3 Big Bucks!

Here is a general hunt that takes place in a very tough unit in Northern Arizona.  Bryant McGee and Lee Payne have always had a passion for big muley bucks, and Cole Orosco is a guy that loves to hunt, but this would be his first hunt for a mule deer buck.

We’ll start off with Bryant…  Bryant had been watching a particular group of bucks for a couple years, but has been unable to connect during a hunting season.  Yet…  This group of bucks had two that he had his eye on, but they lived in an area that was very tough to hunt, so luck was going to have to be a huge factor.  These deer resided in an area that was flat and very thick making glassing them up impossible.  The only option was to get in and bust the brush and hope for the best, so it was no surprise when Bryant found himself in some more favorable country the first few days looking for a couple other bucks that he liked.  This more favorable country was full of hunters, and the two bruisers were eating at the back of his mind, so he decided to see if his luck would be on his side.

The day that his luck finally came in, Bryant was working an area that he knew the deer liked to feed.  Bryant always said “You have to put yourself in a position to get lucky”, and that’s just what he decided to do.  As he slowly worked his way through the feeding area, a buck began to bound off just yards ahead!  A second buck joined him, then a third!  Bryant threw his rifle up but the thick trees made the decision difficult, he didn’t want to end up shooting one of the smaller bucks.  Just as the deer started to disappear over a small rise, Bryant realized one of the bucks was one he was looking for, but it was too late.  Two more bucks began to bound of to his left and as he swung his rifle, he realized the back buck was another of the two monsters.  All the deer disappeared over the small rise, but hey appeared to be slowing to a walk.  Bryant regained himself and began to sneak toward them.  This time when he jumped the group, he knew one of the two biggest bucks was to the far left.  He raised his rifle, confirmed that it was one of the bigger bucks and pulled the trigger.  A split second later all the deer were gone in the thick brush.  Thinking he missed, Bryant walked over and began to follow the tracks of the buck he shot at.  Blood!  A short tracking job turned up his buck!  The buck had 4 points on his right side and 8 on his left!  Taping out at just over 204”, this was Bryant’s best buck to date!

Now its Cole’s turn…

Not wanting to go back to work, Bryant jumped in with Lee and Cole to help out.  A couple days later, a good 4X4 was glassed up bedded under a cedar tree at the top of a high ridge.  Paul Carter had shown up to do a little hunting of his own, and jumped in to help Cole get a shot.  Lee stayed on a knob to watch Cole, Paul, and Bryant work within rifle range.  The plan was, Bryant was going to film the hunt, Paul was going to help Cole sneak in, and Cole was going to come out with his first buck.  As the three popped over a ridge directly across from the bedded buck, Bryant made the decision to stay put and film from there while Cole and Paul tried to work their way up the backside of the ridge and pop up at a better angle for a shot.  Part of the way to their new location, Paul and Cole jumped up a small bunch of does and fawns which ran directly over the ridge and just under the bedded buck.  As Cole’s luck would have it, the buck watched the does go by, but never got up.  As Paul and Cole peaked over the ridge, they knew they were at a good angle, now it was time to set Cole up for a shot!  Anyone that has ever hunted deer probably remembers their first buck.  Cole’s symptoms were much the same as the rest of us as we were about to get our first shot.  The adrenaline was high, rapid breathing took over, a little shakiness moved in, and as Cole settled in behind his rifle, Paul gave him words of encouragement, reminding him to get solid and squeeze the trigger.  The first shot hit the deer in the back half of the front shoulder and the deer stood straight up out of his bed.  Now the first shot was probably going to be all that was needed, but Paul and Cole weren’t taking any chances.  The second shot hit the ribcage just behind the front shoulder sending the buck end over end!

Bryant could hear the two shouting from his location, and as he walked up on the two, a normally not very talkative Cole was smiling and jabbering a mile a minute.  Cole’s first buck was a solid 4X4 and taped out just over 170”!  Great first buck!

