Four for Four in the Four Corners
Rocky Mountain Mule Deer Hunting in Cortez, Colorado
By Mike Wheaton

Outdoor Buddies and the National Wild Turkey Federation’s (NWTF) Four Corners Gobblers chapter teamed up for a special mule deer hunt outside of Cortez, Colorado affording four handi-buddies the opportunity to hunt monster muleys in the southwest corner of the state.  It would be my first big game hunt since becoming a wheelchair user and first chance at shooting a buck.

The weekend started out with a long seven-hour road trip from Denver.  Hunt coordinator Harry Sickafuse and fellow handi-buddy Bill Overfield kindly picked me up and we enjoyed getting to know each other on the drive.  Great conversation and the majestic views of golden aspen leaves on the mountainous journey made the trip seem rather quick and by early afternoon, we strolled into Cortez.

After checking into the hotel, we met up with our guide and president of the local NWTF chapter, Tim Bates.  Tim led us to the location where we were to hunt the next day which included several plots of land maintained by a local rancher named Greg Black.  Greg joined us as we scoped out the areas – mostly wheat fields framed with sagebrush and piñonpines. We saw several deer but most were does and smaller bucks but one thing was for certain - there were a lot of choices of where to hunt and the deer were plentiful.

We enjoyed dinner courtesy of the NWTF at a local restaurant and met the others in our hunting party which included a handi-buddy from Texas named Chad Waligura, his father and a friend, as well as two other guides, Stetson Conrad and Mike Jenkins. Also in attendance was a rancher named Rocky Neely and his son named Denver.  At the conclusion of dinner it was decided that Mike Jenkins would guide Chad on Rocky’s ranch while Tim, Stetson and Harry would take Bill and I on Greg Black’s land the next morning.

Bill and I could hardly sleep that first night thinking of the next morning’s hunt and by 5 a.m., we were loaded up in Harry’s vehicle following Tim and Stetson to our hunt location.  We decided that Bill would get the first shot and as sunrise was approaching, we saw a small herd of deer less than 100 yards away.  After trying several times to adjust to a good shooting position, Bill simply could not get in a good position on that side of the vehicle in which to shoot so we decided to change positions and I moved to the back seat of the car.  It was simply a matter of a few minutes later that Tim spotted a mature four by four point buck in the back of the wheat field and instructed me to load a cartridge into my rifle.  I could hardly see the buck in my scope as the sun rose on the horizon shining a ray of light into the lens.

“It’s about 430 yards away – think you get hit it from here?” Tim said excitingly.  “I’ll do my best,” I replied.  The pressure was mounting and I was having a hard time keeping my breath as I kept the buck in my sights. He was moving behind a doe and a smaller buck and I felt my heart racing.  “Calm down,” Harry said as I tried to keep my barrel locked on the target.  “Wait until he comes out then aim for the top of his shoulder,” Tim advised as he gave account for the trajectory at the long distance.  I waited until he was clear, held my breath and aimed for the spot that Tim advised then slowly squeezed the trigger.  “He’s down, he’s down!” Harry shouted.  “You got him!” Bill yelled and I think I heard a “I can’t believe it,” from someone but I was too excited to know who actually said it if it was even said at all.  Harry, Tim and Stetson jumped out of the truck and headed off to the downed deer.  “Wow – you got him!” Bill said as he reached out to give me a high-five.  “Well he’s not in the boat yet,” I replied as I wasn’t sure if he would jump up and run into the woods or not.  “No, I’m sure you got him,” Bill assured me and sure enough, I downed my first buck with one shot at an impressive 433-yard distance according to Tim’s range finder.

After inspecting my kill, Tim called up Greg to bring out the four-wheeler to help them get the deer out of the field and like clockwork, the deer was unloaded, field dressed and loaded on the back of Stetson’s truck and we were off to Stetson’s dad’s ranch to hang and cool off the carcass.  What was even more impressive was the skill and precision of which Stetson had with a knife and within an hour and a half of the kill, the carcass was skinned and hung in a cool shed and we were off to join our hunting party to assist Bill.

Since Bill was unable to get situated shooting out of a vehicle, Tim suggested that he would probably do best hunting from a portable blind so after stopping by Tim’s house to pick up the blind and a tripod of which to shoot from, we headed off to Greg Blake’s ranch to pick up his four wheeler and Tim, Stetson and Bill loaded up and headed off deep into the woods. 

After waiting for a few hours, Tim spotted a large four by five point buck hiding behind a large piñon pine about 300 yards from the blind and instructed Bill to keep his sights on the large deer.  Bill would spend the better part of a half an hour looking through his scope waiting for the buck to come out from behind the pine tree.  The buck would not comply and with the sun beginning to set, Bill’s opportunity was also beginning to dwindle.  He only had a small opportunity for a front side sternum shot at 300 yards with darkness beginning to set in.  Bill carefully aimed, took a shot and hit the buck in the only spot he could.  Stetson ran down to find the deer but darkness already set in and he could not find a blood trail.  Assured that the buck was down, it was decided that they would have to wait until the next morning in which to find the deer.

As the next morning arose, Tim, Stetson and Harry headed to the woods where Bill shot his buck and in a matter of minutes, they found the kill and dragged him back.  It was just as Bill said - a large four by five point buck.  It would be Bill’s first buck and a big one at that.  We loaded him up and headed off to Stetson’s dad’s ranch once again to process the carcass.  Stetson and Tim carefully caped out the buck for a shoulder mount and after several pictures, we loaded up Harry’s vehicle for our long ride back to Denver.

Later the next day, Chad would have success at the same spot of Bill’s kill with a large two by two buck at the same distance and the next weekend, George Carter would also bag a two by two buck at the same location and fashion as mine.  In all, it was an extremely successful hunt for all four of us and I would definitely suggest this hunt to any handi-buddy interested in hunting mule deer.  The deer were plentiful, the guides were extremely knowledgeable and professional and the scenery was simply outstanding.

A special thanks goes out to Tim Bates, Stetson and Gary Conrad, Mike Jenkins, Rocky Neely, Greg Black, Harry Sickafuse and of course, Outdoor Buddies and the NWTF’s Four Corners Gobblers chapter for making this hunt a huge success!
 

This article is reprinted here with permission from the author.