For most things in life, a single opportunity is all you can hope for. On those occasions when you actually get a second chance, it should be considered a true gift, and you should double your efforts. And then, once in a very great while, you find that you’ve gotten a third shot at something. When this happens, its time to pull out all the stops and go for broke, because like they say, ”Success the third time is a charm, but failure is a curse.”

The story of one such opportunity began, for me, over two years ago when I was hunting near Craig, Colorado. The public land I was on had virtually no animals. But just across the fence, on some private land, I could see several trophy-class mule deer bucks and a herd of elk with well over 1000 head in it. After some excited research, I found out that Elk Horn Outfitters as part of the Colorado Ranching Wildlife Program managed the property. The only question I had left was how soon before they’d have an opening so I could book a hunt!

I got in contact with John, Ranch Manager for Elkhorn Outfitters, and we decided November 2005 would be the best time for me to hunt. Not only would the mule deer be coming into rut at that time, but the ranch would be loaded with elk on their annual migration off Colorado’s Flat Top Mountains (roughly 26,000 elk migrate through this region, making it the largest in the State).

I looked forward to November and the Elkhorn hunt like a kid waiting for Christmas. But late summer and early fall of 2005 turned out be an incredibly busy time for me. I’m not just the owner of Crooked Horn Outfitters, I’m also the Designer, and I try to spend as much time as I can in the field testing and developing our specialized, Non-Typical gear. However, I also took on the added responsibility of being co-host on Game & Gear TV program in 2005, and pretty soon, my hunts began piling up on top of one another.

It began in August, hunting Dall Sheep in Alaska, followed two weeks later by Mountain Goat in Colorado. I then went straight from Colorado to Wyoming for archery Deer, Elk, and Antelope. I made it home for a couple of weeks before heading to Montana for rifle Mule Deer. Then it was back to Colorado for my much-anticipated hunt with Elkhorn. WHEW! I’m most definitely NOT complaining, but I do have to admit that the constant travel had taken its toll, and I was more than a little worn out.

Thank goodness for Elkhorn Outfitters!

From the moment I arrived, everything about the place and the people was first-class and user friendly. The accommodations, the food, and the kindness they provided restored my strength. And that first day of hunting with John, who I was lucky enough to get as my guide, left me in awe of their entire operation. Deer, Elk, and Antelope were literally everywhere we went! Not just does and cows, but mature bucks, younger bucks to replace them, and branch antlered bulls were common.

But as we drove back that evening, John told me about a particular buck. In an area accessible only by foot or horseback lived the most elusive animal on the ranch. John, and others, had been hunting him for two years. One hunter had missed him at 100 yards. Each time a hunter had gone after him the massive buck escaped-seeming to disappear into the oak brush that covered most of the big drainage he called home. John felt sure that with careful glassing, a lot of patience, and a whole lot of luck this third year would be the charmed year when the big fellow finally made a mistake. We made the decision to up the ante and go after him.

Daylight found us on horseback. Quite frankly, the more I saw, the more certain I was that we would never find that buck John had been talking about. No, not because the animal wasn’t huntable, but because I was already having trouble keeping my finger off the trigger! Bucks were everywhere! Right underneath the bluff we were glassing from was a heavy horned 24” buck but only a 2x3, plus a super tall 26” 4x4, and several bucks that easily fit in the 25” class. On any other hunt, on any other day, I would have shot any one of them. But we had made the decision to find John’s deer, and that’s what we focused on. Sometimes, it’s not just the size of the animal-it’s the challenge of bagging that one that’s been so evasive.

Sure enough, John spotted him working his way towards us checking for hot does. From 1000 yards until 400 yards thing were looking good. Then he disappeared into the oak brush and stayed hidden for over three hours. John worked us around several mountains until he found the buck hiding deep in the shadowed oak brush. John, our guide, has the nickname of “Eagle Eye” and it’s definitely appropriate. At 300 yards (and after John pointed him out to me), I saw the buck. John said, “Now shoot him!” And I wanted to! But there were two things wrong: I couldn’t see the buck’s head (it was behind a tree) and the cameraman wanted the buck to stand up to make for better film. Now, believe me, if you ever let a big buck get up, they’re going to get away. And that’s exactly what this buck did. We waited and waited for that buck to stand, just knowing that below and on each side of him presented a good possible shooting opportunity. Instead, the buck stood and walked directly away from us and into the bush. We saw him a couple of times later about three quarters of a mile away. So ended my first-and I thought only-chase of this smart old Deer.

