king' s outdoor world - Index

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

Clint Argyle was part of this successful hunt that lead to a second trophy mule deer
and fi nally got out. As I climbed on
the truck to get up in the high rack,
the driver took off and threw me out
of the truck. I only had time to jump
clear of the bed and landed hard on
my right side. I still wonder how I
didn’t end up with a broken bone.
Even as I write this article, I can still
feel the tenderness in the eight-inch
black and blue bruise on my hip.
Day fi ve, I had my guide get
up and leave thirty minutes earlier. I
wanted to be up in the tower before
daylight. It was a colder morning,
and the fog was on top of some
mountains to our right. As we got
to the tower along the fence line, I
made sure both my guide and driver
were very quiet. As I climbed the
narrow steel ladder, my buckskin
gloves became very wet with
morning dew, but I made the top
and settled in. The sun’s light was
starting to show some life of another
day. There was no wind at all. Off
to my right, I heard two coyotes
talking things over. My guide
glassed one direction and I looked
the other. About half-an-hour into
dim daylight, two does came within
fi fty yards of us. They didn’t seem to
have anything in particular in mind
as they lingered for quite some time
right in front of us. I knew there was
22 HUNTING ILLUSTRATED.com
a ‘Mr. Big’ around there somewhere, so
my senses were at 110%. Just then, my
guide tapped me on the leg and pointed
to my left. As I looked, I could see
only part of a deer standing in the thick
desert cover. I lifted my ten-power
Zeiss slowly to my eyes in the morning
light and I gasped as it came into full
focus. There he was, ‘Mr. Big’. Shoot
- now - buck! As I lifted the 300 Mag,
I realized my scope was wet from the
morning dew. As quietly as I could, I
lowered the gun and wiped the lens
clear. I put the gun up to my shoulder
once again. As the dot settled on the big
buck, he turned slightly and faced me
– he was still not aware of our presence.
At seventy yards, the gun went off and
the buck went down hard. I watched
intently as the big buck lay there on the
ground. I was ready with round two,
just in case, but he never made a move.
Climbing down out of the twenty-foot
tower seemed to take too long because
I was so excited to get a closer look at
the buck I had just shot. As I walked up
to him lying there in the cholla cactus,
I had a smile on my face and I’m sure
my blood pressure was up. My guide
jumped for joy. There he was, a ‘Mr.
Big’ indeed, a perfect 4x4. He had black
horns, deep forks, and a perfect side-toside
look. I knew that this buck was one
of the best four-points I had ever killed.
5MULE DEER5
I was a happy man indeed. After all
these years, I had fi nally killed the
buck of my dreams in Sonora.
Back at camp, everyone
was happy for me. Since my buck
was the only buck killed so far, it
raised the hopes of the other three
hunters. After putting a tape to him
we discovered that he was thirty
inches wide, 198 gross and 192 net
typical Boone & Crockett. He also
has an SCI score of 201 5/8.
At noon, we went back to
the airport and got our bullets. At
least Clint would have his very own,
left-handed gun for his last day. The
next morning I went with Clint and
his guide. I had them drive to where
I had killed my buck, but we didn’t
see anything. By 11 a.m., we had
seen 20 deer. One was a nice buck,
but not quite a shooter. Now at 12:00
noon, the guides like to take a siesta,
but we told them that we were going
to continue hunting because it was
our last day. We walked a mile or so
into some backcountry and climbed
up on a little hill so we could see the
desert fl oor. Lady luck was with us
once again; a ‘Mr. Big’ with two
does came out 150 yards right under
us. Clint pulled up and made it
count. I don’t think I have ever seen
any hunter more excited than he was.
Anyone within a twenty-mile radius
could have heard him yelling for joy.
A big 4x4 with a three-inch cheater
put him right at 30-inches wide - his
best buck ever.
Do dreams come true?
They do if you dream them!