As with every mule deer hunter, my deer hunt started while waiting for the results of the 2007 Wyoming hunting season. I’m a deputy sheriff so I had to work nights the day before we would get our results. My wife woke me the next morning telling me that we hadn’t drawn our elk tags, but that we did draw our late season deer tags! This was to be my wife’s first mule deer hunt as a hunter which, in itself, added just that much more enjoyment to the season. I have to apply for late season tags as I’m a guide for Tally Ho Outfitters out of Kaycee Wyoming and my early mule deer season is occupied helping other find their big bucks.

I told everyone that my wife would get to shoot first as she was going to have to get back home to take care of our three girls. My friends teased me by asking that if it was a big buck, would she still get to shoot first. But I stuck to my guns and told them all yes as I had the whole season to hunt after trophy mule deer.

After finishing up my mule deer guiding on October 31st, my wife and I headed to the western part of the state for opening day. The next morning found us glassing numerous mule deer, but we were only able to locate one shooter big buck––about a 180 class mule deer. Unfortunately, we were unable to get on him and the day ended with high hopes for what tomorrow would bring.

The next day my brother James joined us and as we were heading back to where we saw the big buck the day before, we pulled off on a dirt road to glass some ridges. As we pulled off, we noticed a game warden had gotten stuck and we helped him out of his predicament. We spent the time picking the warden’s mind on where to find the monster bucks and then continued on our way.

As we were nearing our destination we saw a bunch of mule deer on a ridge. We noticed right away that one buck was extremely big. However, the buck was a well over four hundred yards and there was no way to get any closer. Since the shot was going to be so far my wife told me to go ahead and take the shot. I didn’t argue with her and I soon found myself settling in on a dead rest. At the shot, my brother yelled, “You got him!” I looked up and saw the buck running over the ridge and out of sight. 

We gathered up our stuff and headed up the ridge to where the monster buck went over. Almost instantly, we found the big buck expired. As I walked up to him he kept getting bigger and bigger. This was a trophy mule deer that we all dream about having a chance to see, let alone harvest! I later learned that this big buck had left Yellowstone National Park a few days prior and that an outfitter attempted for two days to get his hunters on him, but couldn’t get it done. My wife also was able to shoot a pretty big buck, a nice four-point mule deer a few days later with all three of our girls accompanying us on that deer hunt.

I would like to thank my mother-in-law for watching our three girls while we were out hunting for our trophy mule deer. I would also like to thank brother and my sister-in-law for their hospitality and, Daryl Stewart, for caping my mule deer. With nine score able points a side, my big buck grossed over 230 inches with an outside spread of twenty eight inches wide.