king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Best of 2007 Feb-March 2008 - Index

killed a deer in Utah in over ten years
(not that I haven’t had the chance to
kill a deer, it’s just that nothing, to me,
has been big enough to shoot), and I
was hoping to change that. I hunted
hard from daylight to dark for the
entire fi ve days of hunting and came
home empty-handed. However, I did
see where a big buck had been earlier,
so there is hope for next year’s hunt.
Back home again... work,
work, work, run, run, run... catch up
here and there... put out a few fi res
and head for New Mexico. I got to
my camp at midnight where two of
my friends had been hunting for three
days. They told me that they hadn’t
seen much. It was 75-degrees and
very hot and dry. Most of the deer
were in the middle or transition zone,
which is a ‘no man’s zone.’ It’s in
what I call the ‘no see-em zone.’ This
zone is always rough and hard to get
into and usually has very thick trees
and brush. It’s always a tough place
to have any success but, we were here
to hunt and our time was ticking, so
we decided to hunt it anyway. The
three of us hunted all day long,
walking in and out of some great buck
holes, but saw very little - not even
fresh sign. We headed back to camp
where my hunting buddies decided
to head back home. They loaded up
and left me alone to hunt by myself.
Day Two, I hunted a new place that I
have always wanted to check out. I
saw three bucks, but they just weren’t
big enough. An hour before dark, I
came out onto a big rim where I could
see a whole lot of what I call ‘deer
country.’ I settled down and started
glassing the area. Thirty minutes
before dark, I fi nally spotted a Mr.
Big. He was 1000 yards away and
I knew that there wasn’t any way to
get a good shot off before it got dark.
I decided to wait until morning and
try to fi nd him again. At daylight,
I was back. I saw fi ve little bucks,
but I couldn’t fi nd Mr. Big. Day
Four I was hunting hard again. After
walking miles and miles, I fi nally saw
three little bucks, but nothing big. I
headed back to my truck because I
was just about out of rocket fuel. A
little food, water and a candy bar, and
I was refueled. I drove to where I was
hoping to catch Mr. Big, but I couldn’t
fi nd him. I decided to head into another
new area. After about a mile, I ran onto
two big buck tracks. After a closer look,
I could tell that the tracks were made by
big boys and that they were fresh. New
life ran back into my tired body and I
was excited and alert again. Once again,
I was back hunting big bucks at 110%. I
could feel the electricity - my eyes, ears
and every step I took set me on full alert.
I slowly and quietly looked over ever
nook and cranny before moving on. I
paused only briefl y to see which way they
were moving. I kept focused on looking
and following the big tracks in the sand...
right there is where they laid down not
5MULE DEER5
“After about a mile, I
ran onto two big buck
tracks. After a closer
look, I could tell that
the tracks were made by
big boys and that they
were fresh. New life
ran back into my tired
body and I was excited
and alert again.”
long ago, and there is a tree that one
of them tried to take revenge on. I
couldn’t tell by their tracks whether
one buck was bigger than the other.
Both sets of tracks were pretty much
the same size. I came upon a spring
of water with one Russian olive tree
growing by it. Who would have ever
thought that there would be water
here? Not me, but it was a very good
thing to know. I wonder how that
Russian olive tree got there? It must
have been a horse that wasn’t eating
certifi ed hay! The tracks told me that
the big bucks made a 180-degree turn
and headed toward a deep wash that
ran along a big rock rim. The rim ran
for about two miles which was very
good because there were a lot of ups
February/March 19
PHOTO: BRAD GARFIELD