The next day, we rode our horses through the dark, glassing at first light. Sure enough, there were lots of buck and that huge 2x3 was even more tempting. But we were still wanting to hold out for John’s “Lucky Buck” as we had come to call him, so we waited. After an hour and a half, we changed position, looking deep into the brush where the deer had bedded down the morning before. Nothing but brush. All of a sudden, John spotted him at 420 yards away in a little opening! “SHOOT!” John yelled. As I was aiming, I asked John,” you sure that’s the same buck?” “YES! SHOOT HIM! DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY!” he hollered. Then he saw where I was aiming. “WAIT! You’re aiming in the wrong direction!” Turns out I was aiming at a buck about 25” wide, but very similar looking to the big guy. Once I moved a couple of feet over towards John, there was The Buck standing there plain as day. I had a bush in front of me, blocking the shot, but I was determined not to lose him again, and I rushed the shot, failing to aim high enough. My shot ended up right under his chest. I couldn’t believe it. Lucky Buck ran away from us, chasing a doe through the brush. Two more shots missed him less than six inches over his back before he was out of sight in the oak brush. John and I figured that buck was gone for good-our second chance blown. John even joked that Lucky Buck was more interested in chancing the does than running from my shooting, and I was thinking he had a point!

About 45 minutes later, I spotted the buck with my Leica 62mm Spotting Scope. He was bedded down deep inside that thick brush. So we stalked him to within 200 yards of where we last spotted the buck, and my heart sank a little when I couldn’t relocate the buck. Once again, it was John our Eagle Eyed guide, who spotted the big buck in brush so thick I could only tell there was a deer there by the very tip of a head and a butt. John whispered “That’s him. I’m sure.” Anticipation and determination had set in, but all we could do was wait and wait and wait some more hoping the big buck would get up and walk into one of the few small openings giving us the shot.

Now, what happened next had us all rattled.

As I was crawling back out of my shooting lane to get a look through John’s scope, John suddenly yells, “He’s UP!” I rush back to my Shooting Stix, get ready to fire…but no buck. It was a false call; a bird had flown out of the bush. Then, before I can even catch my breath, John said, “He’s really up! There’s another buck walking right for him. Get ready! That big buck will probably challenge that smaller buck”.

And that’s exactly what happened, giving me the charmed opportunity number three.

As the big buck weaved through the thick brush, he saw the smaller buck, and hesitated. And this time, I was ready. My custom Bill Wiseman 300 Win Mag hit that buck right behind the shoulder. After three years of hunters and three tries by me, the elusive buck was mine! This deep fork 4x4 would have scored mid 180 if he had eye guards. But score isn’t near as important to me as the thrill of a great chase and the exhilaration that comes with success after being so sure I’d run out of chances. That was what made for an awesome hunt and a truly beautiful trophy.

My last day there, I also shot a nice bull elk. It just goes to show you that you should always set your sights high and refuse to give up. Some of the best hunts I’ve heard of, and have been a part of, have been completed at the last light of the last night.

Many thanks have to go out to all the great folks at Colorado’s premier outfitting operation: Elkhorn Outfitters. I have to give special thanks to John “Eagle Eye” Papierski, our guide, for a truly spectacular hunt.

To contact Elkhorn Outfitters:
Elkhorn Outfitters
37399 Highway 13
Craig, Colorado 81625
(970) 824-7392

If you would like to see this hunt on TV, tune in to Game & Gear television on Dish Network in the fall of 2006. Check Game & Gear’s website for dates and times.

Big bucks are where you find them. Finally after over 20 years of trying to locate an area that would consistently produce lots of monster bucks, I have to say I just about gave up…until this season. As most mule deer hunters know, it’s been probably 30 or 40 years ago when monster mulies were at their peak. In those days there wasn’t near the emphasis on trophy hunting that there is today, most hunters were in it for the meat. There also weren’t any rangefinders or the quality of optics and rifles that are so common in the field today. Now a days, hunters have to rely on the luck of drawing a good tag in a trophy area.

Let’s face it, mule deer populations are trying to rebound in the west, and a state that is really improving is Colorado, where if weather hits early it can drive the big bucks down from the high country. The Eastern Plains have been producing some big mule deer and white tail trophies, for a few years now, which is usually not a very physical hunt but is a hit or miss finding big deer. The Arizona Strip and Utah Paunsagunt draw tags are hard to get and are hard to hunt but can really produce. Alberta is known for massive bucks weighing in at nearly 300 pounds.

