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My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:06 am
by jayb22
A couple of nights ago I went in after 3 bucks feeding in some green feed in my girlfriends family fields and got very close but wasn't able to seal the deal. I had the smaller buck of the 3 come in head on to me at 30 yards after a hour stalk and walked right at me, turned and walked right away and never presented a good enough shot. After that I tried going into the green feed and ended up bumping the bigger bucks at 20 yards but wasn't ever able to see their bodies so I could never get a clean shot off. These were the 3 bucks, and the second picture is the one that walked right at me without presenting a shot. I was about 50-60 yards in front of my gf who was taking the pictures.

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The deer I had the encounter with.
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Fast forward to tonight. My girlfriend called me at work saying that the deer had come back. I couldn't focus on work so I just left early and headed out there. Being that it was 30C today (90 ish F) I helped with some chores around there place as I wasn't in a big hurry to get out and sit in the heat. After a while we decided to go up and see if we can spot them. When we went up I noticed that they were moving across the green feed towards the fence line that I had my encounter the other night. So I rushed down and got into my gear, took a couple practice shots and made my way to the top. I basically crawled on my hands and knees on the North boundary of their crop until I got to within 40 yards of where I figured the last buck I saw bedded down. I was sitting right on the edge of the crop so that I could lean back a little off of the edge and hide a little. With how tall the crop was it was impossible for me to know exactly where they were bedding but I got to within 50 yards of where I figured they were sleeping. I didn't want a repeat of the last time I was there where I bumped them right infront of me and wasn't able to get a shot. So I sat there and ranged every fence post I could see and waited them out. About 45 minutes later I saw one of the bigger bucks get up right by the fence and start feeding. He was about 45 yards away and I saw a chance to move a bit closer so I slowly worked my way down the edge. I got to about 35 yards from where he was but he made his way deeper into the crop instead of stepping out on the boarder where I was waiting. As he walked in the smaller buck that I had the encounter with the night before was making his way out of the crop right towards me. He ended up poking his head out of the crop and looked down the fence about 25 yards away. He spotted me but I was able to hide behind the edge of the crop and wait him out. He figured I wasn't a threat and put his head down and started feeding. That's when I drew back and waited for him to step out. As soon as his front shoulder cleared the edge of the crop I settled my pin and took the shot. I watched the arrow go just on the edge of the crop and hit him right where I was aiming. He ran off about 60-70 yards than hunched up a little. This baffled me as I figured my shot was perfect. He stood there for almost 5 minutes before bedding. Feeling that I made the right shot I went and looked for my arrow. I found it about 10 yards passed where the deer was standing buried in the ground/grass. I looked it over and the white fletching had a yellowish tinge to it and there seemed to be some guts on the arrow. This made me really start to rethink my shot placement. I could see where he bedded and could see his head still up. I decided to back out and get a truck to drive up to the fence line that he was bedded beside so that I could keep a eye on him. About 15 minutes later I was back there taking a look and couldn't see his antlers standing up at all. I waited another 10 minutes than slowly made my way back.

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I thought the shot over and over and figured that he must have been quartering towards me and I didn't know it from the tall crop covering his body. When I walked up to the deer he was down for good. I immediately saw the exit wound and it confirmed my first thought about hitting the guts. I rolled him over and that confirmed my second thought that he was quartering towards me and I didn't originally notice it. My entrance was maybe a couple inches back of where I had wanted it but still would have been a perfect shot on a broadside deer. I gutted him and saw that I hit one lung, the liver and the guts. That Viper Trick combo with the GrizzTrick2 blades really made a imperssive hole in him and put him down quick for not having the most ideal shot. Not only did they do some damage they hit ribs on both sides and the broadhead is still sharp and shows no wear on any of the blades. I'll be replacing them to use on my next hunt as I'm very anal for that but wouldn't hesitate to use these on a coyote or something. I told myself at the start of the year that if I got a shot at a respectable deer in velvet that I would take it. He is going to be a 145-150" deer so he is everything I was looking for. I really had my heart set on a deer in full velvet and couldn't be happier. Enjoy the pics!

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I would like to give a big thanks to my girlfriend for all of her help with this deer. She helped me locate them the first night and got me some great pictures to add to the memory than helped me get in on them them tonight. Also a big thanks to her dad for helping my bring the deer out of the field with their skid steer. I also had two good buddies come out and we processed the deer and got it all quartered up and in the freezer to preserve the meat after the high temps that we had today. I couldn't have done with without every ones help!

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Re: My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 4:17 pm
by mastergreenhead
Congrats Jay!
Great story, pic's, and yummy for the tummy!!

Re: My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 12:38 am
by muleydown
That's awesome! Looks like you had a great hunt, 10x better than my deer!

Re: My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 12:11 pm
by killerbee
That's a dandy buck. Great job! And that's about as good of a pack out as you can ask for.lol

Re: My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 6:52 pm
by Curtisshootsdeer
Nice

Re: My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:33 pm
by Mularcher
nice job

Re: My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:10 am
by Bowtech43
Wow, that's a great setup you have there. Hold on to that girlfriend! Great story and great buck. Thanks for sharing. :thumb

Re: My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 8:33 pm
by BOHNTR
Congratulations on a fine buck! That's an awesome way to "pack them out"! :)

Re: My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:43 pm
by jayb22
Thanks everyone. Still thrilled about him.

Just got back from a 10 day elk hunt but wasn't successful. I was hoping to start this year off with a big bang. But still living high off of this guy. I measured him at 165 4/8. Seems. Little too high to me. Im going to have my taxidermist measure him for me. Either way he's getting mounted bedside my last muley buck on a pedistal. Can't wait for that.

Re: My 2013 Velvet Muley

Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:11 pm
by cordini
This is like a deja 'vu......Nice buck Jay! :thumb