A funny thing happen after I shot My mule buck

[aulrich]

So a couple of weeks ago I find myself sitting on a ridge over looking a know travel route, minding my own business :grin:.  I am about done for that spot when low and behold I spot a good buck, where he came from I don't know I swear I looked over that bush patch ten times that mourning,  but none the less there he was.

And as luck would have it he was moving in my direction. when I spotted him he was about 350 yards out and out of my comfort zone but since he was coming my way I was in no hurry.  I was not a sure thing yet there were 3 routes available so while I am planning what I would do for each of the travel options  I spotted another buck coming up from the opposite end of one of the travel routes.

In the intervening minutes I start to get worried I have lost sight of the first buck then I loose the second buck I am just beginning to move dow the ridge when I spot the buck at the foot of the gully I am on. so I back off a few steps into cover and start to wait... wait... wait. After what seemed like an eternity I stick my nose over the edge of the gully and find it empty. But I quickly relocate the buck I guess that before he committed to the gully he spoted the other buck, and now the are staring each other down.

At this point the is brush in the way so I done have a shot at either buck and what is worse is in the circling they are moving away from me. Finally they one gets clear of the bush  @ about 200 yards. I wait for a broadside and when he pauses I send a 200 grain Nosler balistic tip his way out of my 338.

On impact the buck folds and here is the funny part the other buck sensing an opportunity rushes the downed buck and proceeds to work him over. that buck rolled mine around for what seemed to be 1-2 minutes(I had a couple of spots where I had to pull hide out of antler wounds. After I was sure the buck was dead I go to collect him on the way there I have to chase the other buck away. Yes these boys were hard in the rut my buck's neck must have been 16" thick.

This was my third mule deer buck a 4 X 4  (if there are brow tines that can hang a ring do you count those) Not very wide 19 " but tall with good mass. the forks are about 10 " each if the rack was 7 inches wider and the last two tines about twice as long I would have had a wall hanger. But to date the best buck I have seen while hunting.  I still shake my head when I think about that buck rolling mine around.

[longwinters]

I can hardly believe that those cute brown eyed deer could ever have a violent bone in their bodies.  After all that is what the moronic anti-hunters think :roll:   Congrats on your success and it seems to have been quite the adventure!  Just think, how few hunters have ever seen something as uncommon as what you were a witness to.

Long

[Lawdog]

aulrich,

This was my third mule deer buck a 4 X 4 (if there are brow tines that can hang a ring do you count those)

Western count we don't count eye guards(brow tines).  A 4 pointer by Eastern count would be a 10 pointer.  Lawdog
 

[Daveinthebush]

On the Outdoor Channel I watched the exact same thing happen.  Guy downed a whitetail and another came up and beat the crap out of the downed deer.  Muddied him up good.

You are luck to see such wonders int he out-of-doors.  Congrats on the deer too!

[aulrich]

I have been lucky the bucks in this area seem to regularly put on a show. The first day I hunted the area(4 years ago) we watched a couple of bucks chase and fight each other for at least an hour. We did not have a buck tags that year and I could not go after the does because my buddy forgot to call his neighbor. So we just sat and watched, sometimes bad luck is good luck.