RD's Desert Mule Deer

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RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by Ranch Dog »

I'm back from my hunt south of Alpine at the Texas Parks & Wildlife Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area. The WMA is used for breeding Desert Bighorn for the State's restoration effort. I did a little research and it seems that program is real well in cooperation with private lands as about 10 Bighorns are being taken in Texas a year now. Each year one public permit is offered in a drawing at the Elephant Mountain WMA, a fully guided and provisioned hunt that is pitch until you win as long as you have the time. Each year a few mule deer permits are issued via a drawing for archery, rifle, and youth hunts. I was one of the four drawn for the rifle hunts.

First things first. I did not hunt with a Rossi. In the week & half prior I induced significant problems into a already bad shoulder that been operated on and given me problems for a decade and a half by being hard headed about wanting to hunt with my Rio Grande 45-70. With just days to go prior to the hunt I was trying to decide, through shooting, which rifle would offer the best downrange performance I would need for this hunt but the selection only added to the shoulder problems I was experiencing. Finally, I was down to my R92 in 357 Mag but it just isn't an open country rifle. I was really in a fix and late the afternoon before I was to leave, I picked up my Savage 10FCM Scout chambered in 308 Win and it was not near the recoil problem that the 357 Mag was plus it was already sighted in at 200 yards.

I've got to get to some appointments this morning so I will be brief, Wednesday morning, I made a 171 yard standing, offhand shot using the scout sling Savage supplies with the rifle, and dropped a mature desert mule deer with the 10FCM Scout. The rifle ended up being the very right choice as I don't know if I can shoot anything else I own quite as well other than the same rifle I own chambered in 7.62x39. I had considered that rifle as there is no recoil but even with my 165-grain bullet I'd rather not shoot it at a deer beyond 150-yards.

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I've got to get but will be back with all the details of the hunt as soon as I can.
Michael
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Re: RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

Nice deer. Sorry to hear about your shoulder - rotator cuff?

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Re: RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by Ken Yerian »

Great hunt! Sorry about your shoulder. It took a year for mine to get back to normal.
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Re: RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by Steelbanger »

Congratulations Michael,

That's a fine buck you killed. Sorry to read of your shoulder pain also. I suppose those shoulders just aren't designed to last forever. Mine have been bothering me for about 4-5 years and what I do is take 2 Aleve pills every day. They work a bit but the pain is always waiting for me to try reaching for something from a different angle. Recoil doesn't seem to bother it too much and I'm grateful for that.

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Re: RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by akuser47 »

Nice rifle, and nice deer looks like it all worked out in the end.
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Re: RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by NavyDoc76-80 »

akuser47 wrote:Nice rifle, and nice deer looks like it all worked out in the end.
I ditto AK! +1 +guns +1
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Re: RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by rman »

It looks like you made the right choice RD! That is a nice buck. I hope they get your shoulder fixed up soon.
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Re: RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by Ranch Dog »

The cuff on my shooting shoulder was a complete separation in 2001 and had a tear in the left shoulder 5 years later. The totaled side is the real problem as when coupled with my arthritis in that joint presents some additional issues. The trouble is that I will get a bit of microscopic cartilage buildup that develops from the arthritis and the recoil busts it up with debris entering the joint. That's kind of a nutshell but it hurts like hell. Prosthetic cuffs are now available and it seems that that might hold the joint a bit more secure so that the cartilage doesn't built up so bad and the debris doesn't enter it. Of course, this choice is very invasive. I've been trying to give it a few years or as long as possible because all this medical stuff gets better all the time.

I had shot the RG4570 about a 100 times over the course of the week prior so the pain it inflicted was on my part but I wanted to be confident with the rifle out to 250 yards. I was shooting my 300-grain bullet. When I realized I was in trouble, I switched to the R92 45 Colt and that was a mistake as it made matters worse with the poor stock design, true to the original but poor. That is really the rifle that busted me up good. From there I moved to my Marlin 336RC in 32 Win Spl but the ammo I had didn't shoot well. I had this gun sighted in 10 years ago but hadn't shot it in about 7 years after killing a large 8 pt with it. I tested the BHN on those bullets and they have gone from 21 to 14 over the years and at the pressure the cartridges are loaded to, that soft of bullet will not work. Next up was the Rio Grande in 38-55 Win but I needed to load more ammo for it, went to its bullet box and it was empty. On the story goes...

I sat back from my bench and looked at everything I own, The 10FCM & my Rossi Single Shot, both chambered in 308 Win, are the only rifles that I have not killed anything with so I felt the Savage was due and it has done it's work well on my steel gongs out to 300 yards. I looked back through my stuff this morning and I have not killed a deer with a bolt action rifle since 1978!

