I began acquiring points for mule deer in Colorado. Seventeen points later, and after talking with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, we knew that we could draw any tag in the state that we wanted. After contacting several MuleyCrazy friends, a few huntin’ fools, and some local biologists, we decided on a unit and began planning our hunt for the trophy mule deer. When the draw results came out, my brother and I both held late season Colorado mule deer tags in our hands!

After months of planning, talking with many past tag holders and friends, my brother and I were on our way to Colorado to get ourselves a monster buck. Personally, for this retired Beverly Hills Fire Captain, my excitement was hard to contain. Two other hardcore “mule deer perves” (Jonah Stewart and Joe Barrattias) joined us in our quest for the perfect big buck. Jonah and Joe had already had a day to look around for the monser bucks before we arrived and when we saw the excitement on their faces, we knew it was going to be a great hunt! 

We had four days to scout the monster bucks before the season began and I was nothing short of amazed by the quality of big bucks we were seeing. It was common to see 30 to 50 four-point or better big bucks per day! On our last morning of scouting, we finally found the monster buck we called “Moose” and man was he was amazing! The palmation in his antlers started at the bases and continued all the way out to the tips. As we were filming this great buck, a 180-class buck walked in front of him and we could still see 12 inches of “Moose” above him. His massive antlers weren’t the only impressive thing about him either; his body size was incredible! So much that the rest of the bucks gave him a wide birth as he walked by––he was definitely respected by his peers.

That night we decided that Jonah would hunt the big monster bucks with me, while Joe would hunt the big monster bucks with my brother, Dave. It was a long restless night thinking of the monster mule deer that we had seen earlier that morning.

Opening morning found Jonah and I sitting behind our spotting scopes waiting for the sun to come over the horizon so that we could find the trophy mule deer. We spent the entire day searching for “Moose” and were able to find many other great mule deer, including one big buck that we figured to be in the 190+ plus range. However, we didn’t even give him a second look because we knew the trophy buck we were after was still out there. Light was fading fast on that first evening when suddenly, a seemingly large-bodied mule deer materialized out of a dark timber pocket at 500 yards. “It’s him,” Jonah said, “and he’s chasing a doe!” We watched the massive buck for those last few minutes of light, and were both excited to know that he was still around!

The second morning found us once again waiting for the sun to come up over the canyon. Again, we spent the entire day searching for the great buck, but we never saw him. After talking it over that night, we decided that since there were plenty of does where we had originally spotted our big trophy buck, we should head back to that area. With it being just the beginning stages of the rut, we knew that all it would take is one hot doe and our big monster buck would show himself.

It was now day three of the five day deer hunt and, just like the previous mornings, we headed out in the dark, both anxious and excited at what the day would bring. As the sun was just beginning to come up, we found ourselves overlooking a large sage flat that had scattered timber pockets mingled throughout. There were many mule deer, including one big buck that was in the low 180 range. Nearly a word was spoken as both Jonah and I scanned the countryside with an intent purpose. Two hours later, it finally happened……and it happened fast!

As the monster buck of my dreams suddenly materialized out of a small fold at 250 yards, I knew this was it. I quickly got into position, settled the crosshairs of my 300 Winchester Mag. just behind his front shoulder, took a deep breath, and squeezed off a shot. To be honest, I don’t remember the recoil, but I do remember that the next thing I heard was Jonah yelling, “You hit him!”

With adrenaline flowing, I watched as the monster buck ran about 50 yards and disappeared into a small sage-choked draw. My heart raced as we spent the next half an hour searching with our spotting scopes to make sure the big buck never reappeared from the draw. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally picked up our gear and began making our way to the last spot we had seen the monster buck. We were slowly working our way around the rim when suddenly I heard those three words that make any hunter’s heart skip a beat……“There he is!” Eighteen years of dreams had finally come to an end.

When we approached the massive monster buck, I could barely believe what I was seeing. I was in sheer disbelief and I literally had to sit down a minute just to take it all in! Emotions were running wild and I think Jonah was just as excited as I was! The hard work of scouting and electing to hunt only one monster buck, passing 190-class buck in the process, had finally paid off with an unbelievable 30-inch wide, nine by nine, 219 2/8-inch monster! He was flat-out amazing and it was truly the hunt of a lifetime!

To make the story even better, I was able to go out with my brother and Joe the next day and witness Joe harvest an awesome four by seven big buck as well! Overall it was a great hunt and we were all able to see some amazing bucks. In fact, on the second day of the hunt, Dave passed on an incredible trophy buck that was six inches past his ears and had two droptines. When I asked him why he didn’t shoot, he said because he only had a “Texas heart shot”. I teased him by saying, “I wonder if they pass those shots in Texas?”

It was sad to see our 2007 Colorado deer hunt come to an end, but thanks to some great friends, we will have many memories and plenty of pictures of monster mule deer that will last a lifetime……oh yeah, and two great bucks!