned out that spot was a classic ?buck pasture?, with a dozen bucks of all ages living there. The reasons it was a buck stomp are 1) great feed in the form of a variety of shrubs, 2) several nearby sources of water including tanks and a spring, 3) adequate bedding cover in the form of juniper thickets, tall sagebrush, and small gullies/arroyos, 4) good isolation from people, 5) plenty of wind to keep the summer bugs away. I soon figured out how to hike above the bowl and sit where I could glass the whole area and watch the evening show below me. Many times, I could see 6x6 elk, this buck, and great antelope from one spot. This buck often liked to bed under lone juniper trees in the rocky gullies that drained out of the bowl. But sometimes he came out of a juniper thicket, and occasionally tall sagebrush. His sidekick was a heckuva buck too at 28 or 29 inches wide. This buck was within the same half-section every time I saw him over a 2 year period. Anyhow, I hunted him for a week in 1995 but couldn?t find him or any of the bucks. Elk hunters had hunted that spot a week earlier and had shot a bull there and had spooked those bucks out of there. They prolly had moved into the thickly covered steep slopes high on the mountain. Plus that week was brutally windy, which tends to keep critters out of sight. August 1996 rolled around, and there he was again with the same rack plus a kicker on his right side. Opening morning, I sat in my spot and saw a couple small bucks plus several hunters march across the bowl and then back. A few shots fired around the mountain. One guy sat all morning on a point across the area from me, and then left when I did. I sat ?til noon and then hunted higher up on the mountain and then went back to the truck for a nap. But I knew this buck was there, as I hadn?t seen him get spooked by the hunters and move out that morning. I moved back out to my glassing spot and had the whole area to myself. I looked down into one of the small gullies and he had just gotten up from under a juniper tree about 45 minutes ?til dark. Those other hunters had walked right by him at less than 200 yards and he had held tight. Also, the guy on the opposite point had sat within 300 yards of this buck all morning and never spotted him since the buck was in his bed at daylight. I was able to make a quick downhill stalk losing 1500? in elevation plus ? mile in distance. I peaked over the gentle slope and shot him thru the neck offhand at 75 yards as he fed. I love it when a plan comes together! My latest Wyoming buck was taken in 2001 in a desert area in SW Wyoming. That buck is a 28" 7x5, was 6 or 7 years old, and was located and taken using the same knowledge about these bucks and their preferred homes that is presented here. Edited January 1, 1970 by CHD Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rembrant Report post Posted November 3, 2004 Chris, You've killed some dandy muleys. All three bucks (4 counting the goat) you've shown us so far are bigger than my best. I don't know very many folks from around here that have killed more than a handfull of big muleys, and even those guys grew up huntin the Kaibab back when they could get drawn every once in a while. How many more bruisers you got up your sleeve? Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KGAINES Report post Posted November 3, 2004 Congratulations Cris, You have some great trophies and anybody would be proud to have one like that. Your hard work has paid off. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arizona Griz Report post Posted November 6, 2004 CHD, nice buck again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
