Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting EASTERN NEW MEXICO SANDHILLS BUCK.....

Got invited on a mule deer hunt in Eastern New Mexico. I felt like I was hunting in the desert sand dunes with shinery covering the dunes. Saw alot of deer, we let 2 30 inch, 180 plus bucks get away. Was 2nd in line to shoot, and first in line was my good friends son. Just could not get a good shot. Found this buck from atop of an oil pumpjack, about 1 mile away. Put a stalk on him, floored him at 60 yds with my 338 Rum, 200 grain combined technology bt. DRT. Not a monster, but a cool buck. To my suprise, he has a 4 inch, screw pt coming off his right side between his base, and browtine. Killed 2 other bucks, the one pictured in the truck, and another big fork horn. To say this is some of the toughest, country to hunt for me would be an understatment. I have never hunted anywhere that you could not get high and glass. We made it work, by climbing up on oil pumpjacks, and windmills.



I ran off and forgot my camara, so the pics were taken back at the house.

Toby Joe

grrr,,,Great bucks.

WOW!

Big Mule Deer make me all twitchy....

Ingwe

Great deer bud! Were u out there with 2 hunting some of my old leases? It's FUN country to hunt!

Damn.........

Nice,
I'm going to west Tx for one. I'm not sure what to expect being a Mi-flatlander.

What is the average body size for a mature buck ?

thanks

Tim

Drummond-- 2, Mike, and 2's son and me. It is some very fun country to hunt. There is alot more deer there then you see, thats forsure. You will have to have 2 tell you the story about his buck, its pretty entertaining.

Toby Joe

Nice bucks with GREAT browtines.

These sandhill mulies are some of the biggest body deer that I have ever killed. It took 4 of us to load my buck in the truck. There was no doubting when you found a mature buck, he looked like a yearling steer standing out there. I didnt weigh my buck, but just guessing, he was bumping 300 lbs. He was very old, and his teeth were at the gum lines.
Your west Texas deer, or the ones around Alpine, are not going to be this big, or from my expierence, they will not be.
I have never seen deer as fat as these bucks that we killed this weekend. There was a 1 inch thick layer of tallo over there back staps running to their butt.
The shinery was full of acorns this year down there, and range conditions looked very good.

Toby Joe

Toby,

A SE NM buck I killed last week had the exact thing as you describe. 1-1/2" layers of hard tallow all over its back half...

I also saw lots of acorns and still a few mesquite beans...

sounds like some good healthy deer.

Good heavy racks, very nice. How far from the Texas line were you hunting?

Toby, great bucks. That is indeed tough country to hunt, but you did well. We're off this weekend and next week chasing them in the West Texas dunes. Most people will not believe the body size of those desert bucks. I was at the taxidermist with my buck last year and a guy brought in a big buck. We weighed the field dressed buck @ 268lbs. Mine was just as big.

I would say as the crow flies, probably 50 miles. That is just a poorly educated guess without looking at map.

Toby Joe

I could really get into hunting this country. Jumping them out of the dunes, and getting them while they are running off is right up my ally. I got invited to do it again next year, but next year, we are going to plan a complete week, and I will be a little more selective. I seen some damn big deer, but with just 2 days, and trying to kill 4 bucks in 2 days, I couldnt hardly let a decent buck walk.


Toby Joe

Obviously odds go up if you spend a week out there. 4 bucks in 2 days is pretty stout TJ. I hunted hard last year and finally killed my buck on the 7th day. You're really limited in NM too with use of 4 wheelers to get you into the "boon docks".

Congrats on a fine buck - he sure looks like a brute of a deer.

Many of us would consider him to be a monster and awesome, to boot.

Wild landscapes in E NM. Lunar,

Nice bucks Toby Joe. Much easier for my eyes to see here than on the cell phone's little screen. I'd sure like to see your buck's equal in the next 10 to 11 days. It would be especially nice to see him in my crosshairs!

Not nocking the size of the buck. I liked him, or I would have not pulled the trigger on him. Just compared to some of the bucks that we seen, this buck was just a little above average. I love to shoot big stuff, but most importantly I was with good friends, and having a good time. Would have been happy with no buck, but if I would have had a few more days to hunt, I probably would have not pulled the trigger on this guy the first evening.

Toby Joe