"Semi-live" Mule Deer Hunt (LONG!)

[SDHNTR]

Hey that is cool! My first archery deer was a muley doe too. And if given the chance, I'll whack another one this year too. Very cool documentation. Thanks fortaking us with you. Good luck with the bulls.

 

[Nick Muche]

Congrats! You filled the tag, with your bow an arrow, what more could you ask for? As a few others have said, my first mule deer was a doe as well, watching that arrow fly true and seeing her laying there after the shot was all I could ask for. Now you know the feeling! Next year you can get your first mule deer buck.

Best of luck on your Elk hunt.

 

[bowuntr]

Awesome recap and photos. Congrats. Ed F

 

[DWarcher]

Great write up and big congrats on your first muley!
-Dave

 

[IAHNTR]

Great story and wonderful ending. Thanks for bringing us all along.

 

[JG358]

Nice write up, great pics. Congrats!

 

[IrishnId]

Dont ever feel bad taking a doe. They eat great!

 

[7mag.]

Thanks for the story and pics. Congrats, you earned that deer.

 

[TooFarEast]

This was a great story and also encouraging for people like me who live at sea level and a long way from the rockies. I would be interested to know how you prepared for the high elevation and how this affected your hunt and physical ablility? I was planning on hunting elk at 11,000+ feet this week with a muzzleloader, but it didnt work out, and had to put it off a year.

Thanks again for the story. Shooting a doe and posting it on the internet is pretty cool since I feel like the real trophy is the experience you had and not the antlers on the wall.

 

[bigeasygator]

This was a great story and also encouraging for people like me who live at sea level and a long way from the rockies. I would be interested to know how you prepared for the high elevation and how this affected your hunt and physical ablility? I was planning on hunting elk at 11,000+ feet this week with a muzzleloader, but it didnt work out, and had to put it off a year.

Thanks again for the story. Shooting a doe and posting it on the internet is pretty cool since I feel like the real trophy is the experience you had and not the antlers on the wall.

TooFarEast (and everyone else), thanks for the kind comments on the thread and glad you all enjoyed. I've got one more hunt the rest of the year and can't wait for it to get here (and am kinda bummed the season is more or less almost over!).

As far as preparation for the hunt, I'll say I started the year with grand intentions of being in the best shape of my life for the hunt and reality fell far short of that! I'm 33 and not in terrible shape, but as you probably know, you can never be in too good of shape for these hunts. That being said, while certainly extremely physical, you can see that it wasn't too bad that it couldn't be done.

I wanted to get in "marathon" shape prior to the hunt, but totally procrastinated and waited until about a month before to do any kind of training. I did spinning and tabata (interval/cross-fit kind of stuff) about twice a week for a month before the hunt and did squats a few times. I didn't run much but I would say that I could comfortably run about 3 miles without stopping at a 10 min/mile pace. So hopefully that gave some indication of the shape I hoped to be in and was actually in. Beyond that, I bought some stuff to acclimate to the altitude (Wilderness Athlete Altitude Advantage and Hydrate and Recover) and my buddy had a prescription for altitude medication that we both shared. Lastly, I drank lots of water prior to heading in and while I was out there.

The hardest part of the journey was the trip in with the pack weight. Uphill with 65 lbs on your back is tough. I just took my time. To give you a reference, the hike into where we camped (which was about a mile short of where I wanted to be because my buddy had had about enough...and I didn't argue) was 3.5 miles with 1,500' of elevation gain (10,500'-12,000'). It took us around 4 hours to hike in, including a stop of about an hour to get water and eat lunch halfway in. We hiked in a few times with much less weight and were able to do it in around 2 hours. The hike out was always around an hour, regardless of weight. While hunting with less weight, it was always easier to move around (unless we had a big water load). That being said, the uphill pretty much always sucked haha

I'm sure if we had prepared a little more (next time, I swear it!) we could have been a bit better hiking in. Coming from below sea level to 12,000' is not easy, but it's not impossible -- even if you aren't in the best shape of your life. The better shape you're in, the better off you'll be. I think if you just take your time, rest, don't over exert yourself, and mentally prepare yourself for some tough work, you can do it. Just one foot in front of the other!

 

[Cindy Wamsley]

Thanks for sharing the hunt. The pics are great!

 

[HOT ROD]

Thank for posting Ur hunt.

 

[Florida Mike]

Congrats fellow flatlander! Great adventure and story too! I live in Fla so I know what your talking about with the altitude and "take it easy" comments. I'm 51 and have only done 3 high altitude hunts and they were in the last 2 years! It's all about pacing yourself and not overdoing it. Congrats again on your trophy! Mike