 

You can watch Cole's hunt on MuleyBull Outfitters "Just Hunting "Volume 1" found at:

Amazon.com

 

Now its Lee’s turn…

Bryant and Cole still didn’t feel like heading back to work so they stayed to help Lee on his hunt.  The three had headed up a ridge to help a friend look for a buck that he had shot a few days before.  Things weren’t looking good on recovering the buck so they split up to glass some of the canyons and drainages.  Late in the morning, a buck was located across a canyon bedded under a thick clump of cedars, now the hunt for Lee had begun.  When Lee was located watching a small group of does in the bottom of another canyon, the three headed back to where the bedded buck was located.  The buck was positioned just right.  Everyone could tell it was a buck, but they just couldn’t tell how good a buck he was.  Lee decided to work around the finger ridge to a location just above the buck to try and get a better look.  The wind had begun to pick up as Cole and Bryant watched Lee sneak into position.  As they watch Lee set up for a shot they though, “must be good enough”!  The buck came rolling out of his bed at the sound of Lee’s shot, and for the first time Cole and Bryant could see what kind of buck he was.  Lee had just shot a great 4X4 that taped out at just over 175”!  Congrats on three great bucks in just a few days!

 

You can watch the video of Lee's hunt on MuleyBull Outfitters "Just Hunting Volume 2" found at:

Amazon.com

Coming August 2014!

Terry's Bull

The bull finally made it to the edge of the alley cut for the barbed wire fence that ran through the thick cedars.  Less than an hour ago, Terry watched the bull with P.T. Carter and Bryant McGee as he walked into a thick clump of cedars to lay down for the day.  Guessing the bull to be in the mid 370 range, it was just what Terry was looking for.  A plan was devised!  Terry was to go around the bull and get into position above him to set up in what was just about the only clear shooting lane in the country.  Guessing the bull would leave uphill, P.T. was going to wait for Terry to get into position, then slowly work toward the bull hoping to push him out of his bed.  If the bull did go uphill, then Terry would have a shot as he entered the clear-cut fence line. 

So here we are, the bull stopped at the edge of the alley and slowly took a look around.  Clearly he was in no hurry, P.T. held up to his end of the plan perfectly, not pushing the bull into a dead run, but got close enough to make him uncomfortable.  The bull got up and trotted a few yards then continued toward Terry and the fence line at a moderate walk.

Terry clicked the safety on his rifle to the off position as the bull took the few short strides that would carry him the rest of the way to the barbed wire fence.  The bull stopped once more and casually looked around trying to decide whether or not he really wanted to hop the fence.  At 80 yards, Terry settled behind his rifle.  Having a bull of this caliber this close, and in the crosshairs forced a little buck fever to set in on Terry.  The rifle boomed!  The bull stood where he was looking toward Terry!

“Shoot again!” were about the only words that could come to Bryant’s mind.

The bull stood and watched Terry and Bryant as Terry fought with his rifle.  Something was wrong!  Not only was the bull completely fine after Terry’s shot, but Terry couldn’t eject the empty cartridge from his rifle!  Finally, bored with what he was seeing, the bull hopped the fence with no effort and walked into the thick cedars on the other side!

It took some time to get Terry’s rifle unjammed, but the moment had passed.  Buck fever claimed yet another victim.  The good news is, the elk hunting isn’t over yet.  When buck fever gets the best of a guy, nobody is harder on him than himself.  With words of encouragement, because this isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last that buck fever makes an appearance, the elk hunting continued.

The next evening put Terry within about 50 yards of a nice 6X6, but with one more day left, Terry opted to keep looking.  The next morning, with Terry’s son Gary along, the group found themselves heading off a bull as he worked up a ridge above a deep canyon.  After looking the bull over, Terry decided to take a chance at redemption!  The bull fed through the cedars when finally he moved into a small opening offering a shot.

This time Terry’s shot would be around the 250 yard mark!  Terry settled in behind his rifle and laid the crosshairs behind the bulls shoulder as he squeezed the trigger.  This time when the rifle went off, the unmistakable “whomp” echoed through the canyon!  The bull took a few short limps in the opposite direction before spilling over!  Redemption!  Terry ended up with a nice 6X7 and a load of new stories to share at the campfire!

