I finally punched out my buck tag last night.  I had been holding out for a Muley Buck.
They seem to be increasingly hard to find this year. But I had this guy on my place
in the Bull Mountains, Montana. I have been chasing him around since the opener and
he was getting really good at giving me the slip and winding me. We had our first snow
yesterday (very late this year) and I knew it would be a great day to get out after him.
I figured the snow and a cold snap would kick start the early rut so I brought a grunt
tube along and grunted every half hour or so.  Bout an hour before dusk I grunted and
sure enough he grunted back and came in pushing a doe and 2 fawns in front of him.
I had to be extra careful not to get busted by the does so I put my finger tab on the
string and raised up in ready. It was forever til they finally walked in to a reasonable
range. All the while gripping the string as they wandered in, putting him on the trail
roughly 10 yards away. I drew and as I released my tab stuck to the string and the arrow
didn't leave clean. Only thing I can figure is that the tab was wet and froze to the string.
My arrow did still make contact a little low and a little far back, and Although not a
completely text book recovery, I gave him plenty of time and then followed the tracks
in the snow. No blood showed in 100 yards so I did the responsible thing and backed
out til morning. I picked up the tracks the next morning and followed him through the
maze of deer tracks in the fresh snow. It really put my tracking to the test with no
blood to follow. A younger me would have given up after a couple hundred yards. Im really
glad I didnt! As I furthered my hunt I spotted some tiny specks of blood in the snow
and eventually it turned into a trickle. I continued with caution and then a raven flew
up off the ground and I figured "I bet thats him". I continued slow, ready for a follow
up but sure enough he was piled up already expired.
      Not a huge buck by any means but I was plenty happy for my first Muley Buck with a bow.
3x3 stag horn.  Took him with one of my "Twistedlimbs" Osage bows, a cane arrow and a
stone point I knapped out of Keokuk Chert. The arrow passed through both sides and
I recovered the arrow and point intact and still very sharp.  so not only did I get my
first Muley bucK, but I also put another down this year with stone.
     

Ryan what is there not to like with how everything turned out. Nice muley great recovery and great job on crafting the whole outfit. Nice. tm

Awesome.  sure glad you got him.  I go to SD on Friday and hope to get a mulie buck with my bow. If I get one as big as yours I will be a very happy camper !
ChuckC

How cool is this?.... Way!...I'm saying..

 

Nice job and a nice buck. What are the pecks on your self bow,length and draw weight?

Very nice Buck and Bow,that napped point looks awesome,congrats

Very, very Cool!!

Nice buck!

Bob

Mighty fine job all the way around.

Great!!! JG

Very good handy work making that arrow, and good hunting skills, I'm happy for you brother.

thanks much guys.
specs on the bow
   its my 93rd selfbow ive made.  its 60" long and 66# @ 25"   I have a bad form, short draw length..lol but ive been shooting that way my whole life and im not changing now.

That is awesome and with a stone point , congrats  

That's awesome.  Congrats!

I thought it looked like a pretty hefty bow.Did that stone point do a good bit of damage compared to a reguler broadhead? I have been useing stone this year too but havnt scored yet.I plan on useing my bows durring gun season here too so hopefully i will connect sooner or later.Im shooting a recurve right now but will have a hill style longbow next week and hope to have a selfbow before spring.

Ryan, Great job. I like your set-up. Good shooting.

Congratulations on a well earned deer!  Don't know how you define "huge" but he looks pretty good to me.  What did the chert point take out?

A friend collects heads from old  Indian sites here in the northeast, hoping to get a few heads that are sharp enough to use. He gave my brother an old stone scraper awhile back, we used it to skin out a deer awhile back,really awesome the way  it worked so well. Almost easier than a knife. Back then everything was ergonomic. It had finger grooves and was cut to fit your hand.Really awesome. Joim G

Very cool!

chris <><

awesome congrats.

Great job and nice write-up with pictures. He looks like a real fine buck. You definitely deserved that buck, your persistence is commendable and your homemade selfbow, arrow and point are admirable. What poundage was your bow? Thanks for a great story.