My personal best Mule deer I killed was my first, I was with my best friend who is still my best friend, we were hunting the Tonto, he missed a monster the day before with a savage 300 open sights, I killed one the next morning with a savage 99 in 308 with a redfield 4x scope, running full out on a lower ridge about 250 yds on my hind feet, spined him, drt right there. First deer for either of us, his dad showed up in camp when we had got back, we packed it out whole wanting to hang it and show it off, it was a bitch with a canyon between us and the jeep. His dad made a big deal of it, this from a man that killed big bucks in the Kaibab back when tags were bought at the sports store and good for state wide. Back then pictures weren't taken and after butchering the heads were tossed out by the corrals for the dogs to haul off and chew on in the citrus groves. Some of the heads those oldtimers would toss away from the Kaibab would make todays trophy hunting elites cry, they were gnarly and huge. My buck was big, I had bragging rights that year... and it ate well... the memory is enough.
