Wyoming!

 The big planned trip for this year was to go out west and mule deer hunt in Wyoming. I went with Tom, Louie, and Chris. We stayed at Tom's friend Mike's house in Gilette. We rifle hunted public land. The conditions were very dry and from what Mike told us, the deer sightings were minimal. Tom was able to shoot a nice buck, with the help of a well-placed follow up shot from Louie, while hiking deep into a large piece of BLM land. I heard the shots tearing across the drainage from where I was. I watched two does take off from the shots. The pack out with the quartered buck was quite the workout in 80 degree dry heat. It was an amazing experience just being out there even if the conditions were sub-prime.  

    On the last day to hunt I took Luna out for a bird hunting excursion and on the way home I stopped at a spot I had taken notice of with the help of Onx. It was a small piece of BLM, but there was a drainage area I thought might hold deer, so I grabbed my rifle and left the bird gun in the truck. I didn't have to walk far, and I saw a doe jump out from the drainage. I got my rifle ready on my sticks and watched a group of does take off down the drainage. I studied each deer as they ran off for antlers and to my surprise, I noticed one deer had horns. Without thinking too much about it I pulled the trigger and dropped a small spike in his tracks. Not the biggest mule deer, but way better than eating a $600 tag. The saying, "every deer is a trophy" doesn't always ring true, but it did in this case.  The spike had a little velvet on the tips of his horns, known as a "cactus buck."