Is there such a “Mule Deer Hot Spot”? This 2005 season I had the opportunity to hunt the finest mule deer country I ever put up a pair of binoculars in. I’m sure by now you are wondering where the “honey hole” is… Northern Rockies Outfitters has a place just 5 miles south of the Alberta border near a little town called Sunburst, MT. If your looking at a map you’ll say that’s “prairie country” but what you won’t see is that smack dab in the middle of that prairie is a mountain range, aka “The Honey Hole”. This 30,000- acre hunting operation is run by Rich Birdsell and has one of the best reputations for hunting trophy class mule deer in the west. Rich has been guiding both fishing and hunting trips for many years but his true passion is trophy class mule deer.

Never before hunted on, Rich acquired this property in 2001. The beauty of this large ranch is that it is rich in elk, antelope, deer, some moose and has virtually no predators except for a few coyotes. The nice thing about this ranch is you can use 4 x 4’s and ATV’s to get to vantagepoints for glassing. Once you locate the buck you want to pursue the terrain is conducive to spot and stalk style hunting.

Alberta continues to help populate this ranch and neighboring areas as the Canadian hunters push the deer across the border…whenever deer are pushed they run to the mountains and this mountain is the only one within 20 miles. Both monster mulies and whitetail along with antelope retreat to the foothills, cooleys, mountains and hill country provided by this ranch. This part of Montana has a shorter season than the rest of the state, which doesn’t get any pressure in the last 2 weeks of the season when the rut is peaking. Rich manages for quality not quantity and allows only about 16 deer hunters per year. The terrain is so user friendly you will see big bucks nearly everyday.

On opening morning we expected to see deer everywhere but the morning didn’t produce much due to high winds of 30-40 miles an hours, most of the deer were timbered up by daybreak. The evening hunt was much better, when the wind died down we saw deer everywhere. After passing on a heavy 25” 4 x 4 buck I focused on 2 different bucks ranging approximately 27” wide. Knowing it was going to be dark soon, we ran down this long ridge to the huge canyon, which we had to cross with only 25 minutes of light left & 1300 yards to cover; including the steep canyon below us. We got a better look at the bucks, and one of them was exceptional so we made the decision to continue the hunt in the morning. Besides, we figured, “what’s the rush?’ there are lots of bucks in this drainage and we might just spot a bigger one while glassing for these guys.

On day two we started glassing from the low country up towards where we were the night before. The wind was blowing but there were plenty of deer in the small cooleys that lead up to the base of the mountain; perfect place to spot and stalk. We walked above the cooley, peaking over occasionally to glass. The first cooley we looked into had at least a dozen bucks. A 26” heavy-horned buck popped out at 180 yards away. I was completely ready to shoot him when Rich got a glimpse of a bigger buck, a monster buck, right below us. All the deer filed out and over the ridge but the big guy was no where to be seen, I decided to peak over the ridge and there he was tucked down…hiding. Once we made eye contact, he ran up to the top and stopped at the edge of the ridge, a common mistake made by many mule deer. My rifle was somewhat steady on my shooting sticks in the high winds, time was not going to be forgiving and give me a second chance and just as I was squeezing my trigger, a gust of wind shook my rifle and knocked me off the kill zone. Immediately this sent my buck running 2-3 miles up the base of the mountain, he was last seen 200 yards below the timberline. Talk about feeling sick! The biggest buck I ever have seen through my scope just got away. Little did we know everything was still going to work out for the best.

Heath Painter, hunting partner and host of Game and Gear Adventures TV, our cameraman, the guide and myself all hiked as fast as possible to where we saw the buck last. Up in the timber we spotted the smaller bucks that were with the big buck earlier so we figured since the buck we glassed was the first up the mountain he would already be up in the timber. No where to be found, Rich looked over the edge of the ridge and spotted a 27” buck 60 yards below us in an opening shadowed by a couple of small bushes. We stalked till we were right above him, looking straight down on top of him where he couldn’t see us, I decided I wanted to go for the bigger buck I had seen earlier. Heath stated it was bigger than any buck he had shot before and decided to take this one for his own. The wind was howling where we were, once the buck stood up Heath placed a perfect shot into the chest and the buck went down hard.

Immediately after the shot, not 40 yards below us two bucks came bounding out toward the canyon at a very fast rate. Rich kept yelling “Big Buck, there’s your Big Buck”. Trying to locate him was difficult due to the big pine tree in between the buck and me and when I finally got him in my scope he was already 225 yards away and still running hard over the edge of the canyon. As my rifle thundered across the canyon I heard the distinctive “thud-whack” he was hit but still moving fast. I knew I needed to get another bullet in him when he crossed the other side of the canyon about 400 yards away. Down rolled the biggest buck I have ever taken. He was wide, heavy and a perfect typical 4 x 4 with long tines and weighing in at about 250 – 300 lbs., truly a beast of a mule deer with a score of 182 B&C.

