My husband, Bob and I left for Wyoming on Nov. 10th for our deer hunt, which opened on Nov. 12th and went through the 16th. After drawing deer tags, we booked a hunt with a Wyoming outfitter to hunt outside Hulett, WY on a private ranch. The drive was nice with the first night staying in Cheyenne, WY and then on to Hulett the next morning. On our drive to Hulett we saw hundreds and hundreds of antelope and lots of eastern whitetails. We arrived Tuesday afternoon at the lodge, met our guide, John and his wife Jan who was the cook. As it turned out, we were the only hunters on the ranch for that 5-day hunt and we had 6000 acres to ourselves. What a nice surprise! My husband was interested in getting an eastern whitetail and I wanted a mule deer.
The first morning we drove the roads of the ranch with John so he could show us the property boundaries. After lunch we went out hunting the ranch on our own. We saw lots of deer, anywhere from 50-80 per day. The whitetails were closer to the ranch in the higher elevations with the mulies in the lower meadows and draws.
The second morning from the ranch porch Bob spotted a whitetail coming down into the fields. He was a nice 3X3 and took him with his 25.06. He was my husband's first eastern whitetail and my first look at one up close. They are a lot bigger than our Coues whitetail deer, which we have in AZ.
Now we focused on a finding a mule deer for me. We saw lots of deer and I passed on small 2 and 3 points and even a small 4X4.
I had three days left and I was looking for something bigger than I had taken in the past. We kept seeing deer and smaller type bucks everyday. The afternoon of the fourth day we spooked a nice 4X4 with a doe, but I could not get a shot before he was gone. By the morning of the fifth and last day, I was getting anxious.
We headed off to some of the spots we had previously seen bucks. There in an open field was a better 4X4 with eight does. We crawled on the frozen ground to get as close as we could and I shot and missed. The buck was further than we thought. He moved even further away and headed for a draw. We tried to find him but he was nowhere to be found. I was wondering by then if that was going to be it for the rest of the day. I was hoping not, but the thought did cross my mind. The bucks were starting to rut and about 1:30 PM is when we were finding them out again, so at 1:30 we headed out to a different location. There in another open meadow were 10 does and all of a sudden a 4X4 came out from the trees heading for the does. A 2X2 also arrived on the scene. I decided I would try for the 4X4 and we started the stalk. The ground had rolling moguls and we had to drop down to the same level as the deer. When we finally got to the edge of the meadow at the tree line, no bucks. Where did they go? We glassed for thirty minutes and could not find them. By then it was 2:30 and by 4:40 PM we would be out of shooting light. I really was getting a little anxious now. We continued to follow the tree line at the edge of the meadow and I was hoping that I would see something else, and I did. There he was! A nice 4X4 with a 27-28 inch spread with about 12 does. He was chasing them and carrying on like bucks do in the rut.
The only way to get close to him would be to venture into the meadow. The wind was in our favor and there was a low spot that we could use to get into the meadow. We got within 200 yards and I set up. The grass was so high that I used my husband's back for a rest. I must have had that buck in my scope a dozen times, but never a clear shot. He was so busy chasing the girls and running off a smaller buck that I just could not get a clean shot. After a few minutes of that he moved completely out of sight.
By now the sun was getting low and it was about 3:45 PM. We decided to crawl the rest of the way across the meadow to the other side and see if I could get a better shot. It was a good move, because he was there with a 3X3 now. All of a sudden a doe spotted us and we did not dare to move. I could hear the bucks fighting and grunting. The doe was still locked on us. All of a sudden here came two bucks, one being chased by another. I could see one of the deer and four points, and a tree blocked the rest. This got that does mind off of us and I set up again using my husband's back as a rest. All I could see under the tree was legs walking in my direction and I told myself that if it were a buck, I was going to take him.
It was definitely a buck and behind him came a doe. She walked slowly by him, he stood still and I shot. At that moment, I saw him jump up and run, but not far. I got up, rolled under the fence, and ran out into the meadow and there he was. He was a 4X3 and a buck I had never seen before. My husband looked at me and said, "Where did he come from?" I shot him at 4:10 PM on the last day of my hunt. I was extremely happy that I had made a good shot since that would have been my last shot for my hunt. Everything worked out and we had a fabulous hunt, even if it was a bit nerve racking those last few hours.
