Don’t Slap A Gift Horse In The Mouth

Don’t Slap A Gift Horse In The Mouth

By Troy Rice | MD-CO-GD-PV

“It was a happy and sad feeling all at the same time. I had harvested a real good deer, but the hunt was over so fast.” 

The forecast showed 75 degrees and sunny. . . really, 75 degrees?  I waited six years to draw this tag and purposely chose the late season hunt to avoid warmer weather, but 75 degrees and sunny it was. It’s always a “roll of the dice”, you can’t control the weather, I told myself. 

Both hunt options I had were outside the peak of the November mule deer rut time frame. I thought, if I got to choose, I’d go with cooler, late season weather every time. Also, the corn is usually off the fields by then, taking away most of the “buck brush” (places to hide), as they say in Canada, and work slows down for me, making a hunting trip feel a lot more like a vacation.  

I got a message from the outfitter two days before I planned on leaving, “Can you get here early, I’m ready.”  

I replied, “I’ll try.” 

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The high pressure and warmer temps made for a smooth drive to the hunting area. I geared up immediately, lightweight clothing only, and within an hour we were headed to the hills and fields to start my hunt.  

He told me right away there were a couple hit list bucks that were using this area but they hadn’t been seen for a while.  We stopped at our first vantage point where we could see two picked corn fields in opposite directions, “There’s a smaller buck in this field by itself.” I said.  

He was glassing the other field and quickly replied, “There’s a big buck over here in this field by itself. He’s a good deer, one of the deer I was hoping to see.”  

We were both shocked to see these bucks immediately, it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon with a full sun sky and 75 degrees. “Maybe a second rut is starting?” we said to each other. 

The buck was slowly walking across the field, moving away, so we moved fast to circle him. We had one chance to cut him off before he would be on property that we couldn’t hunt. We crested a knob and there he was, just coming off the picked corn field at a short 125 yards. “Take him right there, right now!” he said.  

I put the gun up on the shooting sticks and had just enough clearance over the top of the sagebrush to shoot. I squeezed it off, and the bullet found its mark, piling the deer up after a short run.   

It was a happy and sad feeling all at the same time. I had harvested a real good deer, but the hunt was over so fast. The years of waiting for the opportunity to draw the tag, the months of preparation, and then it all boiled down to that quick moment of truth.  

My guide and outfitter could tell I had some mixed emotions and reminded me that usually you put a lot more work into finding a buck of this caliber. “Don’t slap a gift horse in the mouth. It’s ok if it happens fast.” I knew he was right. 

The late season December hunts are often referred to as “Dig’em up December”. Often the bigger, mature bucks will move long distances from the herds to rest and recover from the workout of the rut and they seem to go underground or vanish.  

My buck breaks the coveted 180” mark for mule deer and has a green score of 186 3/8”.  The unseasonably warm weather that I initially thought might derail my hunt wasn’t a factor. Heck, I might even pray for it next time. 

Open country spot and stalk hunting for mule deer is special to me, and I’ll be counting the days until I get to come back.