This is the un-edited version of an article that was published in Muley Crazy magazine.
Muleys in Texas?
“You want to hunt mule deer in Texas?” That was the first comment out of my friend Dan Anello’s mouth when I told him I had found us a hunt for the fall of 2004. I have to admit, I asked myself the same question more than once. This all started only a couple months earlier when Dan had contacted me in September about scheduling a deer hunt. Knowing that the drawings for all Western states had already taken place, I was stuck with the task of trying to find a decent hunt in a state or area with over the counter tags. I had already drawn a rifle tag for my home zone here in California and also had an OTC archery tag so I would be plenty busy deer hunting. In addition, I had a Wyoming antelope hunt planned for the following month of October. Dan, however, knew my weakness, and I did not take much convincing to plan a trip for a trophy mule deer hunt.
My internet research led me to the state of Texas. Of course everyone knows about the great whitetail bucks in this state, but I actually discovered that some pretty remarkable muleys come out of North and West Texas each year too. I was drawn to the website of Jim and Melony Roche’s Magnum Guide Service (
www.magnumguide.com). After speaking with one of their representatives, I was pretty convinced that this would be a good hunt for quality bucks. The hunt was to take place on a large private ranch in the Palo Duro Canyon (the second largest canyon in the United States) area of the Northern Texas Panhandle. It was specifically for older age class bucks of 5.5 years or older. After much discussion, Dan and I booked the hunt for the last week of November and waited for the weeks to pass.
Before we knew it we were getting off the plane. Our outfitter, Jim Roche, picked us up and we were on our way to the ranch. Now this is not your typical Texas hunt. There were no high fences here. These were wild, free-ranging deer. The altitude was about 4500 feet and it was COLD. We even had snow one day. The Palo Duro Canyon was simply breathtaking, however, and it looked like we were somewhere in Southern Utah or Northern Arizona with the red rock canyons and cedar breaks. We spotted deer right away and were blessed by an early visit from Lady Luck.
Within only minutes after getting off the airplane, Dan had a good buck on the ground. Being his first mule deer he was very excited to have taken this handsome buck. It was very tall and had great mass, scoring in the high 160’s. It was a great way to start the hunt. The evening concluded with a great meal and a restless night’s sleep.
The next morning dawned a beautiful day. We had a hearty breakfast and headed out. The scenery was awesome, and it was just one of those days where it felt good to be a hunter. We began seeing does right away. Knowing the rut was just beginning, we glassed the area around each doe very carefully. We only saw a few bucks, and nothing worth considering this early in the hunt. I got the feeling this would be a quality, not quantity, kind of hunt. Jim explained this was because of the abundant rainfall the area had received. The feed was plentiful everywhere, so the deer were spread out and not coming up out of the canyons to feed on the ranch’s wheat fields like they normally do.
We spent hours glassing that morning and did not come up with much other than a nice pair of free-ranging Aoudad sheep. Having never seen one of these before, it was an impressive sight to see the animals precariously perched on the rocky ledge of a cliff. It was at this point that Dan decided he would take an Aoudad if the opportunity presented itself.
That afternoon we were back to glassing. I got to really appreciate my new pair of Leica Ultravids on this hunt. After a short while, we spotted a doe as she moved into a clearing in the bottom of a canyon. Right behind her came an impressive buck. After a quick glimpse I proclaimed this was a pretty good buck. Jim emphatically said “that buck is better than good!” He estimated it in the 180 class and we quickly decided to give chase. As Jim continued to look at the buck his excitement level grew. When he said it was the largest deer he had ever seen on this ranch, I knew the buck was really special. From this point on I completely zoned out his antlers and would not allow myself to take another look at them. This was in a feeble attempt to steady my anxious nerves.
We waited until the buck and his does casually grazed out of the canyon and up a small hillside until they were out of view. The wind was perfectly into our face. We donned our facemasks and began the stalk. A few yards into our sneak Jim said that the only thing that could mess this up would be to bugger some deer we had not yet seen. Sure enough, right in the bottom of the canyon, we bumped a few does and a small buck. They trotted off, but thankfully not too noisily. These busted deer actually ended up helping us later on.
Once we got within range of where we had last seen the buck we began glassing, trying to pinpoint his location. We soon found that a doe, partially hidden in the shade of a cedar, had us pegged. We froze for what seemed like eternity before she finally went back to grazing. We were beginning to wonder if this buck had given us the slip and disappeared like only a big muley can. Jim then excitedly whispered that he had him located. I quickly found him too and we could just see his antler tips over the top of the cedars. We could see a few other deer in the same area as the buck and they were all fixated to the East and not paying much attention to us. It turned out that the deer we had busted earlier in the stalk were now up on a ridge several hundred yards to our East. The deer we were after were fortunately focused on this group and not in our direction.
I took the opportunity and slowly moved out a couple feet and sat down. I got set up into my shooting sticks and waited, and waited. Jim urged me not to look through the scope at the buck until I was ready to shoot. I had to constantly check myself to slow my pounding heart and calm my nerves. I did my best to take my mind off the buck and think of sports, work, family, fishing, anything other than that deer. We seemed to wait forever and I was afraid the sun would set before I had a shot. Eventually one of the does fed out into a small clearing. I got ready and prepared for the shot. Sure enough he came out right behind the doe. Time stood still. He stepped out, facing to the West, and the sun illuminated his rack with all the majesty this animal deserved. My Winchester M70 30-06 barked and sent a 180gr Hornady Light Magnum round right into the point of his shoulder. He stumbled, took a few steps and went behind some cedars. He was going down but I wanted insurance. I also did not want him falling off the point he was on and breaking any antler tips. He limped his way a few steps toward me down the ridge and back into the clearing. One more rushed shot took out his lower front leg, and the last poke took him through the center of the heart. Two more steps and he was down for good. The range was 158 yards. That bad boy soaked up some lead!
After celebratory handshakes, Jim and I walked up to see our prize. There was absolutely no ground shrinkage on this one. He actually turned out to be bigger than both Jim and I had expected. Later on, back at the ranch headquarters, we put the tape to him. He had a 183 2/8” gross main frame, with 15 3/8” of abnormal points, giving him a total gross score of 198 5/8” as a nontypical. With 4 6/8” of deductions, he nets out at 193 7/8”. He is a 6 X9 and, including two eyeguards on each side, he has 19 total points. This is my largest buck to date and it’s surely going to take me a long time to top this one. But I’ll sure have fun trying!
Dan and I continued Aoudad hunting over the next couple days and Dan was able to take a nice ram with a spectacular 296 yard shot on the last day. These are some of the most wary animals I have ever encountered and are really challenging to hunt. They can be hunted year round and would make for a great combo hunt with a mule deer buck.
This deer capped off an outstanding year for me, and one that will be forever imprinted in my own personal record book. I took a nice, heavy-horned, 29” muley in Sonora, Mexico (he was a freak 5x2 so he did not score well, but looks really cool), a wild hog in Central California, an 82 4/8” B& C antelope in Wyoming, a local deer here in Southern California, and this magnificent buck. I’d certainly like to thank Jim Roche and Magnum Guide Service for the excellent hunt and great hospitality. I’d also like to thank my friend Dan Anello for making this hunt possible and my best gal Katie for understanding my un-ending desire to be outdoors.
Nice - Stan it looks like he is not into your beer...can you pm me your #?
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