smalls
Well-known member
Don't get me wrong, I am pumped to have taken my first mule deer with archery tackle, but...
In my quest for elk I hadn't paid any attention to the mule deer regs all season (in fact I hadn't seen much for deer at all where I was hunting). I had been hunting near the edge of a hunting district for the last two weeks. This hunting district was open for elk but a draw unit for mule deer. Knowing I was close to the edge I had checked the elk regs for the bordering units and found they were was no change from the district I was in. Well on Saturday of this weekend (the day before I shot my deer) I was putting a stalk on a raghorn bull only to come over the top of the ridge to be face to face with a pair of great bucks. The bigger had a spread just outside his ears as his ears lay completely flat, and at least 5 or 6" more height than width. Plus he had a bunch of little stickers coming off of both sides, they were only a inch or inch and a half a piece, but they made for a cool looking buck. They didn't initially know I was there and didn't notice me for over a minute while I sat w/in 50 yards. There is no doubt in my mind that I could have backed up 3 steps to have gotten the brush between myself and the deer and gained another 20 yards. I knew at the time I was not in the original district I had been hunting in, but I did not know what the regs were on deer where I was standing so I never even nocked an arrow.
Long story short, I looked at the regs of the unit I had crossed into only to find that muley was more than legal to stick. I could have shot my first "wallhanger" but due to my own ignorance that buck is still running around. My only hope is that he survives rifle season, which I am confident in since a)there is no way of sighting this buck from any road b)it was a very strenuous hike to get into his bedroom, that will weed alot of guys out and c)I didn't tell a soul where I saw him.
Now in addition to feeling stupid about not knowing the deer regs, I feel guilty that in some way I am short changing the experience I had with the deer I took.
In my quest for elk I hadn't paid any attention to the mule deer regs all season (in fact I hadn't seen much for deer at all where I was hunting). I had been hunting near the edge of a hunting district for the last two weeks. This hunting district was open for elk but a draw unit for mule deer. Knowing I was close to the edge I had checked the elk regs for the bordering units and found they were was no change from the district I was in. Well on Saturday of this weekend (the day before I shot my deer) I was putting a stalk on a raghorn bull only to come over the top of the ridge to be face to face with a pair of great bucks. The bigger had a spread just outside his ears as his ears lay completely flat, and at least 5 or 6" more height than width. Plus he had a bunch of little stickers coming off of both sides, they were only a inch or inch and a half a piece, but they made for a cool looking buck. They didn't initially know I was there and didn't notice me for over a minute while I sat w/in 50 yards. There is no doubt in my mind that I could have backed up 3 steps to have gotten the brush between myself and the deer and gained another 20 yards. I knew at the time I was not in the original district I had been hunting in, but I did not know what the regs were on deer where I was standing so I never even nocked an arrow.
Long story short, I looked at the regs of the unit I had crossed into only to find that muley was more than legal to stick. I could have shot my first "wallhanger" but due to my own ignorance that buck is still running around. My only hope is that he survives rifle season, which I am confident in since a)there is no way of sighting this buck from any road b)it was a very strenuous hike to get into his bedroom, that will weed alot of guys out and c)I didn't tell a soul where I saw him.
Now in addition to feeling stupid about not knowing the deer regs, I feel guilty that in some way I am short changing the experience I had with the deer I took.
