Well, our 2019 hunting season was good to Sierra Grande Outfitters, guides, staff and most of all, to our loyal clients. We started off with a great antelope season, yet were unable to harvest 4 buck antelope that were clearly larger than anything that we did harvest.
Then off to our mule deer hunting!! During our Regular Plains Rifle hunt, we harvested 7 big bucks, the average score was better than 192 gross Boone & Crockett. The very first morning, Mr. Mike Snow harvested a giant 213" non-typical on a day that temperatures reached the mid-80s. The following days were much colder, eventually turning into a blizzard and Mr. David Biggs harvested a giant typical followed by Mr. Edward Epperson harvesting another great non-typical. On the last day of the first hunt with plenty of snow on the ground, Mr. Kirk Schwab was successful in harvesting a very good typical.
As we progressed into the second hunt, Mr. Hudson Gardner started by ball rolling by harvesting an exceptional non-typical. Hudson make a great shot over 300 yards and on his second shot, connected to land this 14 year-old young man a supreme trophy mule deer!! Mr. Gary Ogletree followed Hudson the next day by harvesting yet another good non-typical. We went down to the last afternoon. I was fortunate to guide Mr. Chris Woods. The day was saved by one of our other guides, Mr. Jeremiah Waugh, and Chris ended a beautiful evening to harvest a great typical. What a great Regular Plains season! Many sincere thanks to all our clients, guides and staff!!
Not to be completely outdone, we followed up with 3 exceptional weeks of archery mule deer hunts. We actually harvested 4 bucks and our average score was right at 180 P&Y gross points. We did wound 2 bucks that we never recovered or saw again and wounded 2 others that we watched chase does and actually hunted again. Everyone had one or more shooting opportunities!
Congrats to Mr. Ron Siple, Mr. Randy Weaver, Sr., Mr. Randy Weaver, Jr., and Mr. Dean Stevens on all your great archery skills and bucks! It's always a little tougher hunt with a bow and, furthermore, placing a good shot. Mr. Randy Weaver, Sr. harvested his buck at 74 yards! His guide ,Mr. Bruce Tirey, and he sat on the buck from noon until dark. There was very little movement from the buck and no way to get in another shot. They found him the next morning where apparently the buck stumbled off a cliff into a deep canyon as the photo shows.
One of the most amazing facts we had about this exceptional mule deer season was not just the big, mature deer we had to hunt, but the number of "up and coming" bucks we photographed and put "off limits" this season so they can at least gain another year of growth. We left numerous big, mature bucks as well the "up and comers" for next year. I think we should be in for another exceptional year in 2020.
Now it's off to Sonora, MX where we are also expecting a very exceptional season south of the border, too! (Photos to follow soon)
Happy Hunting to all and Happy New Year.
Then off to our mule deer hunting!! During our Regular Plains Rifle hunt, we harvested 7 big bucks, the average score was better than 192 gross Boone & Crockett. The very first morning, Mr. Mike Snow harvested a giant 213" non-typical on a day that temperatures reached the mid-80s. The following days were much colder, eventually turning into a blizzard and Mr. David Biggs harvested a giant typical followed by Mr. Edward Epperson harvesting another great non-typical. On the last day of the first hunt with plenty of snow on the ground, Mr. Kirk Schwab was successful in harvesting a very good typical.
As we progressed into the second hunt, Mr. Hudson Gardner started by ball rolling by harvesting an exceptional non-typical. Hudson make a great shot over 300 yards and on his second shot, connected to land this 14 year-old young man a supreme trophy mule deer!! Mr. Gary Ogletree followed Hudson the next day by harvesting yet another good non-typical. We went down to the last afternoon. I was fortunate to guide Mr. Chris Woods. The day was saved by one of our other guides, Mr. Jeremiah Waugh, and Chris ended a beautiful evening to harvest a great typical. What a great Regular Plains season! Many sincere thanks to all our clients, guides and staff!!
Not to be completely outdone, we followed up with 3 exceptional weeks of archery mule deer hunts. We actually harvested 4 bucks and our average score was right at 180 P&Y gross points. We did wound 2 bucks that we never recovered or saw again and wounded 2 others that we watched chase does and actually hunted again. Everyone had one or more shooting opportunities!
Congrats to Mr. Ron Siple, Mr. Randy Weaver, Sr., Mr. Randy Weaver, Jr., and Mr. Dean Stevens on all your great archery skills and bucks! It's always a little tougher hunt with a bow and, furthermore, placing a good shot. Mr. Randy Weaver, Sr. harvested his buck at 74 yards! His guide ,Mr. Bruce Tirey, and he sat on the buck from noon until dark. There was very little movement from the buck and no way to get in another shot. They found him the next morning where apparently the buck stumbled off a cliff into a deep canyon as the photo shows.
One of the most amazing facts we had about this exceptional mule deer season was not just the big, mature deer we had to hunt, but the number of "up and coming" bucks we photographed and put "off limits" this season so they can at least gain another year of growth. We left numerous big, mature bucks as well the "up and comers" for next year. I think we should be in for another exceptional year in 2020.
Now it's off to Sonora, MX where we are also expecting a very exceptional season south of the border, too! (Photos to follow soon)
Happy Hunting to all and Happy New Year.
Chris Woods was able to harvest him this year (2017) and you can see how much horn growth he put on.
On the other hand, we had another buck we named "The Beast" last year and mainly saw him only during our archery hunts. Here a photo of him in 2015.
Mike Gardner was able to harvest him this year. He is still a monster typical. You can see has regressed, since he is an older buck. Last year we felt he would net B&C.
It was an honor and privilege to have Mr. Fred Larson join us again. This makes his 24th consecutive year to hunt with us. He has harvested numerous trophy Rocky Mountain and Desert mule deer, antelope, elk, coues deer, and a B&C desert sheep as noted on the "Testimonial" page of our website.
Mr. Fred was down to his last bullet in his rifle and connected with this drop horn buck at 337 running. He can shoot, too!
Mr. Fred was down to his last bullet in his rifle and connected with this drop horn buck at 337 running. He can shoot, too!
Here are some more bucks we harvested in 2016. We hope to add more stories.
We had a blast on our archery deer hunts! As always, we were hunting in the rut and got to see numerous big bucks. We harvested 3 bucks for 7 clients with shot ranging from 12 to 70 yards. Every hunter was able to get on bucks with most taking shots. The best archery buck harvested grossed 188 P&Y.
Our antelope hunts went very well and were a lot of fun! We were 4 of 4 on harvests with Don Roberts harvesting the best buck at 592 yards! We thought we set the bar only to come into camp and find Moe Desmarias had dropped his buck at 1,090 yards!!!! For clients who are interested in long range shooting, this can be a great hunt to do just that!
