king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated April/May 2008 - Index

O ne
never knows what the
outcome might be for any hunt
you go on. You never know if
it will be a great experience, a so-so
hunt, or a total nightmare. Either
way, they can all be a great learning
experience. I’m sure all of you have
had a dream in the back of your mind
whenever you go on a hunt of what
you hope your hunt will be. You
dream of the quality of the animal
you would like to kill and the things
you hope to see and do. However,
true reality quickly seems to set in
and it seems that very little ever runs
as smoothly or seems to fi t together
quite like a dream does. It has been
said that life is ‘but a dream’ and I
believe that everyone should have a
dream or two. Our dreams are what
lift our spirits to their highest spheres
and inspires us to move forward to a
brighter day.
I have talked to many
hunters who have said that they
had not put in for a particular hunt
because the odds of drawing were
so bad that they would “never have
drawn the tag” anyway. The reality
is that you will never draw unless you
put in. What are the odds that these
hunters’ dream hunts will happen -
100% never! Whatever your dream
is, act upon it, who knows, maybe it
will come true.
I started hunting in Sonora,
Mexico some fi fteen years ago. After
reading some of Jack O’Conner’s
hunting experiences in Sonora with
his 270 and his quest for a monster
muley, I was very intrigued with
this type of hunting in desert land
layouts. Jack talked about tracking
20 HUNTING ILLUSTRATED.com
MULE DEER
A Dream Come True Buck
A quest in Mexico for a book buck
that began 15 years ago.
Dennis Wintch
big muley bucks in this harsh land and right cholla patch. Every bush and
how his Mexican guides could follow a plant in Sonora has a thorn or sticker
big buck trail all day long in the sand. on it and getting my gun in and out
He said that if a hunter could keep up of Sonora is an all-day experience.
with the guide that they could actually The food is different, the language is
shoot a buck right in the buck’s bed a real barrier, there are soldiers with
while he was sleeping. Wow! Talk guns everywhere you go, and a man’s
about a dream come true - sign me up word seems to mean nothing - you
now! If there was ever a hunting spot have to be real careful. However,
that fi t my style of hunting this was it. the weather is great (75 degrees
It sounded like heaven at its best, right in January), and you get to hunt
here on earth. Well, I had a dream of during the rut. There is an endless
hunting there and wished it would come desert and you do run into big buck
true, and it fi nally did.
tracks in the sand. There is always a
In my life, I have found that possibility that you could kill a ‘Mr.
not everything you read or hear is Big’. There are big bucks in Sonora;
true. I never have found one of those you just gotta be good enough to fi nd
Mexican guides that can track all day them. Another big plus is that there
long no matter the terrain of the land. are predators galore without PhD’s -
There are a few big bucks down there maybe it’s not so bad after all.
all right, but you had better be in the
I have hunted Sonora six
5MULE DEER5
The author is all smiles
as he holds this beautiful
desert mule deer scoring 198
gross and 192 net typical