Okay... enough whining about the shoulder, on to the hunt...
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Re: RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by Ranch Dog »

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Still trying to get my head above water but thought I would post some more pictures. This was a pretty tough hunt, I think all four hunters would say this and all of us have experience hunting mule deer. The deer were not moving well, the staff felt it might be just a bit early on the rut phase, and the deer I shot was the only mature buck I saw. Only saw four does, two of which were yearlings. Saw a bunch of spikes and forkies that were very young. On the first afternoon, I saw a "classic" framed 4x4 about 900 yards away and took about 400 yards off the distance and decided he was only about 3 1/2 and I just wasn't interested. As fate would have it, I saw this deer the last morning in the same area but on my road in the dark. He was about 15 yards away. I rolled down my window and talked to him, he did not wander off. In about 3 years when he stops putting everything into skelton, he will make a dandy for some lucky hunter!

I had parked my truck on the perimeter road of my unit before daylight on my final morning and wanted to work back up the road still hunting the ravines that crossed the road and glassing the slopes. I worked my way up the road with the wind in my face and sun behind me for two miles until I got to a point that the FBI crossed in front of me going up to the top of the mountain to work on some of their monitoring stuff on the top. I hadn't seen anything so I started the 2 miles back. On the return, I saw only the 2 yearling does and a whitetail spike. I was a bit discouraged.

I decided to drive out the way I had been and go to the west side of my units. As I approached the point I turned around on my still hunt, I saw this deer moving down a gradual incline toward the perimeter fence. My truck was at a choke point on the road with heavy brush on both sides and the sun behind it so I got out and started to move slowly up the road. I honestly thought that I would not see the buck again as all it had to do was stop in the thicket but just as I thought that the buck came out on the road ahead of me and slid to a stop (literally). I think he saw my truck but not me as I was on the edge of the road in the shade. His nose was about six feet from the fence and had he crossed he would have been good for another day. Instead, he turned and started to run down the road away from me.

I had already slid my left arm through the Savage Scout's shooting sling and brought the rifle up. He was running straight away and I was bellering at him but my crosshairs were pretty solid on him. As he hit a raised rainfall diversion across the road, he twisted around to look at me and I lit it off. The "splat" of the bullet hitting him echoed down the valley, it was loud. I had shot about 200 rounds the week prior to this hunt and had instinctively taken all the slack out of the AccuTrigger and when I thought "go", it went". I love that trigger!

I also couldn't believe that I had shot at the buck standing, offhand, at what I figured was about 160-yards. At the shot the deer had just pranced over the diversion and went out of sight. I waited a few minutes and easied up the road to the point I could peep over the diversion and I saw some blood and a bit of lung in the road. I went back and sat at the truck for another 15 minutes and let myself relax. I used the rangefinder to measure from where I stood to where he was and it was 171-yards. Once better suited for another follow up shot, if needed, I worked up the road and immediately past the diversion could see that the rocks leaving the road where sprayed with blood. He laid in some rocks and yuccas about 15 yards away. It was quite a sense of accomplishment and relief that the hunt was completed. The 180-grain bullet hit the exact spot that I had aimed at, on the last rib and out the forward edge of the opposite arm pit. It had sliced the aorta off right across the top of the heart and taken out the bottom of both lungs.

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I had camped at the "primitive" site which is as it is described and is very remote from the headquarters and anything else. They do have awnings with picnic tables, a compost toilet, fire rings, and a tap with non-potable water. I placed my tent under the awning and a tarp over the table. Hey with almighty sky and horizon, I didn't find the need for that dark, nasty toilet either! When the lights go out in this country, they go out and it gets cold. The first night, the night before the hunt, it froze pretty hard. All my water was frozen. Wasn't as bad the following nights. It would be windy at times but not bad during the night. Coons and javelinas will mess with your sight at night.

Staff is very friendly and willing to help. There is a walk in cooler to store the deer but once you shoot, you are done. You cannot go back into your units, only the campsite.

Finally, to describe this deer as a 2X3 just doesn't do the old fellow the justice he deserves after living the tough life he surely led. Here is how he places with some of his compadres immediately across the WMA's eastern fence that I have been lucky enough to hunt a bit over the years.

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I was extremely lucky in that I saw five desert bighorns, four rams and a ewe. Not many Texas hunters get to make that claim. I also saw five mature cow elk and a flock of turkeys. The only thing I didn't see was a black bear but they are out there! I sure would like to own a slice of these mountains, anywhere in the Alpine area. What a slice of heaven for an outdoorsman!
Michael
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Re: RD's Desert Mule Deer

Post by Durf »

Ranchdog
Nice deer great shooting, sounds like a great hunt. It looks even better love the pics. By the way thanks for getting the mounts started and finished.
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