Baily's Lion

Baily Bates was a young lady that had an itching to chase a lion, so the MuleyBull guys teamed up with the guys from Six Shooter Molly’s Guide service to see what we could make happen…

A winter storm had finally moved out of the area, leaving a fresh batch of snow across Northern Arizona.  Perfect for cutting a fresh lion track!  The day started early, 2 a.m. early!  Everyone was out fighting the subzero temperatures running roads in hopes of cutting a track.  Somewhere between 3 and 4 in the morning, P.T. Carter, Clay Stephens and Bryant McGee found what they were looking for.  A couple phone calls were made to get everyone to meet up at the same spot while the two continued checking roads to find the last place the cat had crossed.  As the daylight began to creep in, the crew began to wake up and climb out of their idling trucks ready for the chase ahead.

As the first dogs hit the ground, the hounds let out quick bays as the smell of lion filled their nose while they worked tracks lined out in the snow.  The dogs were moving at a fairly good pace, a good sign for the day ahead.  The lion traveled several miles when Rick Murphy from Six Shooter Molly’s turned back to move a truck around to a location that might be closer to the direction the hounds were trailing.  Shortly after Rick caught back up with the gang, the dogs blew up and started to get ahead of the hunters.  When everyone finally caught back up with the dogs, they had the lion bayed up in a cave less than a hundred yards from the Road Rick had moved his truck to!

The lion was too far back in the cave for any shots or pictures.  Eventually the lion shot out of the cave and topped the rim with dogs hot on his trail!  The dogs put the lion up a large pinion tree just a short distance away, and as the hunting crew caught back up with the action, they were finally able to get their first good look at the lion!  Pictures and video were taken as the dogs put up a concert of their own.  The lion suddenly jumped from the tree and headed back to the rim it had just left!  Again, the dogs did their job by putting the lion on a ledge in a crevice that could be seen from above giving more opportunity for pictures, but more importantly giving Baily a shot.

After the cameras were stowed back into packs, Baily prepared a shot with her dads pistol.  At the sound of the first shot, the racket coming from the hounds switched from rapid barks to long drawn out bawls.  The one shot from Baily’s pistol was all that was needed, now all was left was to get the big cat out.  Clay Stephens hefted his way down the crevice and was able to lug the lion out!

The smile says it all as Baily posed for the last pictures of the day!

Kylie's Junior Hunt

Kylie had finally drawn her very first big game tag ever.  In her pocket she held a tag for the “juniors only 18b deer hunt”, and she couldn’t wait to get started.  She had practiced her shooting off a bench, off her knee, sitting, and off a bi pod religiously leading up to the hunt and could probably shoot 95% of the hunters out there today.

One thing she couldn’t practice was patience and persistence, at least she couldn’t practice them until her hunt started.  She got on bucks day after day, but time after time she was unable to get a shot.  The buck would disappear before she could get into range, other hunters would bump the deer and spook them before she could get into range, elk would be jumped during the stock and the deer would leave with them, other deer would spot them before she could get into position, the buck wouldn’t give her a good shot, so on and so forth.  But Kylie did show she had the patience and the persistence to keep it up.  She was the first to be ready, and she was the most willing to go again after a blown stalk.

Just after lunch one day, a group of bucks was glassed up a couple miles away, feeding along a ridge.  The hike took about an hour when the group finally was getting into position, but the bucks were nowhere to be found.  Suddenly a small buck raised his head revealing himself just a few yards from the hunters on the same ridge they had hiked onto!  The deer had fed around a bowl and ended up on the same side the hunters had planned on shooting from!  The small buck finally spooked and took off toward the bottom of the draw.  Luckily, even though the rest of the bucks spooked with him, they had no idea why the small buck had run off.  The bucks scattered in all directions, with the biggest of the four heading in the general direction of the small buck.  He crossed the drainage below and came up on the slope opposite of the hunters before he stopped to have a look at what was going on.  Kylie set up on her bi pod and calmed herself down for the shot.

The shot looked to be around 250 yards and Kylie squeezed the trigger.  The buck jumped and ran at the sound of the shot with the dull “whump” returning to the hunters.  The buck topped the ridge and out of sight.  Knowing the buck was hit the celebration began.  Eventually everyone made their way to where the buck stood during the shot and found a blood trail Stevie Wonder could follow!  The buck had made it just over a hundred yards before collapsing and rolling a short distance down the hill!

