Really short deer season this year.

Yukon Mike

Yukon Mike

Well-known member
Last year I looked and looked for four months to get Marcus a shot at a mulie without any big ones showing themselves in daylight. It was quite frustrating to not be able to figure out any patterns on the deer I collected so much info on. This year I've been looking for Mac since mid July and only seen one good one, but thought it was early and wasn't too worried about it.

Mac had won one of the two youth tags we have and although the season opened Aug 1 he just hadn't got around to picking up his license until Thursday. Friday morning we were headed out to check a spot and I wanted to show him some of the places I thought we might get a set up, but a friend called to say this big fella had bedded down in his crop around 8:30 am. We were up and out there in minutes. Climbed the grain bins for a better vantage point but couldn't see him. I walked around the field but couldn't find any fresh tracks coming out. We were sure he was in there, but the barley in the middle of the field was as high as my chest so if he was laying down he just wouldn't be visible. Having been in situations before when you've got the drop on a critter like this, I knew time was on our side and the thing to do was wait. It paid off and eventually the buck must have heard us, got curious and stood up. All we could really see was horns and half his nose. Mac was a little shaky and missed the first shot clean. The deer started hiking towards the fence line so I told the boy to run around and head him off at the fenceline. It totally worked as the deer paid more attention to me standing in the open than the kid running the edge of the barley. Mac snipered him in the back of the head when the buck got to the fence and turned to walk away. Dave Larsen's bipod brings death to another critter.

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He's a real unusual deer for around here. Nine points on one side and 10 on the other I think. Of all the deer I've ever seen up here he's one of the top 3, and interestingly I have a shed I found many years ago that is very similar to this guy's design.

While the velvet looks cool on caribou, Mac and I both prefer deer peeled and European mounted so we'll get him all cleaned up and I'll bleach the skull and color up the horns.

He had so much fat on him from a summer of easy living. Its been warm so we skinned him right away stashed the meat in a friend's walk in cooler for the night and will get him all processed on Saturday. I'm curious to weigh the carcass to see what one of these Mulie's weigh. I've shot a few Whitetails, but never done up a Mulie before.

Good times.

Mike

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That is too cool! What a unique rack. What kind of rifle? Was it walking straight away? Head shots always make the tracking job quite easy don't they?

Thanks for sharing the pictures and story, I'm sure he'll be great eating with all of that good food he was surrounded by.

I shot a Muley in Utah in late August and ended up getting a shoulder mount with the velvet in tact, It's amazing how well it was preserved as we were very careful to not rub or scratch it until we got to the taxidermist and had him make injections. The short hair on the summer time deer is pretty neat too.

Great shooting Mac!

-D
 
He was using a .270 with 130 gr Accubonds I think. He had figured on a side on shot when the deer cleared the crop but instead the buck got to the edge and turned right away to walk parallel to the fence for a bit. I was watching through bino's from 300 yds away and it looked to me like he missed because that deer dropped so fast. Actually, as I walked over to him Mac said he thought he might have missed because he didn't see the deer after he shot.

While it is super cool to get such a good buck, we had spent almost three hours at the bow range just the night before fine tuning the pins and testing and retesting every arrow to come up with the top six, then redo the whole thing with broadheads installed. So we're all ready to go with the bow, but I guess it will be on a moose or a caribou now. I still have this idea to bowhunt a grizzly using a horse trailer like a shark cage. I gotta check the regs on that one. The sticking an arrow in a grizzly bear seems like a straightforward plan, its the going and looking to see if he's dead part that seems a little risky. Maybe I could put the trailer in the middle of a big meadow and sit and cook bacon all day to see what happens.

I weighed the carcass today before we got it all chopped up and it came in at 120 pounds. We cut it in half at the fourth rib and the two hinds together weighed 80lbs.

Mike
 
Mike,

I saw Chuck Adams many years ago speak about the big Grizzly (or Brown, I don't remember) he shot with a bow. Wading upstream in a creek with the guide behind him with a 375 or some such pea shooter. He came around a bend and there was the bear at 17 yards.........he shot it and then thought to himself "Holy SHIT - now what do I do". The bear took off and went 175 yards before piling up. Upon further examination - it was DOUBLE LUNGED ...................and still went that far.

I know black bear will die pretty easily with a good shot but it just seems like a Grizzly may have a tighter hold on life - or revenge :)

Good Luck and take pictures.
 

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congrats! Can't believe that Mac has grown into a man before our eyes on this forum!
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Mike,

I'll have to echo what Jeff said. Mac is certainly not the same little kid I met back in '08. Tell him congrats and next time, wait till the antlers are fully grown and the velvet has worn off. Just yanking his chain, I know your seasons up there run much earlier than ours down here where I live.
 
Mike, Great story and great deer. Bittersweet to fill a tag so fast, at least you have more to come. Funny to see a deer shot still in velvet. Strange rack for sure. Makes you wonder how he might have looked if he had grown up ;-)) We like to take out those subordinate bucks too.;-))
 
That sounds like about as safe as you can get for shooting a Griz with a bow. I talked to Tred Barta about his longbow kill at something like 13yards. His camera man said it was about as big of a rush as you can imagine.

Another friend of mine filmed a top 5 Kodiak kill last season that will be on TV relatively soon. I've seen some screen shots from the video and it's gonna be some impressive footage. This one was taken with a compound bow.

The bacon idea should definitely work and make sure all of the door are securely fastened on the cage!

-D
 
Pretty darn cool. Nice job! That is a cool buck and a great job making something happen after a miss.

Will you guys have the euro mount ready for me to check out in person later on in the week? :).

T
 
You bet Tod! Let me know what day you might be here cuz I might volunteering to drive Mac and friend out to a place to try one more time for a sheep on Tues or Wed.

Hope you've got some good stories to tell.

I'm headed up the Game Branch today so if they can tell me how old that guy was I'll let you guys know.

Mike
 
You bet Tod! Let me know what day you might be here cuz I might volunteering to drive Mac and friend out to a place to try one more time for a sheep on Tues or Wed.

Hope you've got some good stories to tell.

I'm headed up the Game Branch today so if they can tell me how old that guy was I'll let you guys know.

Mike
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Cool Mike, I think it will be more towards the end of the week. I'll let you know.

T
 
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