Bucky with his Wyoming Muley

Hunter: Bucky Beckham
Cameraman: Kevin Dishong

Out of all the different species Kevin and I have been blessed to hunt, mule deer, in my mind, rank #1. I love to pursue this semi open-country deer with a passion. I’m not sure if it’s because of their antler size, the terrain they call home, or a combination of both, the bottom line is, we love them!

We were located near Devils Tower in northeast Wyoming on a ranch Kevin and I hunt every year. Joining us were two very close friend’s, Bo and Leroy. At this point I had already been blessed with an incredible antelope buck, and now with two days left, was able to focus on harvesting a muley buck or doe (since my tag was good for either sex). While Bo and Leroy tried to close the deal with antelope tags still in their back pockets, Kevin and I stalked the hills on the opposite side of the ranch not to interfere with them.

The first day was fairly uneventful because of swirling winds and dry conditions. Now on the last day we only had until roughly 10:00 a.m., because we were suppose to be heading to Randy Routier’s by noon, where I would be filming Kevin in pursuit of one of the many antelope on that ranch. So we decided any deer that was two and a half years old or older, would be getting a Spitfire poked through them. Easier said than done! After two failed stalks on does we decided to head back, check on Bo and Leroy and start packing our equipment to head out.

Bo had harvested a really nice P&Y goat that morning, but unfortunately the goats still were not cooperating with Leroy. So we came up with the plan that I would stay and help Bo clean and process his goat and Kevin would take Leroy out and show him some new areas he hadn’t had the opportunity to see yet (since Leroy still had one more day left to hunt.)

Well just about the time I was finishing up on Bo’s antelope, Kevin came flying down the driveway screaming they had spotted a good muley buck and he was bedded in an area that would be easy to get within range. Since I was the only one in camp with a deer tag I grabbed my TenPoint Phantom CLS crossbow and away we went.

I asked Kevin where Leroy was and he informed me that Kevin had stayed there watching the buck incase the buck were to get up and move on us. When we got there we ran around the ridge to where the buck was and Leroy was still on his belly pointing down the hill letting us know he was still there.

We went to our hands and knee’s and snuck the last 20 yards into range. I pulled my Nikon rangefinder out put it on him and it read 43 yards. I adjusted for the steep angle asked Kevin if he had the camera on him and once I was given the o.k. I let the arrow fly. The Spitfire XP hit the mark perfectly and the buck went down in sight.

What a blessing it is to have the opportunity to see such beautiful country and pursue the animals God has put on this earth for us to enjoy. And I can’t thank Kevin and Leroy enough for there help in taking this buck, he’s not mine he’s OUR’S.