By: Bill Bowling

Ever have a "gotta have a new gun" attack? Well I had one as I shopped for last minute items at Mark's on the Monday before our annual Wyoming mule deer hunt the following weekend. I asked Mark if he could have me a new 300 Weatherby (left handed) with a muzzle brake sighted-in by Friday. Of course he said, "yes", so the saga began.

He called Weatherby and they said "sure... in 6 weeks!". After trying numerous dealers he had a rifle overnighted the next day. When it arrived, Mark told Russ to install a muzzle brake on it. Russ said sure... in 2 weeks! After explaining the program to Russ the new rifle was sighted-in and ready to go by Friday afternoon. Little did I know what lay in store?

With some apprehension and a lot of anticipation, we arrived at the airport at 4:30 am to catch our plane to Gillette, Wyoming. Finally we were on our way after waiting a whole year. Some members of our group have been going to this private ranch since 1975, so we look forward to seeing old friends in addition to hunting big mule deer. The wife's parents homesteaded the ranch in the late 1800's and now they own about 60,000 acres so there is plenty of room to hunt.
After sighting-in our rifles the first afternoon, we were ready to go! We battled high winds and rain and the hunting was tough.

On day 2, the high winds continued during the morning and although several nice 4x4's were spotted, the hunters passed waiting on a better mule deer. The afternoon of the second day proved to be the start of a great hunt. Glassing from a mountaintop a good 9 point was spotted at 250 yards. We could only see one side of the deer's rack but it looked good and heavy. Two hunters passed on the deer and I decided to take him. The mule deer weighted 250 pounds and carried a heavy set of horns with a 26-1/2 inch inside spread. As it turns out, this was the biggest deer we took on the trip and the two hunters who passed were not very happy! Also taken the second day was a trophy antelope. We spotted the antelope herd at about 500 yards as we eased over a ridge and belly crawled to with-in 209 yards. The dominant buck fell to a single shot and sported a 15-1/2 inch silver tip rack.

When we went to bed that night, it was snowing hard and the ground was white. We were excited about hunting in the snow and felt I would help us spot deer. Well... were were surprised when we woke up at 5 o'clock and not a flake of snow anywhere. However this proved to be our most successful day. Around mid-morning a nice 10-point was spotted 200 yards away. The hunter moved into position and harvested the mule deer with a 26 inch spread. That same morning, while traveling along a mountaintop, a nice 8-point was spotted on the side of the mountain. The hunter took the 8-point with a 23 inch spread.

The guide had spotted a super heavy 4x4 in a draw the week before, so we headed out to see if we could tag the trophy. As we rounded a curve along a ridge top we spotted the mule deer at about 1,000 yards going into a draw. We had to back-out and travel around to the next ridge, which took about 30 minutes. As we moved into position to check the draw, we spotted the deer standing at 210 yards. After what seemed like an eternity trying to get the cross hairs steady, the deer fell to a 270 Weatherby magnum. Trouble is.. He fell into a 10 foot deep cut in the side of the mountain. After having to take down one of the ranch's fences to reach him, we were able to get within 50 feet of the hole where he lay. One of the guides climbed down in the hole to tie a rope to him and the rest of us hoisted him out of the hole. Have you ever pulled a 250-pound deer out of a 10-foot deep hole? It is hard and he is heavy! After repairing the fence we went back to the camp for lunch.

On day 4 we battled wind and rain, which made hunting tough. The hunters moved to an area where they had spotted a nice 9-point the day before. While moving out a ridge, the mule deer was spotted feeding on a mountainside. The hunter took the nice 10-point with a 20 inch spread, which ended a great week in beautiful Wyoming.

Now all we have to do is wait for next October to do it all again!