By Chris Conlee

My hunt started off in New Mexico a couple of years ago at a Wal-Mart buying an over the counter license for muzzleloader season back when you could still do that. After I got my license I drove to the Lincoln National Forest. After I set up camp I started driving to some areas where I had heard there where some good bucks.

The first place I went to was called "North Ridge" where a guy had just gotten a great 4x4 muley. When I got there I really didn't see to many bucks, probably because the rut was nowhere near and there where a LOT of other hunters. I decided to check out another place called "Panther Gap". Along the way there I stopped at a couple of different places and walked around, but they didn't really produce anything, just a bunch of does and little bucks.

Throughout out the day I stopped and talked to several other hunters I came across and swapped stories with them. This was my first trip to the area, so I didn't really know that much about the area. After hearing the stories over their past few years years of hunting, I started to feel a little bit better. A few of them said that they have harvested a bunch of muleys in the 25 inch range and a couple over 30 inches!

So after a full day of LOTS of walking and scouting, I decided to hunt this area with an old school house on it that was government property. There was a hill right in the middle of the place, so I sat up on top of it where I could get a good 360-degree look around. I spotted a lot of does and only 2 little bucks with my spotting scope. One of the bucks was a 3x2 which was legal, and I thought about trying to make a stalk on him because I had never harvested a muley before. But thinking back on some of the other hunters stories and the bucks that they have shot and seen, I decided to wait it out. As dark approached I started to make my way back to the truck wondering if I should have tried for the smaller buck.

When I got back to camp I made me some supper and thought about the next days hunt and where I should go. I had stopped at a little station on the way in a few miles from where I was camped and some local people told me of this place that had a water tank on it and was way in the back where not that many people go. I figured that I would give this place a try the next day. That night it was hard to get any sleep because I was just far to excited about the place I was going the next morning.

The next morning was cold and clear, a perfect day for hunting! So I ate a little breakfast, got in my truck and started to make my way to this place past "Panther Gap". It took me about an hour to get there. I had seen a lot of does on the way but just no bucks. I had no idea where they were, or really how to hunt them. This was my first mule deer hunt and I really didn't know what I was doing, but all I could do was try. You can't get anything sitting at home.

As I made my way to where I was going to hunt for the day, I stopped and talked to a truck full of guys. They said that they just shot at a 25-inch muley and missed. They said that the best way to get one was to drive around and look up on the cliff sides. They had gotten many deer that way. So I did, and didn't see anything. Maybe I just didn't have the eye for it.

I made my way to where I was told to go. It was a really nice water hole filled with tracks. I knew the deer were here. I sat on top of this little hill so I could see the tank, but after about 4 hours of that and not seeing anything, I decided to go walk some canyons.

After about 45 minutes of sneaking around, I rounded the corner of this canyon and there about 100 yards in front of my jumped up about 5 muley bucks! One was over 25 inches. Apparently they knew I was there before I saw them and they quickly went to the next canyon. I tried to follow the bucks, but never saw them again.

After I jumped the bucks I decided to do down the road to a place called "South Tank". I figure since I had just scared the bucks away they probably would not return anytime soon and I had heard of a good buck being seen at this other place. So I started to make my way back down the road and drove to where a 4x4 truck could not go anymore. Since I had brought my Arctic Cat 4-wheeler I figured this would be a good place to use it, since the road had been washed out too much for a truck to get through. I drove a couple more miles back in and started to walk around and scout out the area.

I found where a buck had been bedding down under a cedar tree. I could tell that is was a good buck by the way the limbs where torn up high from his horns rubbing around. Plus there was a little water tank close by where several canyons kind of dumped out into this little flat spot where this water tank was.

I decided to climb up on the side of this little hill and sit behind a little bush and see what happened. It wasn't a very comfortable place to sit. The hills there have a lot of fragmented rocks so they where always digging into my back and rear end, but I just felt good about the spot.

I sat there for about another 3 hours and didn't see anything when some movement on top of the next hill caught my eye. It was a buck, a good one at that! I picked up my Nikon 10x50 binoculars and saw that this was a HUGE buck with lots of kickers.

I watched the buck for about a half hour up on top of this hill. He just stood up there and looked around. He finally started to make his way down the rocky side of the hill. I got my Nikon realtree rangefinder and ranged the buck at 250 yards. This was way to far for me to shoot with a black powder rifle. As I was watching this buck make his way down the hill, I could hear a faint sound of a 4-wheeler. I thought to myself, crap there is someone else coming down here and they are going to scare away this buck, but there was nothing I could do! I started to freak out and think that this once in a lifetime opportunity was fixing to get ruined.

With the buck getting closer I ranged him at 156 yards. I thought to myself it was going to be now or never, but the buck was coming strait down the hill right to me, so there was no shot! The big buck finally stopped at 143 yards and put his head down to nibble on a bush.

I slowly raised my Thompson Contender and placed the cross hairs on the back of his head where the base of the head meets the neck. I though for sure if I slipped just a little I would surely hit his rack, but I couldn't wait any longer. I settled the cross hairs on him and squeezed! As the smoke cleared in the dark fading light, I could see this big buck sliding down the hill on the loose rocks that seemed to be every where out there. When the buck finally stopped I could see him just laying there, with both horns still attached. I knew the 50 cal had found its mark!

I gathered my things and sat down on by butt and slowly slid down the side of the hill I was sitting on. As I got closer to the deer he just keep getting bigger! I didn't really know just how big he was till I put my hands on his rack. This was my first mule deer and it was a monster! The buck had 16 scoreable points and a spread of 34 inches. I don't think that I will ever be able to top this one, but you can bet that I'm going to try.

Since then I have joined the Marines and became a combat soldier to try to help fight the war on global terrorism. I don't have hardly anytime to hunt, but as soon as I can I am going to put in for a tag back in New Mexico since it is now a draw only place. It was truly an unbelievable hunt and I can't wait to go back!

Species: Mule Deer Location of Hunt: New Mexico Outfitter: Self-Guided Weapon: Muzzleloader Equipment: Thompson Center Encore, 10x50 Nikon Binoculars, Nikon Realtree Rangefinder