I have to thank the Lord for the second chances I’ve had in life and the best guide and area I’ve ever hunted in. After we left, our cameraman Tyler Johnerson filmed several 180-class bucks and saw two more bucks that he thought would have scored over 210 B&C

If you are interested in hunting trophy muledeer, elk, antelope, whitetail and black bear, give Rich a call. I highly recommend his operation, which has the best cooks, guides and accommodations the hunting industry has to offer.

.
Rich Birdsell
Northern Rockies Outfitters, Ltd.
270 Bayou Rd
Kalispell, MT 59901
(406) 756-2544
www.northernrockiesoutfit.com

I wanted to start my 2005-hunting season off with a challenge I had yet to experience and what better way than with Dall Sheep in Alaska. Researching for a good outfitter, I found Neil Webster of Beardown Adventures and was able to be the first hunter of 2005 in his sheep camp. With all the arrangements made for a long trip away from home I was thrilled when my wife Danell said she would like to join me on this adventure.

As a long time member of FNAWS (Foundation for North American Wild Sheep), I have been intrigued by sheep and sheep hunters. I’ve always felt the ultimate achievement for any hunter would be to collect a Grand Slam.

We spent a lot of time preparing and thought we were ready for anything, that is, until we got to LAX. Travelling with firearms has never been more complicated, and this trip set new standards for frustration. It started with frantically trying to comply with some TSA rules I’d never seen in any other airport, and ended with a baggage claim agent in Anchorage telling us she had no idea where our guns were and not seeming to care.

Thank goodness for our guide, Neil, he stayed in Anchorage and waited for our gear so we could be on schedule getting into camp. The guns finally arrived and we flew out early the next morning in a Super Cub from Meekins Air Service. We were eager to begin scouting since your best chance of success is to find a big ram and pattern him before the season.

These sheep have roughly 20-power vision, and spotting them without being seen is essential. Something new from our friends at realtree gave a big advantage. Since it was introduced earlier this year I’ve been using Bill Jordan’s MAX 1 Open Terrain camouflage all over the west and in the rocky, treeless mountains of Alaska, once again I was able to disappear like a ghost. MAX 1 is by far the best camo pattern I’ve used.

On the day before the opener I found the ram I was looking for a couple of miles from camp. We knew the ram and a smaller buddy would feed in the evening out onto an open, rocky ridge, but it still wasn’t easy to get in close. The stalk lasted eleven hours, most of that pinned down while the rams were perched above us. When they finally began feeding all we could do was hope they’d come within my self-imposed 500-yard limit.

Closer and closer they came until the small ram decided to turn and feed uphill. It became obvious they weren’t coming nearer to us, so I ranged the big one at 465 yards. The time had come. I waited patiently for the ram to turn broadside, and at 480 yards he gave me my chance. I squeezed the trigger then recovered from the recoil to see the ram still standing, but only for an instant. By the time I heard the thud of impact my trophy was already rolling downhill. The part I’ll remember most was my wife Danell’s enthusiasm as she congratulated me. She had been right next to me through the whole thing and got to share this unique experience.

Successfully retrieving the ram was all the proof I need that the Lord was looking out for us on this trip. First, we had to cross a glacial river that was waist-deep, swift and very cold. Next, we scrambled up a ridge, much steeper than it had looked, loose rocks making every step more treacherous then the last.

We finished with photos and field dressing just as it got dark, and were a little anxious about getting back to camp. We negotiated the rocky slope, swift water and a little over two miles of rough terrain with help from some great equipment and a competent, experienced guide, Neil Webster.

I also need to say thanks to the sponsors of Game and Gear Adventures TV Show for the great equipment they provided. With their continual support Game and Gear will be even more exciting in 2006. Make sure and see this exciting hunt for yourself. It will air on the Men’s Channel on DISH Network.

A few of the products that helped make this hunt successful include:

Acu-Sight Laser Bore Sights
Leica – Geovid Binoculars with built in LRF and Televid Spotting Scope
Bill Jordan’s MAX 1 Open Terrain Camo
Schnees Boot Co. – Lowa Sheep Hunter Boots
Bill Wiseman Custom Rifle
Hornady Heavy Magnum Ammo
Surefire Flashlights
Wiggy’s High Country Waders
Outdoor Edge Cutlery
Crooked Horn Outfitters Trailblazer, Bino System, Bino Shield

I had a lot of things to be thankful for on this hunt; a safe trip, great weather, a beautiful trophy and memories that will last a lifetime. The part I’m most thankful for was being able to share this great adventure with my wife, Danell. I am indeed a lucky man.