It is 2013, and hunting season is coming back around. Rifle season in Kansas starts this Wednesday, and I will be out with my dad hunting again this year. This year though I went back to my roots, and picked up a bow again, so I have been bow hunting this year. you might remember that last year I posted a picture with my White Tail that had half its rack broken off. It was a nice deer, but totally unscoreable not that the score is the only reason I do this. I hunt mostly for the meat, and the experience of going out to hunt.
However, unlike the years past when I was like 12 to 15 that I never got a deer with a bow, I got one this year. This is a first for me in two ways, it is my first Mule Deer, it is my first deer with a bow, and I guess it is my first with both sets of horns... lol ...so that is really a 2.5 for firsts.
I know the picture is not great, I did not see how hard it was to see until I got home. Here is how I would describe it; It is a main frame 4x4 or 8 point, with eye guards, and two stickers that are 1.5 inches long and nearly 3 inches long. It is not overly wide, but it has nice height and is both heavy and bladed out. I should also point out that I shot it while I was totally unprepared, I was out in the open, I had my bow and one arrow... no binocs or range finder, and there was a total of 17 deer coming my way. I had to avoid a lot of eyes, and not be overwhelmed by Buck Fever.
For it to be a Pope and Young Deer which is the scoring system classically used with bows, it needs to score 145, I wont know that for 60 days or more as they want the horns to cure for 60 days and become dry. However, I think it is close to 145, though the picture is hard to tell. I have had people with far more experience at this than I tell me it should score higher than I think, and others tell me they think it will be closer to 130s so I have no idea really. Either way it goes I am going to be very proud of it.
If you have any deer you are proud of, I would love to see them.
Thanks
Clark