Kylie had her first buck!  A nice 3X4!  Wish I could have started off with a buck that big!

 

You can watch this hunt on MuleyBull Outfitters "Just Hunting Volume 1" found at:

Amazon.com

1st Day of the Archery Hunt...

Right off the bat, Clay sat at the bottom of a steep slope watching a couple bucks chase does around on the bald mountain above.  Clay was traditionally a rifle hunter, but had held out for a big buck that never gave him a shot during the general hunt, so he practiced up with his bow and started to scout for a spot to shoot his first archery buck. Now, day one of the archery hunt, the deer above him were a few of the deer he had seen during those scouting trips, the only trick now was to get within bow range.

Clay backed off and headed back to the truck, from there he drove to the backside of the mountain from the deer and began his ascent on foot.  When he left the deer, they were close to the only scattered trees located on the hillside, and he hoped they would still be there, as the rest of the country gave little cover.  Clay neared the location the deer should be in, and he slowed his pace to a crawl watching for anything, expecting at any moment to see deer watching him through the tall grass, blowing his stalk.  Finally Clay caught movement directly ahead as a buck chased a doe toward him.  The deer veered uphill and eventually turn back the way they had come, still too far for a shot.  Clay slowly worked his way toward where the deer were, occasionally a buck would chase deer back over the horizon then disappear again.  When Clay finally worked to a position where he could see the deer he was still about 90 yards away.  The two bucks wouldn’t stay still, they were taking turns chasing each other off, then pestering a doe as she tried to feed in some of the tall grass and low shrub.  At times it looked like a buck would chase a doe within range before they would zig or zag and head back to the main herd.

Finally one of the bucks chased a doe toward Clay again, this time when the doe cut and headed back toward the rest of the does, the buck stopped broadside, looking directly away from Clay toward the rest of the deer.  Clay ranged the buck at 45 yards and drew his bow.  The buck never knew Clay was there and when Clay released his arrow, the buck exploded downhill toward the location Clay had first glassed the deer up.  The buck only made it about 80 yards before he piled up behind some low scrub oak.

The remaining deer had a hunch that something had just happened as they stood surveying the area as Clay sat quietly watching the spot his buck had disappeared into.  Eventually, the remaining deer filed out one at a time not sure what was going on.  Clay sat on the hillside for about 20 minutes never seeing his buck get back to his feet.  He finally got up and began working his way to the shot buck.

Clay had his first archery buck!  Great start to an archery hunting career with his first archery buck ever showing 4 points per side.  Congratulation Clay.

Big Tom in a Cave!

It’s always a good time when you get to go hunt with friends.  The MuleyBull bunch hooked back up with the guys from Six Shooter Molly’s Guide Service to help out with John Youngker’s lion hunt.  Once again, a big tom had been caught by the bunch the day before John showed up.  A handful of pictures were taken of the big tom before he was let go.  Back in the area the next day, the tracks of the big tom were finally located and the hounds were turned out.

Now up to this point, the hounds had been on lions day after day for the past couple months.  To say they were tuned up would be an understatement!  As soon as the dogs hit the ground they were out of sight and started to get way ahead of the hunters.  The dogs caught up with the cat long before the hunters could get on scene.  P.T. being one of the stronger hikers, was the first to catch up to the dogs.  They had the big tom bayed up far in the back of a deep cave in some rim rock.

P.T. got the dogs tied up and crawled inside with his video camera to have a look.  Sure enough!  The big tom from the day before was once again bayed up by the hounds, and he was not in a friendly mood.  P.T. caught some video of the action while the rest of the hunters caught up.

Going into a cave after a lion is something most folks won’t even consider!  76 year old John didn’t bat an eye!  He got his pistol ready and said “If I end up leaving this world going after that lion in a cave, then that’s a heck of a lot better than other ways I can think of!”

Pistol in hand John got on his belly and began to inch his way in.  It took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darker environment of the cave, but when they did he readied his pistol for a shot.  Now you would have thought he was shooting a 50 caliber when that pistol went off inside the confines of that cave, but John didn’t flinch.  He slowly backed out and readjusted his eyes to the outside world.  His one shot did the lion in!

