This guy had a longer stay at the taxidermist, but we (yes WE) are glad to have him back.

The story that goes with him was one that will not soon be forgotten. My best friend since T-Ball, another close amigo, and I spotted this buck at about a mile and a quarter (1.31 miles per Google Earth, but who's counting?). He was on the backside of a sand dune and behind a long half-section of irrigated farm. The wind was in our face, but absolutely not in our favor as it was brutal cold and howling out of the northwest. All we could see was a hint of antlers to confirm the 'he' was in fact a buck because the binos and spotting scope would not steady themselves long enough in the wind to make a good call on whether or not to go after him on the first morning of the hunt. At this distance we felt as though he was worth trying to close the gap on.

Fortunately, he wasn't too far behind the only tree we could use for a landmark. With the wind doing its miserable thing, we ran the Ranger a mile north without any concern for noise or scent as a windrow and another 3-400 yards of dunes concealed us and the buggy from wary eyes. Atop of one more dune to spot and re-orientate ourselves, we were able to confirm that A buck was still bedded with his nose into the wind. The windrow had tapered back to dunes. We bailed on the buggy and struck out on foot for the last several hundred yards to leapfrog dune to dune and close the distance on what seemed like a better buck by the hill. Finally, we get to a dune that is high enough to offer a shot into the buck's bowl that he was nestled in. He wasn't what we were hoping for, but a solid mature muley nonetheless. My best friend was committed to shooting only a truly big buck, SO I was given the option to close the deal. I had killed one for the wall the prior year anyway. At this point, the buck was bedded down and it was a waiting game for a good shot when he stood to stretch. 20 minutes of waiting and nothing; he was warm and snug in his sandy hole out of the wind and not going to move unless he had to.

Friend 3 goes back to the Ranger to see about forcing his hand and getting him to stand up. It works.

BANG...flo...holy sh***! A second buck stood at my shot and the pressure from the Ranger. HE. WAS. A. MONSTER! (especially to two guys that were accustomed to whitetails). Buck 2 stands just behind where mine (Buck 1) should have fallen. Friend 3 yells to shoot. Friend 2 obliges and Buck 2 is punched slightly back of where he needed to be. Not realizing the switcharoo in the moment, Buck 1 raises back up and receives an instinctual follow up coup de grace from Friend 2. Buck 2 is now (probably critically) wounded and staring at us ready to try to bolt the three miles east to New Mexico. He bounds to the next dune back and I put an insurance round in him to anchor him as Friend 2 was trying to figure out what was happening. It truly was like one of those shooting galleries where the little ducks go back and forth from one side to the other, or a game of WHACK-
A-MOLE. All in all, we each got our bucks that season. "Uncle Dusty's buck" is eventually headed to the wall at our lease after an extended stay my house - seems fair enough:



Friend 3 may have gotten bit by a little buck jealousy given the crapshow that unfolded before him and watching the 2nd best buck for their property not headed to his wall. However...all is fair as the buck he took the following year from nearly the same spot just got the nod as #1 typical from the region last season. Like I said...one for the memory book.

Nice and thank you.

beautiful buck!!

got any openings

x2

Well, Im confused. Were there two bucks killed that day and one the next year but only a pic of one?
Did more than one of you shoot each buck, or do you know?
Congrats anyway. Any scores on any of them?
If one was #1 in Region I wonder if he was at least top 3 in the State. If so will he be at the TBGA in San Antonio in July for TWA Annual Convention? Ill be there looking for him.

We both got our bucks; just got the bigger one back. And yes, the other buck was top typical muley in the state the following year. Can’t wait to see what happens this year with the groceries they’re getting.

The top typical muley in the State this past season/2022?

Awesome story and deer ! congrats I have a TX Muley hunt booked for this December and if I could get something like that it would be a dream come true!

Great buck. Thanks for the story, and congrats!

Nice deer!

Great story, great buck, and cute kids. 'Made me miss that country.

Ha! I was thinking my old brain needs a diagram with timelines!! To me the best part of this entire post is those two champs in the pic holding the mount! Brought a needed smile to my face!! Congratulations all around!

He was headed east for New Mexico?

One of the very few that I've killed I shot about 100 yards south of New Mexico.

Heckuva a deer!

Outstanding mulie buck. They are not easy to find anymore. A big congratulations!!

Absolutely a beautiful deer and congrats…. Those young lads have that killer look to them as well, somebody better start saving up for their taxi bills coming up

Awesome deer

Yeah, but “east to NM” starts off in Arizona.

Good point. Looks like my sense of direction is on par with the OP.

Great buck bud!