A Mountain, A Mule Deer, And Man Sized Meat - Long Winded and Pr0n Heavy

So a couple weeks ago myself and two buddies headed out to Wyoming for a mule deer hunt. Being from Eastern Kansas, we have tons of whitetail deer but you basically have to go to Colorado to find the mulies. The species are quite different in behavior too. Whitetails are more habitual and can be patterned. Mule deer tend to roam, cover great distances and disappear into their habitat like ghosts. On a previous hunt we made many fundamental mistakes and learned from them. This time we went with the idea to get up high and glass (watch with binoculars or scopes) the area below us.

And so it began this great adventure. My buddy Greg is great with researching hunts. We do pretty much everything on our own instead of hiring guides and outfitting services. This keeps costs down and while we may not get as many chances at huge trophies, anything we successfully harvest is a trophy because of the effort. Anyway, on Greg's advice we applied for a unit in Wyoming that was in the famed Carbon County. This area is widely known for having numerous deer and potentially some monster trophies too.

After communicating with local wildlife workers and biologists, we decided to hunt Battle Mountain. It didn't look that bad on the maps and satellite images so that is where we headed. It is about 20 or so miles east of Baggs, WY on the Colorado border.



After much debate and discussion we decided to go up the west side of the mountain. This was much steeper but the distance was shorter. Since there was some private land and other access issues, the only other real choice for us was a less steep 6 mile hike. We had driven all night to get there so we spend the morning finding the best spot for a base camp. Below is a image that shows some important sites and paths I will reference.



Once we were happy with our location we set up our monster tent and made camp. In the first pic you can see the "Lone Tree" on the slope of the mountain.






We were tired but headed into Baggs to get something to eat. The only restaurant was a Mexican place that also had burgers and stuff. That was fine by us.



Along the way there are plenty of pronghorn (antelope). They just line the roads taunting you.



As the sun set over the mountains to the west, notice how tall they seem. Soon we would be looking down on them.



The next morning we started up the hill on our first trip. The last time we tried a hunt like this we tried to take everything up at once in our frame packs. That was stupid. If it takes two people to help you get your pack on, it is too heavy :tsk:. So, the first trip we took water, dehydrated food and MRE's, and basic equipment like a small tent and gear. This was an exploratory trip so it took us almost 3 hours to make it to the top. We headed out, trying to make good time in the shadow of the mountain as the sun rose. It was actually hot up there getting into the upper 70's. I even got a sunburn.





Can you see our base camp?




Find it yet? Remember those mountains we were just looking up at?




Here, my buddy Troy will point it out for you.



Once up, we needed to find a place to camp. Luckily a bear did a great job of trashing a previous camp and that was a great spot for us. We took necessary precautions like keeping our food in a tree and setting up bear alarms. We figured we had enough firepower between 3 rifles and 2 handguns that we were more of a threat to ourselves than a bear was. We did verify that bears do in fact chit in the woods too...big bears...very recently :shock:








We hiked the mountain and found the markers for the peak.




We found a grouse creeping under a tree.




All set we headed back down the mountain. This was actually worse than coming up. It is brutal on your knees and I was struggling. I wasn't carrying anything and I was basically side stepping and taking baby steps to keep the pressure off my knees.

The next day my buddies headed back up. I stayed behind because my knees were killing me. About mid-day I headed up and took a different path, not my best decision :tsk:. It took me about 3 hours to make it up but I took my time as I was carrying more gear and my rifle. About halfway up is the Lone Tree where I took a good half hour break and just took in the beauty of what truly was the epitome of the term "God's Country"





***Time out

How many of you have I lost? I apologize for the length that this post is growing to.

***Time in

I finally made it to the top. It was the single most difficult thing I think I have ever done. I literally had to will my self to take 3 steps at a time just to make it. Once there, though, it felt great.

We spent 4 and a half days on top. We had a limited supply of water and could not find any natural sources for us to filter water from. We did have some little thunderstorms roll through so we set out a tarp to collect water. Unfortunately the storms did not product very much precipitation. Finally on the last day, when we were down to only two bottles of water left, we got enough rain to fill up a few bottles for the hike down. One storm even started a grass fire way off in Colorado.






We hunted every day, spending the mornings and evenings sitting on cliffs glassing for deer.





A couple does. The blend in so easily it is really tough sometimes to find them.



Finally, on the night before we planned to go down the mountain, I had a shot at a decent little buck. It was no monster but like I said originally, the trophy in this hunt was in the effort. I steadied for a 280yd shot and sent it. The deer was standing in the clump of trees in the center of the picture. After I shot, it fell behind a tree and I actually had to go a ways around the mountain until I could spot it and confirm it was indeed down. As you can see in the drawing at the top, the trek from the cliff to the deer was not easy at all so knowing the deer was indeed down, I headed back to camp.




The next morning we broke camp and loaded our frame packs. My buddy Troy already had a deer so he headed down to base camp with his extremely heavy load. My other buddy Greg and I made our way down to my deer. Part way down we dropped our frame packs and cut over to the deer with just a smaller backpack. This "little jaunt" actually took well over an hour as it is not as simple as the images and view from above seemed. Finally there I claimed my prize of a little 4 by 3 mulie. Granted, I say little but it was the biggest on the trip :becky:. Although the rack was small, the animal was still very good size. You can also see in one photo how high up were still actually were.




