February 2

Western Big Game Hunting-Part 3


Our 2014 trip to Wyoming found us back at the original ranch where we harvested our first pronghorns.  This time we were after Mule Deer.  The ranch manager had spotted a big mature buck on the southern boundary of the property a few days before the season opened while hunting pronghorn. Immediately when we arrived we drove to the southern boundary to see if the buck was still using the rocky draws to bed mid-day.  There was no sign of the buck and we spent the rest of the day setting up camp and getting ready for our evening hunt.  Our evening hunt found our group spread out across the ranch overlooking a large creek bottom.  It has becoming tradition for us to encounter bad weather on our western hunting trips.  This trip was no different.  The wind switched and the temperature plummeted.  Our evening hunt ended with a few deer spotted (no bucks) and us getting hit hard with the first Arctic clipper of the year.

The next day our group split up again and found success.  We were both able to harvest our first mule deer bucks.  What made this hunt a success was using our optics to scan the rugged draws and coulees.  Both of our bucks were bedded under sandstone rock outcroppings.  Drastically different hunting techniques from hunting whitetails in the Midwest.

The people that we have met on our trips to Wyoming have been amazing.  We have been fortunate to develop great relationship and lasting friendships.  Our 2015 hunt is a great example of that.  We stayed with some friends south of Casper, Wyoming and had great success hunting the neighboring mountain foothills.  We spent an entire day scouting and did not see any bucks.  Opening day yielded the same results, no bucks.  We were getting a little worried, but on the second day we saw three legal bucks feeding in a secluded meadow half-way up the rising foothills.  I was fortunate to harvest a nice 4x5 buck.  The following morning (last day of the hunt) in the same meadow Jason's .270 found its mark on a great 3x3.  His hunt lasted a whole 5 minutes.  

An out-of-state hunting trip is something I would highly recommend to anyone especially to the western states.  Answering the following questions can get you on the right track to the hunt of a lifetime!-KK

• What do you want to hunt?
• Where do you want to hunt? private land vs. public land, outfitter vs. DIY
• When do you want to hunt? Early October deer seasons can be difficult to find mature bucks as opposed to a November rut hunt.  On the flip side, November in the high country can (and will) pose weather issues
• How do you want want to hunt? gun, archery, muzzeloader?  

Here are the application deadlines for several Western states:

Application Deadline	Elk	Deer	Pronghorn	Sheep	Moose	Goat
Montana	3/15/17	3/15/17	6/1/17	5/1/17	5/1/17	5/1/17
Wyoming	1/31/17	5/31/17	5/31/17	2/28/17	2/28/17	2/28/17
Colorado	4/4/17	4/4/17	4/4/17	4/4/17	4/4/17	4/4/17
Utah	3/2/17	3/2/17	3/2/17	3/2/17	3/2/17	3/2/17
New Mexico	3/22/17	3/22/17	3/22/17	3/22/17	NA	3/22/17
Arizona	2/14/17	6/13/17	2/14/17	6/13/17	NA	NA
Nevada	4/17/17	4/17/17	4/17/17	4/17/17	NA	4/17/17
Idaho	6/5/17	6/5/17	6/5/17	4/30/17	4/30/17	4/30/17