Intro
The dream started 14 years ago when I was 28 years old. I had just finished with my first out of state hunt (see here) for black bear and mule deer was high on my list. That was several incredible hunts ago but long story short, I became married with children and my priorities and risk acceptance changed quite a bit. Fast forward to 2022 and my 3rd kid was born in August just before applying for my 2022 TPWD draw hunts. Like it has been for the last 14 years, mule deer was part of that application process. Little did I know at that time, 4 months later, I would be walking the hills of a remote WMA with my eyes set on a nice representative mule deer. I am not going to type the name of the WMA in any of my posts to hopefully keep down the random out-of-state googlers, and I would appreciate the same from other posters. It will be obvious in the pictures.
I pulled out of Fort Worth on the day after Christmas to head to as far west as I’ve travelled in Texas since I was a child. Spent the night in Fort Stockton and had a great dinner at K-Bobs near the Walmart, which I used to purchase last minute items.
Next morning I got up and drove to the WMA just soaking up the land of Cowboys and Indians. The area looks just like something out of a great western with eroded mountains, mesas and cactus. About 10 minutes before pulling into the WMA I encountered my first mule deer, a doe that love tapped the bumper of my old 2006 z71 GMC Sierra that refuses to die. With my heart rate at extremes, I pulled into the headquarters for the 10am checkin.
Travis and Kevin are the TPWD guys running the WMA and they were great. They are really vested in the hunt and try to set everyone up for success.
When it was time to pick my unit, Travis gave me two options. The first unit was fairly open with mountains on the east and the second unit had a lot more terrain. I chose the first unit because it offered the chance of Elk and Travis had a huge buck on camera there.
Day 1
I started off by driving the entire unit and just decided it wasn’t what I wanted.
I then called the headquarters and asked to check out the other unit and since no others hunters were there, they let me take a look. I drove the roads and decided it was what I wanted and make the move. The camping spot was where I wanted to hunt, so I also decided to camp near the HQ. I joked with Travis that since it was the rut, that huge buck could for sure cover the 2 miles between units.
That afternoon I scouted and setup in the north part of the unit and watched a saddle and basin that wasn’t accessible from the road. The hike up was extremely rocky and I ended up sitting in a rock pile for the hunt. I spotted 4 groups of Javalina but didn’t see a single mule deer. Before it got too late, I hiked back down and regretting not bringing the hiking stick left in the tent.
That night I ate some leftover pot roast by a small fire before heading to bed.
Day 2
I woke up early and drove to an access road parking at the base of the hills. I hiked .75 miles up into the hills to a location I picked the day before and waited for the sun to rise. I sat there until 11 just spotting 2 javelina.
When it was about time for lunch, I spotted two small Big Horn sheep feeding on the mountainside. While it wasn’t what I was after, it did give me some confidence that my glassing wasn’t the reason for seeing no mule deer.
Can you spot the little big horn?
Around noon I hiked into another area that looked promising for the next morning (the sun plays a huge role here) and hiked back to the truck for lunch and relocation.
<to be continued tomorrow>
The dream started 14 years ago when I was 28 years old. I had just finished with my first out of state hunt (see here) for black bear and mule deer was high on my list. That was several incredible hunts ago but long story short, I became married with children and my priorities and risk acceptance changed quite a bit. Fast forward to 2022 and my 3rd kid was born in August just before applying for my 2022 TPWD draw hunts. Like it has been for the last 14 years, mule deer was part of that application process. Little did I know at that time, 4 months later, I would be walking the hills of a remote WMA with my eyes set on a nice representative mule deer. I am not going to type the name of the WMA in any of my posts to hopefully keep down the random out-of-state googlers, and I would appreciate the same from other posters. It will be obvious in the pictures.
I pulled out of Fort Worth on the day after Christmas to head to as far west as I’ve travelled in Texas since I was a child. Spent the night in Fort Stockton and had a great dinner at K-Bobs near the Walmart, which I used to purchase last minute items.
Next morning I got up and drove to the WMA just soaking up the land of Cowboys and Indians. The area looks just like something out of a great western with eroded mountains, mesas and cactus. About 10 minutes before pulling into the WMA I encountered my first mule deer, a doe that love tapped the bumper of my old 2006 z71 GMC Sierra that refuses to die. With my heart rate at extremes, I pulled into the headquarters for the 10am checkin.
Travis and Kevin are the TPWD guys running the WMA and they were great. They are really vested in the hunt and try to set everyone up for success.
When it was time to pick my unit, Travis gave me two options. The first unit was fairly open with mountains on the east and the second unit had a lot more terrain. I chose the first unit because it offered the chance of Elk and Travis had a huge buck on camera there.
Day 1
I started off by driving the entire unit and just decided it wasn’t what I wanted.
I then called the headquarters and asked to check out the other unit and since no others hunters were there, they let me take a look. I drove the roads and decided it was what I wanted and make the move. The camping spot was where I wanted to hunt, so I also decided to camp near the HQ. I joked with Travis that since it was the rut, that huge buck could for sure cover the 2 miles between units.
That afternoon I scouted and setup in the north part of the unit and watched a saddle and basin that wasn’t accessible from the road. The hike up was extremely rocky and I ended up sitting in a rock pile for the hunt. I spotted 4 groups of Javalina but didn’t see a single mule deer. Before it got too late, I hiked back down and regretting not bringing the hiking stick left in the tent.
That night I ate some leftover pot roast by a small fire before heading to bed.
Day 2
I woke up early and drove to an access road parking at the base of the hills. I hiked .75 miles up into the hills to a location I picked the day before and waited for the sun to rise. I sat there until 11 just spotting 2 javelina.
When it was about time for lunch, I spotted two small Big Horn sheep feeding on the mountainside. While it wasn’t what I was after, it did give me some confidence that my glassing wasn’t the reason for seeing no mule deer.
Can you spot the little big horn?
Around noon I hiked into another area that looked promising for the next morning (the sun plays a huge role here) and hiked back to the truck for lunch and relocation.
<to be continued tomorrow>
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