Eric's friend is showing off the buck that Eric shot in 2007 in Washington. The monster buck gross scores 207.
Eric writes, "I've sporadically hunted the area where I took this buck for about 15 years. It's a dark tangle of lodgepole/cedar interspersed with rocky outcrops, and just riddled with rubs. At first, I thought they were from big whitetails, but when I saw tine marks on alders 2 feet behind them, I was convinced otherwise!
This area is located mid-elevation and everyone drives by it on their way to the high country. The only reason I found it is because my brother told me he saw a monster 5 point there on his way off the mountain from cutting firewood. I've never seen another hunter in there.
I hunted it from every concievable angle, but was continually frustrated by the canniness of these "DUMB" muleys. They would hold until I still hunted past them and bounce off, unseen, 10 yards behind me. I said every year was my last, but always gave it at least one day per season before heading to the high country.
Lucky for me, they had logged the unit adjacent to this area the previous summer. I was on my way out of the woods around 10:00am when something caught my eye in the treeline about 70 yards away. I pulled up on him, scope on 3 power, and because of the dark backdrop, could only make out a decent frame with a crown and cheater. He was looking right at me and all I had was a neck shot. I fired just as he rolled back into the timber and literally saw all four legs pointing straight up after the recoil. The whole scenario lasted about 5 seconds.
I've been fortunate to harvest several nice mule deer bucks over the years, ranging from 24" to 28", some of them heavy, and I figured this guy would be about 24" with some good junk. So much for my field judging abilities huh!
Needless to say, I'll be back in that doghair tangle again next year, and hopefully with no human company."
