MY MULIE
Growing up in a small town up in the Rolling Plains back in the sixties was not exactly a deer hunters haven, My grandfather had property up in Dickens County which at the time was wonderful for hunting blue quail but never a set of horns except on his cattle. This property is still a wonderful getaway and hunting destination for our family and friends and has a lot to do with my story. In the early seventies a few whitetail were released by the Texas Parks and Wildlife up in this area and after a few years we finally started seeing the deer population increase slowly but surely. While up hunting whitetail one weekend, back in 1985, I was invited to hunt on a friends place in Cottle County outside Paducah. He had told me there were not a lot of whitetail around but I may see a mule deer. Seeing a mule deer for the first time was very different and I could not believe how odd it was to see a deer hop instead of just seeing the buff on a whitetail heading for the nearest cover. These were the first mule deer I had ever laid eyes on and it was on this trip I managed to take a spike off my friend’s property. After this I always wondered what a thrill it would be to harvest a trophy mule deer and this would stay with me for quite some time. Well, I went on a dry spell for a number of years only hunting a few times for mulies up in that area with no luck. Hunting the panhandle has always produced a lot of memories and it was in 2005 I had the great privilege of hunting on a friend’s ranch in Gray County. On our first trip I thought this had to be one of the most beautiful places I had ever been on with deep rugged canyons, large cottonwoods, tall grass and thick plum thickets. It was that year while on a whitetail hunt, after mule deer season had just wrapped up in mid-December, I was sitting on a bluff enjoying a beautiful sunrise when a group of several mulies crossed a ravine only 100 yards from where I sat. They were all large bodies with tall wide antlers and had to be mature trophies from what knowledge I had about mule deer then. After this encounter I was really looking forward to future hunts on this beautiful ranch. My friend let me continue hunting the ranch and then here comes the big fire of 2006. It brutally took its anger on many large ranches in the area and I thought it would take years to recover and would never be the same. I was extremely wrong. The ranch lost some beautiful cottonwoods and was scorched dearly but after a couple years of good fall and spring rains things were starting to come back little by little. It did scatter the deer population but over the next several years I returned during each season only seeing a few mule deer which were in need of growing up a little. In 2010 I had my chance on a nice mature 4x4 but the time must just not of been for me that season. Always check your ammo and make sure it is not out of date or gone bad! This next year was one of the worst draughts I have witnessed growing up in Texas. We had over seventy days of 100-degree weather and hardly any rainfall at all. During the fall I was at a benefit for the Ridley Sea Turtle which is put on by a friend who works with the Texas Parks and Wildlife. I had been eying a shoulder mount on the silent auction and ended up as the lucky winner which you will hear of again later in the story. Well, although I had the mount it had to be used within the year and I was not to very sure if there would be a chance for this because of the terrible draught conditions we had been encountering the past few years. Oh well, for a good cause! When deer season came around and the mule deer season was coming to an end a few months later, my friend, who owns the ranch up in Gray County, met up with me to hunt some whitetail on my farm in Dickens County. Because of the terrible draught we decided not to take any of the whitetail we were seeing off the property this trip so we loaded up and made the other 100 miles north to the ranch up in Gray County hoping for a little better results. Although they had received a little more rain than other parts of the panhandle, and I had since been back several times, it was still not the beautiful ranch I remembered from my first trip. We pulled through the gate of the ranch about two o’clock in the afternoon and did not take any time in getting the Polaris off the trailer and riding one of the larger pastures. To our surprise we were seeing quite a few nice whitetail bucks. The following morning bright and early we hit another one of the larger pastures and began what we thought would be a wonderful day of not working and hopefully some good hunting. It was a very cool morning and could not be any better than hunting with good company along nothing but miles of nature with deep canyons and open bluffs. While enjoying the beauty and still an eye open for the reason there I just happened to see a patch of white, reflecting off the morning sun, on the east side of a ravine. I quickly told my friend to stop and turn off the Polaris. After a few moments, rubbing my watering eyes from the cold wind, it looked to be a very nice mature mulie getting some morning sun out of the cold breeze. My friend scoped the small ledge on the ravine and said it looked to be a good one and if I was going to take a mulie this would be my chance. I was hunting with my Remington model 788 .308 and it has been a very good gun to me for the past thirty years. It was only about a 165 yard shot across the ravine and seemed like only seconds for the squeeze of my trigger finger and a good shot. It was not until after the long ride in the Polaris, which seemed like hours, to the far side of the ravine I finally knew exactly what a magnificent animal he was. Completely in aw here I was standing over the mule deer of my dreams and the most proud hunter you could ever imagine. This had to be one of the most intense and wonderful times a hunter could ever go through. Even a few tears! I was not hesitant in making a call to my wife and bragging a little bit and will now remember this moment forever. He weighed in at over 275 lbs-5x5-7 years old and grossed 182 inches with a net score of 178 ¾. He is number 1 in the panhandle region and number 2 in state for typical mule deer. I still cannot brag on him enough and so thankful for the opportunity of sharing it with a special friend. I had a really good feeling that the money for my shoulder mount would go for a good cause and used wisely, both for the Ridley Sea Turtle and myself. What a wonderful 60th birthday present and he is forever on my wall and will be admired by family and friends for years to come.