WY backpack Muley

[AT Hiker]

2nd choice tag in the Big Horns, public land, DIY. Here is my photo essay....

Snowy start with a visit to Chris LeDoux

Eagles Bluff, 8,000' which is approximately 3,000' above the rugged valley below.

If walls could talk right? This cabin is 5miles in from the nearest road on public land and probably 15-20 miles from the nearest paved road.

Sunrise in the basin. Seeing this site is humbling, knowing that a limited number of humans have ever witnessed this.

More to come


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[AT Hiker]

Glassing into the basin. It's simple, get high and glass. Play the thermals and wind game and hope like hell you can find animals. 283 yards would be the shot.

Tikka T3 Lite, 7mm 160grain Nosler partition, Swaro Z5 BRX. Zoom in to the center right corner on the bare spine, you'll see a lone pine in the open. 330 yards to that pine, my shot was in from that at 283, right in the edge of the timber. Remember the Eagles bluff pic? Those deer bedded in that steep mountain face, 3,000' of gain in under 2miles.

Where he lay. At my angle to shot was rather steep, slight quarter to, hit top of lung with a instant drop.

Tagged

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[tn droptine]

Very nice! I wish I would have started putting in for points years ago since I'll be out west for a while now. I just bought my first WY antelope and deer preference points this year.

 

[AT Hiker]

Let the pack out begin. Around 1.5 miles from camp, then another 4.5 back to the trail head.

The trek back to camp wasn't to bad, we were fresh. My partner and I split the quarters up and I carried the backstrap, heart, neck and skull. After we loaded camp the pack weight increased greatly.

This was my first full pack out with my Stone Glacier pack. This is a work horse of a pack. Internal frame with a load shelf. Pack expands to 6500 cubic inches, plenty of room for camp and 1/2 a mule deer. The pack out became rough, lots of side hills and more than enough loss and gain of elevation. Trekking poles, good boots and a solid pack made this much less miserable than it could have been. All those squats and burpees in the gym paid off...

It's ours if we are willing to work at it.

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[AT Hiker]

CWD transport makes out of state hunting so much fun...not. What do you do? You come prepared. Hotel room euro mounts...warning, always try a cheap room as they are a bit more forgiving!
Head stew anyone?

Next step, car wash.

They even come with built in skull hangers, genius if you ask me.

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[AT Hiker]

Beautiful isn't it? That big orange ball disappears into the mountains and cast an array of magnificent colors.

No trip to Wyoming or Montana is complete without a 6er of Moose Drool brown ale. What's better, heart and brown ale after the long drive home.

Salt/pepper and seared rare on cast iron. Not as good as an open flame in the wilderness but it's still my tradition of paying respect.

Our lands, go play on them. Keep them for our children's children, it really is priceless.

This is my story in pictures, only which covers a part of the trip. Johnson, the other hunter, and I became friends. We shared an experience not many get to.

Enjoy


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[Buzzard Breath]

:tu: :tu: :tu:

 

[tree_ghost]

Always enjoy seeing your adventures AT. Thanks for letting me live vicariously through your hunting exploits.


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[bobbuck]

Awesome adventure! Congrats!

 

[rstodd]

Awesome

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[sloughfoot]

Congrats! Well done.

 

[bigtex]

Awesome!!!!! Great pics and sounds like you had a great hunt, thanks for sharing.
I love Wyoming!!!!!

 

[turk870]

Congrats! Great story.
I picked up some Moose Drool in Colorado, it went well with tag soup.

 

[lightsareout]

Awesome! and Congrats!

 

[lightsareout]

I gotta ask, are you using a hot plate to boil the skull?

How does that work compared to a turkey fryer?

 

[AT Hiker]

I gotta ask, are you using a hot plate to boil the skull?

How does that work compared to a turkey fryer?

Yes, hot plate. A turkey fryer will get it to a boil, I don't want that to happen. The hot plate (combined with the higher elevation) allows for a barely simmer of the water. This allows for the meat and tissue to "fall off" the bone and not hinder the integrity of the skull. Putting dawn in the water helps the degreasing process as well.
Mule deer skulls are more forgiving than a whitetail, so you can get away with a longer and heavier simmer and the car wash pressure hose is less likely to blow the nose off.
If you want to degrease the skull, simply add a lot of dawn and heat the water up to almost a simmer. Turn off plate and add skull. Once it cools down you will notice the grease on top of the water. Keep changing the water/dawn solution out until no grease comes to the top.
If time allows I will at least do one degrease bath before I leave. Once that grease sets in to the skull it can be a pain to get out. Another key is to get that brain out ASAP, it's a greasy mess.


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[lightsareout]

I gotta ask, are you using a hot plate to boil the skull?

How does that work compared to a turkey fryer?

Yes, hot plate. A turkey fryer will get it to a boil, I don't want that to happen. The hot plate (combined with the higher elevation) allows for a barely simmer of the water. This allows for the meat and tissue to "fall off" the bone and not hinder the integrity of the skull. Putting dawn in the water helps the degreasing process as well.
Mule deer skulls are more forgiving than a whitetail, so you can get away with a longer and heavier simmer and the car wash pressure hose is less likely to blow the nose off.
If you want to degrease the skull, simply add a lot of dawn and heat the water up to almost a simmer. Turn off plate and add skull. Once it cools down you will notice the grease on top of the water. Keep changing the water/dawn solution out until no grease comes to the top.
If time allows I will at least do one degrease bath before I leave. Once that grease sets in to the skull it can be a pain to get out. Another key is to get that brain out ASAP, it's a greasy mess.


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Good Tips!

I've done skulls before but thinking through my process when traveling out of state. Think I need to pick up a hot plate now!

 

[AT Hiker]

That's just my process and one that I've fine tuned through numerous out of state hunts. More than one way to skin a cat for sure.
Big Lots usually has cheap hot plates for around $10 and Goodwill will often times have a cheap pot.
It's a lot cheaper than paying someone to euro it for you and ship it back. In WY they want $275 just to clean and whiten the skull. No plaque or shipping in that price! Blew my mind.


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[Buzzard Breath]

After a week of eating Mountain House, chili mac specifically, the cleaning ladies won't even notice the smell of the boiled head.

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[megalomaniac]

what a great hunt! you put the time and miles in, you deserved that hard earned public land buck. Thanks for taking me along for the ride with such a wonderfully told story and pictures!