When hunting deer in eastern Colorado, you might have to cross your fingers and channel your inner reptile.
Bill Lambert of West Monroe, Louisiana, never imagined he'd find himself belly-crawling with a weapon after leaving the military. But the old training came in handy while he was deer hunting in Kiowa County, Colorado, in December 2014. He and his guide, Ty McFarland, covered more than half a mile that way, just to scoot in range of some bedded whitetails.
The veteran Louisiana hunter's desire to shoot a mule deer led him to Colorado. He applied for a muley permit there in 2014, but he wound up with only a whitetail tag. Afterward, he booked a hunt at the Dallas Safari Club convention.
On the fourth day, his guide glimpsed two bucks and three does following a fence about 2 miles distant. The larger buck, which the guide thought would score 160, was the one they'd been hoping for three days to encounter.
A lot of open ground separated the guys and the deer, which had bedded behind a wall of tumbleweeds. The men closed to within a mile by crouch-walking, and then they got down on their bellies to wriggle within shooting range.
Five hours passed from the time they left the truck until Bill shrugged out of his backpack to use it as a rest for his .300 Win Mag.
When the wind shifted to the hunters' backs, the smaller buck stood. The big 5x6 soon followed, but only its head and antlers were visible above the tumbleweeds.
"I couldn't see enough of the deer to make the shot," Bill told John Phillips, who wrote the story for the February issue of Rack magazine.
His guide, however, told Bill to punch through the brush.
He did, and the animal collapsed. Only when they stood over it did the guide realize he'd underestimated the deer's rack by at least 20 inches. Its BTR composite score is 185 1/8.
Bill would've been elated either way.
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