My January 2026 NM Muley

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T16:04:29-0700

Thought I could share how my bowhunt went this year. Ended a lil different that I had expected and hoped at first... but definitely not complaining now

Mudranger1 · 2026-01-10T16:07:02-0700

Amazing

...

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T16:07:39-0700

So before the hunt started for about a month I had a very nice whitetail showing up on camera. Still havnt killed a nice whitetail in NM. This buck was showing up almost every day for 3 or so weeks straight! I was getting my hopes up to kill him come January.

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T16:09:50-0700

We leave for Christmas and I'm still getting pics. Get a pic of him mounting a doe Christmas evening. Things are looking good!

Tmbrgost · 2026-01-10T16:10:10-0700

Good looking buck!

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T16:16:28-0700

And then he disappeared! Poof gone! Not another pic of him! I kept hoping I was just missing him or something but no pics. Honestly all my deer pics just quit perty much. Then I get sick over the end of the year and the first 2 or 3 days of season and he still hasn't showed up. I go get in the tree a few times and just see a few does both times. The deer have just left!

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T16:18:29-0700

And then I get a vid from some friends that was about a mile away that might have been the cause of the deer leaving.

WildWill · 2026-01-10T16:44:32-0700

Best NM whitetail I've ever seen! Looking forward to the rest of the story.

EKYHunter · 2026-01-10T16:45:12-0700

That’s a great buck. Hope to see some close up pics of him.

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T16:59:12-0700

So last Wednesday afternoon I went out to some ranch country I could hunt found a bunch of does. Then found a buck bedded off by himself but he wasn't really what I wanted and wasn't in a very stalkable spot either.

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T17:03:30-0700

So I keep looking and finally in the back pasture I find a buck that I've dreamed about for years just a big pretty clean typical mule deer! And he's up chasing a doe and fighting off a smaller buck and they won't hold still. Keep chasing and fighting. I can't close any distance. Finally they just go over the hill and it's getting dark. So I head back to the truck. And I dream about this buck and can't even think about going and hunting anywhere else now! Still havnt had the big whitetail show back up so after the big muley it is!

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T17:05:43-0700

My brother had a tag for a neighboring unit and killed his buck Thursday evening. So then I was free to go hunt Friday!
My brothers buck

CowboyLeroy · 2026-01-10T18:18:44-0700

Thats a heck of a NM whitetail. I've got so.e friends out there that say they're numbers are higher than ever

Hammsolo · 2026-01-10T18:24:54-0700

Valley1320 said:
We leave for Christmas and I'm still getting pics. Get a pic of him mounting a doe Christmas evening. Things are looking good! View attachment 398434

Merry Cmas to them!

Nick87 · 2026-01-10T18:57:11-0700

Your killing me...

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T20:26:59-0700

Go out Friday morning and I find the does and the other smaller bucks he had been hanging out with. No sign of him! Then off in the distance I thought I got a glimpse of a deer that bedded down but wasn't sure. So I drove around and got him on a hill. Sure enough it was him!

Valley1320 · 2026-01-10T20:53:42-0700

So I drive back around and get my wind and terrain right and start stalking in... he was extremely hard to find from down on his level due to tall grass and yuccas. But we finally got in to 75 and got busted but he stood long enough for me to get a shot off.