Now it was our turn.  If John was willing to go into the cave to shoot the lion, then we were willing to go back in and pull the lion out.  As P.T. pulled the lion out of the cave entrance, the size of the animal became apparent!  He looked big yesterday when they caught him and took pictures, and he somehow looked twice as big now.

Congrats John on a monster tom!

Travis's 7 East Bull

Travis Vincent left Sierra Vista on Thanksgiving Day and headed to Flagstaff to meet up with Bryant McGee and Clay Stephens for his unit 7 East late bull hunt.  Along for the ride and to watch the hunt was Travis's dad Boone, which had come down from Montana to celebrate an early Thanksgiving and go along on Travis’s elk hunt.

For Travis his hunt began when he heard his draw results over the phone.  He had finally drawn a rifle bull tag in Arizona!  Travis is employed with the U.S. Border Patrol, a job that takes up a large amount of his time.  He was still able to get in plenty of practice time with his rifle, and was ready when the time came to head north.

For Bryant and Clay, the hunt began weeks before the opening day.  At first things looked like it was going to be the usual tough unit 7 east hunt.  That is until Clay finally stumbled into an area that seemed to be overflowing with elk.  Bryant and Clay concentrated their efforts in this area with some days finding more than 200 elk.  There were days when they would see 29 bulls, the trick was finding the bull Travis had in mind.  Lots of average bulls with even more small bulls, and the occasional big bull. 

Right off the bat on the first day of the hunt Bryant glassed up a group of bulls that they had been trying to keep track of.  One small bull, two bulls that were borderline shooters for Travis, and one that was a no brainer.  From the get go, the bulls weren’t acting right, and as the four watched the bulls and brainstormed a plan of attack, two hunters appeared about 50 yards below the group.  The hunters had no idea the bulls were in the area as they hunted along the hillside, but it didn’t take long before the bulls blew out and were never found the rest of the hunt.

A short time later, another lone bull was glassed up.  This bull was in the thick cedars, but he was big enough to go after.  The stalk was a wash, but the hunters had a large group of cows and small bulls pass by single file within archery distance.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t a bull in the bunch that Travis wanted to wrap his tag on.

The next day found the hunters in the same area.  Like yesterday, a couple bulls were glassed up right off the bat but fed over a ridge before a decision was made whether or not one was a shooter.  Clay finally glassed up another small bunch of bulls that had a shooter in it.  These bulls finally fed over a ridge and a plan was made.  It took a long time for the group to make their way to where the bulls were last seen.  The small amount of snow on the ground showed the bulls were heading into some small canyons.  After around a couple of hours of tracking, the bulls stood up out of their beds looking at the hunters at 50 yards!  The largest of the three bulls was standing directly behind a cedar tree and left without ever giving Travis a shot!

Day three ended terrible.  The weather did not cooperate all day making glassing nearly impossible.  At one point the snow came down so bad the bunch decided to retreat into town for a warm meal.  Only a handful of elk were found this day, with a few small bulls, but no decent bulls were found.

Day 4 only had a little better weather. More elk were glassed up than yesterday, but they never saw a bull that got Travis excited.  Now moving to day 5, the last day Travis was going to be able to hunt.  First thing that morning a big bull was finally glassed up, but as Travis’s luck had proved so far, the bull was feeding into flat thick country.  The crew hiked in and began to track the big bull figuring they had to give it a try.  Eventually they kicked the bull out of his bed, but he was up and gone so quick that Travis never had a chance for a shot.  Frustration was trying to kick in when the bunch moved into an area that elk had bedding in the previous days.  A decision was made to have Travis and Bryant walk in and try to find a bull while Boone and Clay stayed back and glassed. 

About an hour into the walk, Bryant located a bull up feeding in a group of cedars.  The bull was a 5X5, and Travis decided he was going to take a shot.  The bull was feeding just over 100 yards away with no idea of the hunters presence when Travis readied for the shot.  There was no reaction from the bull when Travis’s rifle went off, but the dull “whomp” was enough evidence the bull was hit.  The bull began to walk forward.  Travis sent shot number two just as the bull began to tip over!  Things finally worked out, even though this wasn’t the monster Travis was hoping for, it was a great trophy that came at the end of a long hunt.