Almost 3 years ago I met Scott and Jeremy Kuhn with Deer Meadows Outfitters of Western Nebraska. We met up in the spring of 2008 for a Merriam turkey hunt. I quickly learned that they had some awesome ground for not only turkeys, but also for mule deer.

Finally this past summer I got a spot and stalk mule deer hunt setup with the guys and needless to say, I was extremely excited to get up there to chase mulies for my first time. Shawn and I arrived in camp last Saturday and met up with Scott to do a little scouting and get ready for the hunt the following morning.

Over the next few days, Shawn, Jeremy, and I walked miles upon miles across the Nebraska Sandhills chasing big mulies. We had countless encounters with deer and I was extremely humbled by these animals. Being predominately a whitetail hunter, I quickly realized how truly spoiled we are. Not only is it extremely difficult to sneak up on these mature bucks, but drawing, popping up, and getting a shot off in mere seconds proved to be an even bigger challenge.

Finally, on the last day, we thought it was all going to come together. Shawn and I got 30 yards from a big 4×4 that was bedded in a small bowl all by himself. We tried to get him to stand up, but when he finally did, he was too low in the bowl and we could only see his head and neck. He quickly looked our way and the bounced off. I was absolutely crushed – I could already taste the tag soup. We kept our heads up and continued walking the hills. We decided to check a hill range where we had seen numerous mature deer and that is when Jeremy spotted him. Bedded deep in a huge bowl, he was in the perfect spot. Shawn and I closed the distance, raised up and I let the arrow fly. The shot was perfect and he only made it about 100 yards before piling up. This hunt was truly one to remember – All the challenging elements and close calls made it that much more worth it. I can’t thank Jeremy and Shawn enough for sticking it out with me over this past week!