It was 5:30am and my alarm jolted me out of a slumber.
Today was the day!!
A few days earlier my brother, dad and I had boarded a airplane in Boston and flew to Denver CO. We met up with my uncle the next day to hunt mule deer.
I was very excited about this trip because I love Colorado and I love to hunt so what is better than combining the two.
We spent a few days scouting for a good mature deer to harvest. My brother was going to college next fall so he got the pick of deer. He obviously chose the bigger one which was fine with me because to me it’s not about the headgear it’s about the experience and joy of the hunt.
But anyway back to my story.
So opening morning we drove along a dirt road and rounded a ridge when we spotted a doe working her way up the ridge but she kept looking back so we knew there were more deer.
Sure enough a good 5×5 buck stepped out from behind the sage brush. We moved into position to make a good shot when my uncle gave me the thumbs up I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then squeezed.
BANG! The 300 win mag jolted in my hands as the bullet sped 200 yards towards the buck.
THWOP!
The noise was unmistakably a hit. The buck ran 50 yards down the ridge closer to us. I sent another bullet down range. The deer didn’t flinch. My uncle called out, “miss shoot again”, so I did. Again the deer didn’t flinch. Again my uncle told me to shoot again. So I shot again this time the deer dropped like a rock.
I was ecstatic!!
We ran to my deer out of breath when we got there all I could do was stare at this magnificent animal and thank god for making such a creature and for the opportunity to take such an animal.
We don’t know how much the deer weighed but my uncle said it was one of the biggest bodied deer he had seen. While dressing the deer we found four bullet holes one in the heart two in the lungs and one a little far back.
We taped it at 171.5 it was more than I could have dreamed of!!
That evening my brother put the hammer down on a 5×4 that scored 172.5.
It was the most amazing experience I have ever had and I will never forget the memory of my first mule deer hunt.
