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"Scouting Pays Off"
Photo provided by: Brian Latturner

After 4 tough scouting trips, I located this 30-inch plus 8x7 in Wyoming. I took him on opening day.

Me getting this deer caused quite the stir in the MonsterMuleys.com forums. Here's the story;
My son and I arrived to the knob we wanted to glass from 10 minutes late. As we walked from the pines, we saw two other guys 20 feet in front of us getting ready for a shot. I turned and told my son, "watch, these guys are going to shoot".
The first guy shot twice. I then stepped forward a few steps to peak over the ridge and saw a big buck running away. (This is where I crossed the ethics line for some.) I sat down and extended my bipods as the guy shooting shot 2 more rounds. I continued to watch as the next guy shot two rounds himself. (Later we learned from the guys shooting that one guy shot 3 rounds, then his gun jammed and the other guy shot 4 rounds)
Anyway, the deer then disappeared into a deep ravine. After about 10 seconds, I spotted the buck come out of the ravine way down the hill. I glanced at the shooters and both of them were doing something with their guns, I assumed reloading.
(Here's where I broke the ethics line for some) Anyway, after glancing at the shooters, I determined that they were done...they were either out of bullets (gun jammed) and/or could no longer see the buck. Instinct took over and I shot the deer (400-425 yards), not knowing if I finished off their wounded buck or put the first bullet in the buck.
Shortly thereafter, they got up and walked off.
The buck did regain himself and covered a little more ground before two other hunters finished him off. The other hunters and I determined that my shot was the first lethal shot, so I got the buck.

I will admit, getting the buck because someone else missed isn't as rewarding as otherwise, but that's the way it played out....???? What do you do? And, I know some folks think I should have just let the deer run off because the other guys had shot at it already and because I was sitting close to the other guys. ??????

It's a trophy to me. He was the buck I found scouting and I was lucky that my bullet found its mark on opening day.













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