THE MULEY THAT GOT AWAY

 Last Fall I went on my third mule deer hunt – first time in Unit 13. We made three scouting trips before the hunt and found the perfect camping area on the East side of Brazo Canyon. We heard that most of the big deer in that area hang out in that canyon so we hunted it hard for the first few days, then spread out to more remote areas around the canyon.

On Sunday we got up early and reheated some dutch oven cobbler from the night before. I could smell the coffee brewing on the stove while it was still dark and I slowly became conscious. It was hard getting out of bed and stepping out into the cold at 5:30 a.m. but the coffee and cobbler eased the pain. We stoked up the fire and warmed up before the hunt anticipating what the day had in store – dreaming of that trophy muley waiting for us out there in the dark. I put on my camo over about three or four layers of clothes, laced up my boots, and looked over my Remington 700 – 300 Win Mag bazooka. My shoulder was still sore from sighting in that big gun two weeks before the hunt. We headed out West of the canyon and hiked about three miles through the woods. Elk and deer tracks were everywhere. At one point I was walking through a wash and found fresh bear tracks – probably from that morning – which got my heart pumping a little. I moved slowly through the wash and through the trees anticipating either a big deer or a hungry black bear at every turn. Every once in a while a rabbit would jump out of the brush in front of me and I could feel the adrenaline shoot through my body and make my stomach turn just enough so I could taste a mix of half digested cobbler and coffee. No deer on that morning. We regrouped and made our way back to camp, took off our boots and basked in the sun for a while. We heated up some coffee and sat around talking about the morning hunt. I took out my Bible and read a passage from Matthew 6 and we talked about how life is so busy back at home. We talked about the things in this life that are really going to last and kind of made a commitment that we would spend more time doing the things that really matter when we go back to the city – like spending time with God, serving and loving our families, not worrying so much… and stuff like that. We prayed together and thanked God for all the blessing He’s given us – like coffee… and cobbler… 300 Win Magnums… and protecting me from being bear food. That night we enjoyed Bob’s now famous dutch over chicken and biscuits, and warmed up around a huge fire courtesy of Rich’s chain saw and an old dead New Mexican tree.

On the evening of our last full hunting day we were driving back through the canyon and spotted a small heard of dos and a big buck – right where everyone said they would be. We parked the car and walked away from the road to set up a shot. One of our hunting buddies took a long shot but missed. We tried to track the heard for a little while but they went on to better cover.

Even though we didn’t bag a buck on that hunt it was an awessome experience just getting out there and spending that time with good friends. We cooked up some incredible food and enjoyed some of the best country in New Mexico. The weather was mostly warm during the day but we froze out butts off at night. But there’s nothing like getting away from the city and hanging out with good friends. We just took it all in the whole time we were out there. We had some good laughs and just talked about hunting and friends and God and how cool it is that we get to do this kind of stuff. Thanks Mark, Rich, and Bob for the awesome four days out in the wilderness! I’ll never forget it!

Let me know if anyone needs any maps or info on Unit 13 – we got to know the area really well. We’re due for some trophy bucks next season!

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Dan Lewis is the pastor of Soul Rio Church and founder of Crosshairs for Christ, a Christian ministry with a desire to connect and change lives by spreading Christ’s message to sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts through activity-based fellowship. For more information contact Dan, dan@soulrio.com.