Part 1 of my 2013 Muley Hunt

eleaf · November 29, 2013, 01:39:04 AM

Here's a link to the first part of my 2013 muley hunt in WY. There will be two more in the coming days.

Hope you enjoy!

http://hornsandhorns.net/2013/11/ten-or-ten/

Check the rest of the site out too!

Dave · December 11, 2013, 11:59:48 AM

Nice write up, eleaf.
I've been caught mid stride, wanting to put that foot on the ground, too. But not for that long.
An exciting few days, though!

Okanagan · December 11, 2013, 12:31:00 PM

Yes, good read and I look forward to another installment.

I had a Mule deer buck evade me in a similar way on Halloween day in the snow. At grey daylight was working my way up the spine of a ridge when I came on FRESH buck tracks.

A little brushy saddle notched the ridge top 30 yards ahead and I could see that the tracks led into it. I eased to the edge of the notch, which was the head of a ravine that ran down into a clearcut on my right. The ridge dropped away steeply on the right, and then eased out, and the steep part was covered with thick brush. A breeze blew down to my right. Sure enough, the buck had ducked into the brushy head of the ravine and staying under the contour of steep ground, circled back under me to my right, out of sight from me and downwind. I think if I was still running on 30 or 40 year old legs I could have hustled and maybe caught him somewhere in the wide clearcut below, but on steep uneven ground slick with snow I wished him well, and continued still hunting up the ridge.

eleaf · December 16, 2013, 08:50:38 PM

Thanks guys! I appreciate the read.

I'm working on the next piece as we speak. It's a long one.

FinsnFur · December 17, 2013, 10:05:52 PM

We dont have any muleys up here, but I feel like I just got done hunting em

Nice write up, I enjoyed reading it.

eleaf · December 18, 2013, 01:25:27 AM

The next installment: Trophy Country, or my first taste of big country hunting.

Enjoy!

eleaf · December 18, 2013, 01:27:01 AM

Quote from: FinsnFur on December 17, 2013, 10:05:52 PM
We dont have any muleys up here, but I feel like I just got done hunting em
Nice write up, I enjoyed reading it.

I appreciate it!

Unfortunate I don't have mulies where I live either (Central KY). Once you try and hunt them you'll be hooked.

Okanagan · December 19, 2013, 01:22:46 PM

Enjoyed the read and the pics. Nice country. Thanks.

This was a great paragraph: We would find a point that stuck out of over the canyon drainage, sit down and glass everything we could see. If we didnâ€™t find anything, weâ€™d still hunt the edge of the ridge up to the next point and do it again. If we did find something weâ€™d plan a stalk and either go straight after it, or else get in a better position to take a better look.

A friend of mine in Wyoming has a huge ranch with a lot of similar country. Out here we consider that gentle country, natch! Someone is likely to say that so I will.

You are brave. There is no way to really tell such an experience without revealing a LOT about yourself!

A small request: put in a paragraph break at least every four sentences, which will make it much easier to read.

eleaf · December 21, 2013, 12:33:11 AM

Quote from: Okanagan on December 19, 2013, 01:22:46 PM
Enjoyed the read and the pics. Nice country. Thanks.

A friend of mine in Wyoming has a huge ranch with a lot of similar country. Out here we consider that gentle country, natch! Someone is likely to say that so I will.
A small request: put in a paragraph break at least every four sentences, which will make it much easier to read.

I've gotten that from a few people in a couple of places.

I don't really care what others think. It was difficult for me. Take in to account that I had a heart attack at 33 due to a bum circulatory system and am a native flatlander and perspectives change. If people want to "make fun" of me in order to show how manly they are, they probably aren't all that manly themselves. Either way, my difficulties have inspired me. I want more and bigger country, and in order to do that I need to be in better shape. This hunt showed me that. I didn't struggle necesarily, but I know that hunting the big country will be a whole different ball game.

Everyone has to start somewhere.

The climb up was 579 vertical feet in less than 1/3 of a mile.

Okanagan · December 21, 2013, 09:41:49 AM

Not intended to make fun of you, just to smile at the different perspectives. My cousins in Oklahoma talk about their mountains, which would be hills here-- and when I was in Nepal the locals called 9-11000 foot summits hills.

Sorry to hear about your heart attack. At my age and out of shape condition I'd be sweating and puffing to climb those slopes. That is beautiful mule deer country.