Nathan Hunter thought he was done hunting and was heading back to his truck when a big mule deer buck jumped up in front of him, about 10 feet away.
“It scared the piss out of me,” said Hunter, who was hunting on opening day Saturday in a general tag area east of Sheridan.
Hunter was able to compose himself in time to make a shot.
Many hunters in that situation aren’t so fortunate. Hunkering down until hunters walk right past them is a time-honored tactic for older, wiser muley bucks.
“It’s a dirty trick that they play,” said Guy Eastman of Cody, who represents the third generation of the Eastmans’ outdoors media company.
Bucks that survive several hunting seasons sometimes figure out that hiding is a better way to stay alive than running, he said.
Hunter was out with a couple friends, hunting on private property that his family can access.
The weather was still unusually warm, but hopes were high. They knew some big bucks were around.
“I think with the mild winter, they were able to put more energy into antler growth,” he said.
Laziness Pays Off
They pulled their vehicle off a two-track road and hunted on foot in an area that included a high ridge.
At the time, they didn’t know a buck was hiding in the thick bush at a low point off to one side of the hill.
“We had glassed that area numerous times from 300 or 400 yards away,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
“We parked right over the hill and were around that spot for about an hour. One of the other guys walked by him (the buck) at 20 or 30 yards and didn’t see him,” he said.
When they decided to leave, Hunter made a choice out of laziness that turned out to be the right one.
“The only reason I spooked him up was I was being too lazy to walk back up the hill, so I walked around,” he said.
Apparently about 10 feet was just too close for comfort for the buck.
After it jumped, giving Hunter an awful fright, it stopped at 15 yards, just long enough for him to shoulder his .270 Winchester, take aim and fire.
“At first I thought I’d missed him,” Hunter said.
The buck was nowhere to be seen, so he jumped on a rock to get a better view.
Just as he jumped down, the buck reappeared, obviously hit but still moving. And the second shot from about 45 yards put him down for good.
“I’m kind of bummed that I wasn’t able to get one of my buddies on him. I like getting my friends on to the bigger deer; I’m more of a meat hunter,” he said.
‘Ghosts’
Biologist Kevin Monteith told Cowboy State Daily that mature mule deer bucks “definitely have a reputation” for hiding, sometimes waiting until hunters walk or drive past before getting up and sneaking away.
“It’s an interesting behavior; they don’t all do that, but some of them certainly do,” said Monteith, a biologist with the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming. “It’s part of them being known as ‘ghosts.’ They can just disappear or at least seem to disappear.”
That tracks with the experience of Lori Dickinson of Rock Springs, who last year shot a gigantic buck dubbed “The Gray Ghost” near Bondurant.
She, her husband, Josh, and a friend were traveling down a road in a UTV, and the old buck waited until they passed and started crossing the road behind them.
Josh happened to glance back at just the right time to spot the Gray Ghost. Otherwise, he would have eluded them.
Eastman said he’s had similar experiences while hunting on horseback.
“I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been riding horses down a trail, and the guy in front won’t see anything. But the guy straggling in the back will spot things,” he said.
"You see similar behavior with deer around Jackson, too. So many people hike around there; they stop jumping and running whenever somebody approaches, because if not, that’s all they’d do all summer," Eastman said.
“They get good at reading your body language too. If you don’t make eye contact with them, they’ll let you walk right past them,” he added.
Hunter said he’s pleased with his buck, which isn’t the biggest he’s ever shot but is at the upper end of the scale.
He’s not sure if he’ll go hunting again this fall or just relax and enjoy his accomplishment.
“I got that deer, and my daughter’s boyfriend got an elk. We’ve got plenty of meat in the freezer,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