We boned it out and packed the meat into pillow cases and loaded up my little backpack. Since this was my first mule deer I kept the head for mounting. That little backpack was jammed full and extremely heavy. We took everything we could. Unfortunately the angle of the shot and the bullet particles tore up some of the meat. Shooting a little .243 WSSM packs quite a punch and at 3200ft/second it gets there quick. One pic is looking back up at the cliff I shot from.





Part way back I lost my footing as we were cutting across a 45 degree incline and I slid until I literally got hung up in a tree. Greg thought it was funny enough to stop and take a photo before helping me. Looking back, it was quite funny, once the pain subsided.



Once upright, we made our way back to our frame packs. The meat pack was too heavy and uncomfortable to carry all the way down. So, I had to drop it and head down with my frame pack full of gear. Once to the bottom I took the bag off the frame and headed back up for the meat. Remember how my knees had issues before? Yeah, it sucked but it was one of those power through moments where I had no choice and it was my burden get my "trophy" down.

***Time out...again

Anyone still here? Am I actually going to cook something? Fine

***Time In

***Continued***

Most of the meat was washed and frozen to be ground later. Some will be kept as just ground and we plan to make some sausage. However, the prize cuts are the backstraps (loins) and the tenderloins. These were saved separately to grill. I originally kept out a tenderloin (what was we could salvage of it) for the tenderloin TD. However, after seeing some of the great entries and knowing that this probably wasn't going to be pretty, I held off. Then the Man Sized Meat TD was announced and this fit perfectly. After reading everything above, is there anything more manly?

I seasoned the meat up with some steak dust and some Rub Co Santa Maria rub. I let it sit overnight in the fridge. The meat was still quite bloody since we couldn't bleed the deer. In hind sight I probably should have tried to soak some out.




I decided this would be a good time to break in my recently purchased SJG so I grilled it up with some eggplant slices :becky: I was concerned it would be a little lean as it didn't have much fat in it so I wrapped it in bacon for the first part of the cook.





Even thought it looks under-cooked, I cooked the tenderloin up to 135* and let it rest for a bit. As you can see it was still quite bloody but I was surprised that it did not affect the taste at all. It was quite good and I did enjoy the eggplant as well (thanks Gore :thumb.




Really the only issue I had was a few times I found some bone fragments. Yes Guerry, it was blown to chit.



To satisfy Redhot's TD requirements, even though the meat was sliced for eating, it was a man sized meal. To avoid any dilly bar issues, here is the meat and only the meat sliced up for eating followed by the almost empty plate. Yeah, it's bloody but what says manly more than a bloody plate of meat freshly harvested from an animal off the side of a mountain? I challenge anyone to produce a more manly plate of meat.




Thank you for looking and coming along on my adventure with me. It was an amazing time and I am definitely hooked on hunting for mule deer. Maybe some day I can meet up with some brethren and share the experience on another hunt. We are going to Alaska next year but are definitely considering Wyoming for 2013. Plus, we learned our lesson and will find someone with horses or pack mules to pack in our gear and supplies.


Wow, that was long. I need a beer now. BTW, plenty more pics here :http://photobucket.com/wymuledeer2011

Smoothsmoke said:

Does it taste like beef? Also, is it true that you have to spray yourself with female deer urine to attract deer?

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Actually, the tenderloin tasted like beef or even almost like pork. Since I put a good layer of rub on it that flavoring was very prominent. I can say that the typical gamey taste was not there. Now, these deer were not in rut (mating season) yet which is often blamed for some off tastes as the hormone levels change during the breeding season.

For mule deer, we are essentially doing what is called spot and stalk. We keep the wind in consideration but with a rifle you can lessen the effect of human odor on the hunt. When bow hunting you do need to be much more careful about your scent. Many people do use cover scents to help hide their odor. This is especially true when whitetail hunting from a tree stand. Since you cannot control the direction the deer might approach from, you need to be invisible to their noses. Female urine and more specifically urine from does that are in heat are used as an attractant. Much like dogs, deer use scent to know when the females are ready to be bred.

Edit: I should add that the meat we will grind will definitely have more of a gamey taste. It is also very lean. However, when mixed with ground pork butt for sausage or left plain and added to chili, you would probably never know you were eating venison unless someone told you.

Smoothsmoke said:

Thanks for the info. I'd love to try hunting, it's on my bucket list for sure. Hopefully I can get some deer meat at a local market. If I like it, I'm definitely going to try and hunt.

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A trip like we took was definitely about the hunt but that was not the end all be all. To be honest, that last several years we have been unsuccessful on our hunts (mostly because we were bow hunting) but the trip, the stories, the camaraderie and the sense of accomplishment are what truly make it enjoyable. After three days on the mountain we had not gotten anything and were running low on water. Facing the inevitable trip down none of us were upset that we had not harvested an animal yet. I got to sit on a cliff every day and watch the day start and end. If you look at some of the other photos on the album you can see some of the amazing views that I was blessed with the opportunity of enjoying. The harvest of the animal is just a bonus.

TIMMAY said:

That was a great story, and a great hunt! One of these days I will get out to the midwest or the rockies to get a muley or elk. I really dont care if its only a cow tag, I wanna get an elk.

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There were plenty around. We had them bugling all night around us. It actually became quite annoying. My buddy saw a monster 6 by 6 80 yards from him. Sadly, they weren't in season and we didn't have a tag.

jemezspring said:

Man am I jealous. You never miss your water until your well runs dry.

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How very true. I believe we hiked up some 28 bottles of water plus the water in the bladders in our packs that was left after the hike. We did good on conserving it as best we could but with the heat, it was difficult. I was never more thirsty than when I new we were almost out and I needed to really conserve.