New Mexico mule deer success!

[ddavis1120]

Beautiful buck! I assume you didn't have to borrow a knife to clean him.

 

[RipperIII]

Outstanding, congrats!

 

[Nicodemus]

Proud for you, Hank. Fine buck!

 

[fishfryer]

Nice!

 

[godogs57]

Beautiful buck! I assume you didn't have to borrow a knife to clean him.

Double H Knives answers the call.

 

[snuffy]

GREAT buck!!
Congratulations

 

[godogs57]

GREAT buck!!
Congratulations

Thanks so much.

 

[snuffy]

Knife ain't bad either

 

[CaptKeith]

Beautiful buck!

 

[Hawken2222]

Great Buck Congrats!

 

[johnpoulan83]

Got this sweet 5x5 yesterday late in the afternoon in Northeastern NM. He’s my best one yet. He had three little sticker points on his rear times that were a little short so I suppose I could call him a 6x7 if I really wanted to but I’ll leave it at 5x5. Hunted from daylight till almost dark when I ran up on him making his way out of some recently thinned timber.

The does were just starting to think about possibly beginning to smell right and he was the first buck I had seen in the company of a doe…..pre-rut apparently a ways off. Nice deep forks, little sticker thing going on….I thought he was a beautiful buck and am tickled to death.

Details for those interested: 200 yard shot broadside. My 1960’s Sako I built the stock for. 30/06 loaded with Nosler 165 gr Ballistic Tips, 58.5 grains of IMR-4350.

Thanks for looking! (Please ignore the ugly old geezer in the second pic. I can’t help the way I look)View attachment 1188235

View attachment 1188236

I’ve got those same Swarovski binoculars, I have the ones with the built in rangefinder and tracker on it, Does yours have that and if so do you use it, I haven’t figured out how to yet on mine but the built in range finder is awesome

 

[Philnlucky]

Wow, great mule deer buck Hank! Congratulations!

 

[sea trout]

That's awesome man!!!
Mule deer is on my list for near future!!

 

[kmaxwell3]

Nice. Those taste like Whitetail?

 

[EDH]

Congrats on an awesome buck. That would be a hunt of a lifetime for me.

 

[bfriendly]

I just turned 65. Not planning on hanging it up till two or three days after my funeral. It’s getting tougher though, with the hills getting steeper for some reason.

Woohoo! Way to get it done godogs! Don’t stop! Don’t stop til after you drop!

 

[Waddams]

That's awesome!

If you don't mind me asking - how'd you plan your trip out there? A western hunting trip is a bucket list thing for me, I look at the range of options from do it yourself to guided, places to go, the way the out of state licensing works, costs, and it all just turns into a big confusing mess in my mind. I figured I'd ask someone that's done it before, usually the voice of experience tends to make confusing things clear.

I likely won't be doing it next year - wife just dumped about $25k into house improvements (more I should say, she doesn't shop and spend on frivolous stuff, she just spends $15-25k a pop on more house upgrades every time we get the last project paid off). I'd just like to start planning for maybe a 2-3 year out time frame.

Awesome buck again - congratz!

 

[godogs57]

Nice. Those taste like Whitetail?

The pre-rut bucks I’ve killed (they rut in December) have been more tender than any doe we have here.

 

[godogs57]

That's awesome!

If you don't mind me asking - how'd you plan your trip out there? A western hunting trip is a bucket list thing for me, I look at the range of options from do it yourself to guided, places to go, the way the out of state licensing works, costs, and it all just turns into a big confusing mess in my mind. I figured I'd ask someone that's done it before, usually the voice of experience tends to make confusing things clear.

I likely won't be doing it next year - wife just dumped about $25k into house improvements (more I should say, she doesn't shop and spend on frivolous stuff, she just spends $15-25k a pop on more house upgrades every time we get the last project paid off). I'd just like to start planning for maybe a 2-3 year out time frame.

Awesome buck again - congratz!

A bucket list trip for you. This assumes you haven’t been before. In that case I’d go with a guided hunt. A western hunt is very different than what we’re used to here in the SE. Weather, distances, lack of humidity, on and on….it’s just different. Not impossible….no….just different in many ways. Go with a guided hunt.

Standard procedure that we’ve all heard before: research your outfitters. Deer/elk/etc will vary in quantity and quality from ranch to ranch. Call em or visit their website for more info. Understand their hero shots on the website will normally be the largest heads taken, not the average! You see a website’s pics of nothing but 340”-370” bulls don’t take it that you’ll be run over with bulls that size. Mule deer…same way. Ask what is the average size taken IF size matters. Many just want a “good experience “ and that’s a good thing.

Most operations out west will charge according to the size of animal taken and the accommodations. And it will, of course, vary from ranch to ranch.

Save your pennies and do your research. Hit me up if I can help.

 

[godogs57]

I’ve got those same Swarovski binoculars, I have the ones with the built in rangefinder and tracker on it, Does yours have that and if so do you use it, I haven’t figured out how to yet on mine but the built in range finder is awesome

No, just a straight binocular with no gizmos.