Wyoming Mule Deer

We were finally able to get out of the BLM we camped on the afternoon of the second day and started to see some signs of life.  We saw a fair amount of whitetails in the river bottom areas and also around the irrigated ag fields.  Lots of pronghorn around also.


We made a plan for the following morning to sit next to some irrigated fields and catch something coming back to public to bed for the day.  Here was my view for the sunrise.

One of us was able to put their tag on a WT that morning.  I know he has better pics but I'll post the one I have.

That evening we were able to put a stalk on some deer that were on a small parcel of public land but they were moving around and close enough to the property borders that we didn't feel good about taking the shot.  So with about 30-60 minutes left of shooting light for the day we decided to drive around and see what we could turn up.  I got lucky and was looking out the truck window to the right while the other guys were looking left and saw a mature deer out my window.  I immediately knew I would shoot that deer so we stopped as quick as we could.  I put a very short "stalk" on him and used a bush just off the road as a rest.  The shot ended up being about 175 yards.


The best part was that we were able to drive on a BLM road to get within 40 yards or so, making the packout easy. 

Thanks for sharing and looks like a fun hunt to me.

During the evening of our last day there we caught a buck heading across the road to our unit and public land so we stopped the truck in a manner that we hoped would keep the deer from crossing back over.  One of the funniest things I have ever seen while hunting proceeded to occur.  The shooter jumped out of the truck and the deer ran behind a large rock less than 50 yards away blocking the shot.  He then proceeded to peek up over the rock to see where we were showing only his head and neck.  Once he realized we were still there he took off up a drainage but stopped to look back at about 100 yards.  the shot connected and we watched him disappear behind a little hill.  After a little bit of rock climbing we were able to find him.  Below is the view from the shot site to the truck.

I don't have a pic of the buck as it was found but here's one from when we got back to the truck.

Here's a pic of me with my whitetail:



My view from my dusty knoll:



I saw probably a half-dozen bucks and twice that many does that morning, hanging around just over on private. This buck came from private, jumped a fence to cross a little of corner of public, and was heading back to private when I got him, about 280 yards.  I think I had the longest pack-out of the trip at around 400 yards to the truck - that's the way I like them!

I really enjoyed hunting with Brandon and Josh. This time we were all successful on bucks, not a small feat with just a few days to hunt an area none of us had been to before.

One blunder on my part, I dropped my wallet on the western edge of Iowa on the drive out. Three hours into Nebraska, I realized what I'd done. We drove all the way back, adding 6 hours to our drive to retrieve my wallet. I thought for sure they were going to leave me alongside the road somewhere, but somehow I managed to not get ditched at a truck stop.

We also got to soak at a hot-spring pool in Thermopolis before heading home, my first time being anywhere like that. It was kind of nice, even though the water did smell like a fart. Smelled better than me anyway, after a week of hunting and tent-camping with no showers.

Forgot to add this picture. Josh brought his homemade angus-cow decoy, and he and Brandon actually used it to get in on some deer. There was a group of does, with I think three bucks, on a tiny little piece of public land, probably less than 10 acres. I watched from the truck, and it looked like they were able to get right in amongst the deer, but apparently the biggest buck was just across the line on private.




"Won't they see our feet?" - "Deer don't know how many feet a cow has!"

Congrats and thanks for sharing the photos. What part of WY?

Josh summed up the trip pretty well. I'll agree with Wyatt that I thoroughly enjoy hunting with both him and Josh. I'll add a few pics that I took.

Here is a little better pic of my deer taken the last hour of the last day.


Here is a picture of the buck that I missed after having a doe bust me after about a mile stalk. Shot at him 2x, but totally whiffed on him.


My whitetail doe


We were glassing near where Josh's deer died and had a pair of Golden Eagles show up eating on the carcass.




Couple of shots near camp with and without snow

That looks like a great trip! I miss those western views. Thanks for posting