New Mexico Muley Bound!

[birddogem301]

Good luck. What unit? I’ve hunted quite a few units in New Mexico.


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[Hooverfb]

Good luck!

[KactusKiller]

good luck post pics when you can, we are doing archery muley at elephant mountain so I've been soaking up as much info as possible.

[zhall]

Good Luck.

[Jspradley]

Been on deer every day so far, glassed up a nice (for unit 34) 4x4 muley this morning from across this basin, got a good stalk on him.

I developed a brilliant plan to drop to the other side of the ridge so I could stalk up on him with the sun directly at my back and better wind. I popped up on his side of the ridge thinking I was far enough to be behind him, looked to my left, didnt see him, looked to my right and he was staring dead at me at 90 yards away.

Fail.

I backed back into the trees hoping that maybe I could sneak behind him but, unknown to me he had walked back down the hill into the thick timber. My wife glassed me screwing it up across the basin.

I knew I shouldnt have let her use my Swaro 12s....

X Marks the spot

[Jspradley]

Looks like the Mayhill store took down all its racist BS...I guess the owner HAS to have something to be mad about though.

That reddit fiasco must have blown up on him.. I dont see racism in everything like SJWs but the crap on his store was BAD. Legit racist stuff all over the outside. I'm wondering if the city made him take it down... it was borderline segregation crap.

[jshouse]

Good luck

[TWarren]

Good luck on your hunt. I stopped by that Mayhill store a few years ago looking for a corkscrew and was appalled by the signage. Vowed I would never be a patron again.

[Patton]

Good luck! Sounds like a great time is about to be had

[Mexico]

Beautiful out there!

[Jspradley]

Round two on the 4x4 tomorrow AM! I have a better glassing spot that should put us in a better position to stalk

[birddogem301]

Good luck. I have a buddy hunting the same unit. Yesterday all he saw was 4 bull elk 6x6 Bulls!!!! That’s exactly what you see when you have a mule deer tag in your pocket during elk hunting season!!! Lol


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[Jspradley]

The 4x4 showed up again this morning with 4 other buddies. My wife spotted them our glassing point about 400 yards away (shes a better spotter than me!)

This time we were in a better spot and my plan worked almost perfectly, I was able to circle around from the other side with better wind and the sun directly at my back. When I came up to the top of the ridge I spotted the back of one of the deer from about 65 yards away. I took a little while to catch my breathe from the haul up the hill, stalked up to 45 yards, all the while they were completely unaware of my presence.

I moved up a bit more and one of the bucks realized something was up and looked in my direction but since the sun was directly behind me he couldnt pick me out.

I had to go back and forth around a small tree a few times to try to get a shot and at one point I realized my shadow had disappeared behind the shadow of a tree, I no longer had the sun directly behind my back!!

One of the bucks looked right at me but luckily still couldnt pick me out but they were getting a bit more nervous, I was able to scoot back into the sunlight and they went back to feeding after maybe 30 seconds.

I kept waiting for the biggest buck (I think he was the 4x4 we spotted yesterday) to present a shot, the other bucks kept blocking me shot, at one point he stepped between them and presented a broadside at 47 yards but I wasnt confident that I could safely take that shot with the other two bucks covering all of his body except for his vitals.

The second biggest buck then started to feed towards me, I ranged a tree between them and us, 31 yards, and waited for him to step in front of it.

I distinctly remember running through my shot process in my head (thanks Tom Clum! Even though I learned on a stickbow the fundamentals are exactly the same!) and breathing, settling my pin right on his vitals, tension to the rear, break the shot and it went RIGHT over his back!! SMACK! I heard the sickening sound of my arrow murdering the crap out of a rock. 560grains of missing and sadness...

The buck I shot at took off and the biggest one ran off up the hill about 60 yards away and did the muley lookback to figure out what the heck was going on.

It was at this moment I got REALLY lucky I didnt royally screw up.

I was torn between giving up and finding my arrow because I KNEW I had missed and shooting the big buck, I got dumb and started stalking towards the big buck with another arrow knocked, got to within 40 yards of him and he trotted off, saving both of us from a world of suck.

I went back down, dejected, to find my arrow and when I found it it was bright red... I had blown completely through the buck I shot, didnt hear anything when I shot him but my arrow smacking the rock behind him.

Little did I know my wife was watching the whole thing from 400 yards aaway and saw my deer peel off then do a u-turn and go back down hill and bed down and die.

She later said she was prepared to yell "STOP!!!" at me if I looked like I was about to draw.

Good lord that would have been a disaster if I had made that stupid mistake!!!!

Lesson learned on my first public land animal and first big game with a bow. Never shoot again without checking your arrow first! Learn from my near mistake folks!!!

[Jspradley]

Here's a few pics!

[birddogem301]

Congratulations bud!!! Heck yea!!


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