Posted on: November 2nd, 2010 Two Wyoming Public-Land Monsters

Two Wyoming Public-Land Monsters

By Owen Kimberling

This all started with me up and moving my family almost 1500 miles away. In May 2010, I decided to leave the wonderful, dysfunctional and broke state of California to make a better life in Wyoming. The move was definitely the best decision of my life, other than marrying my wife of course.  We moved to a little town called Gillette, which sits in the northeast corner of Wyoming. This was a great decision, especially for hunting.

I had only been there about a month when I realized that this was the West and that seeing 100 antelope a day was normal and that deer roaming the streets of town was commonplace.  I immediately started to do some research of the area and quickly learned that the county here was mostly private. Public land was out there, but small in comparison to the private property.

Archery season for deer opened September 1 and my dad made the trip down to hunt with me. On opening morning just after daylight, I spotted a big mule deer buck lying in the sage watching the cars go by. I estimated him to be about 27-28” wide and a 4×4. With the wind and my half hour stalk, I sneaked within 5 FEET of him and flat out missed, shooting short and hitting the bank between him and me. My dad and my son, Mason, watched the whole thing in disbelief. Let me tell you I was disgusted, but I pushed on.

About an hour later, my dad spotted another big 4×3 lying under a cliff. This buck was also big but he was in a horrible spot. We worked a plan and again I was off on another stalk. This time I got within 15 yards but couldn’t shoot. He jumped thanks to the Wyoming winds and I missed at 43 yards!  Within about three hours on opening day, I had missed two huge Wyoming bucks with my bow.

So my dad and I planned our attack for October 1, which was opening day for rifle season. Again my dad made the trip to hunt with my sister, Cassie, and me. We made a plan but quickly had it busted opening morning with the arrival of about 40 non-resident hunters. The first day was long but we saw a lot of deer–nothing worth shooting. My dad and I found an area opening day that had a lot of does in it and we recognized even the FBI would call this a clue.

The next day we checked out another area and saw some deer, even passing a couple of bucks. Without a deer, my dad returned home but it was a great time for my sister and me. It had been a few years since the three of us had hunted together. My dad and I talked throughout the week and we decided that the best place to go was where we saw all the does. It would be a great decision in the end.

The next Saturday came around and my sister and I were ready. We got into the area at daylight and waited to get into the country so we could see. We made our way up the canyon, seeing a lot of does but no bucks. About three miles in, we came over the hill and there were two bucks lying in the road.  We looked at them for a while, but decided to pass on them. One was a little three-point and the other was a small three-pointer. My sister decided that they needed to grow up so we pushed on.

Moving on, I had a sudden gut feeling to look around. We went about 100 yards and there he was a huge buck lying in the sagebrush. He was only about 100 yards from us. He froze staring at us with his horns sticking out of the brush. I told my sister to get a rest and let him have it. The buck was lying in his bed and was not going to get up. My sister took aim and the buck never made it out of his bed. We walked up to him and my sister couldn’t believe what she had done.  She looked at me and said thanks.  That was the best feeling for me. My sister really made me laugh when she looked at the buck and said he looks like a small cow.

The buck was a 4×4 and measured 27” wide. I immediately called my dad who was hunting in Montana and told him of our news; he was excited for my sister. This was the biggest buck my sister had ever killed. We kept hunting for me but had no luck.

The next Saturday we headed back to the same area. We saw about 40 deer but just a couple of little bucks. My sister was still going hunting with me because she felt liked she owed me.  She asked me what our plan of attack was for Sunday. I checked the weather and told her we were going to get a cold front in and I said were going back to our spot. I know from many years of hunting that you go where the action is and the does are there. Sunday morning we headed in once again at daylight. We saw a decent buck at daylight on the way in. My sister looked at me and said,  “What you think?”

I told her, “No, I can’t, we aren’t even in there yet.” So we continued in. We got past where Cassie shot her buck and I stopped on a hillside to glass the countryside. I saw a deer about a mile away and instantly knew it was a buck—and a good one. I quickly threw up my spotting scope and told my sister, “He’s a good buck, really heavy and at least a four-pointer.” She said lets go get him. We planned an attack and executed it.

We found the bowl the buck was in and made a stalk. I saw him feeding a couple of hundred yards in front of us. We circled around and came from behind of him. He never knew we were there and we were only 100 yards away. With one shot from my .300 Ultra Mag, the big buck was down.  I turned and gave my sister a hug and she told me, “You did it. Hell yeah!”

As we walked up to the buck, he kept getting bigger. He turned out to be a heavy 4×4, about 25” wide. He was an old buck with a lot of mass and 2” eye guards, one of which was forked. I called my dad and just started laughing when he answered the phone. He said,  “How big is he?” I told my dad the story and he told me congratulations.

All I can say is that with hard work and scouting, anything can happen. I have only been in Wyoming for six months and I can’t imagine what the future will bring.  So in reality two huge Wyoming bucks on public land in less than 20 days of hunting!

                              Cassie Linduska with a Great Muley

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