It all started a couple of years ago when a good friend and hunting mentor, John Siegler, and I were talking about hunting mule deer. He told me about a place he had hunted several times years back where they had taken some great deer, a few over 200". He suggested we try to get a hunt set up with Les Ezell at Sierra Grande Outfitters in Colorado. We were able to get five guys to go on the hunt, so we were able to get the entire ranch for our group, which consisted of three hunters from Southern Illinois, one from Arkansas, and one from Kentucky.
The next step was to get ready for the hunt, checking out the gear and buying a few new items. We were shooting our guns as much as possible so we would be ready when the time came. The next thing we knew, it was time to travel to the ranch. The anticipation was building, and everyone was getting super excited. When we arrived at the ranch, it was time to settle in. We took the guns to the shooting range to make sure nothing was knocked out of whack while we were traveling. Then, we all headed to the ranch house to talk about the hunt and see who was guiding who. We discussed that Les Ezell was guiding John Siegler, Larry Kalcevic was guiding Tom Siegler, Braedyn Dagle was guiding John Langenfield, and Bruce Tirey was guiding Greg Kasten. My guide’s name was Jeremiah Waugh. He had been guiding for several years, and one of his specialties was mule deer. I asked him about his name, and he told me he was named after Jeremiah Johnson, the Mountain Man. I was pumped. What could be better than that?
Chef Jesus Matiecitos prepared that evening’s meal, which was some of the best food you could imagine. It was more like a five-star restaurant than hunting camp food. We sat around and talked about what to expect on the hunt and some of the deer they had seen on the ranch. Les started talking about “Elvis.” We asked why he called him Elvis. Les replied, “Because he is The King of the Ranch.” Then he showed us pictures from two years ago and a picture from the prior year. Elvis had grown a lot, but what was more interesting was what he had in his antler, an arrow! It all happened when Jeremiah was guiding a bowhunter in 2020. When he shot the arrow, it went through the ear and buried in his antler. Jeremiah and the rest of the guides hunted for Elvis the rest of that season with no luck.
The next day was the first day of the hunt. We saw tons of deer, just no shooters. We talked about Elvis a lot, hoping to see him. On days two, three, and four, we looked at all kinds of deer. As we studied one deer that was approximately 175-180", Jeremiah and I discussed making a stalk on him. He would have been the largest mule deer I had ever had a chance to take. I told Jeremiah to make the call. He suggested not pursuing him. He told me, “You didn’t come here for that deer. We just need to keep glassing and cover ground, and we will get a chance at a larger mule deer.”
On day five, the last day of the hunt, we headed into an area we had not been in yet. We saw a few deer but no shooters. It was mid-morning, and we came over a hill and saw a group of does in the bottom of a large canyon. We stopped and glassed three or four minutes, and then we of the areas in the canyon. That’s when it happened. I spotted a buck standing halfway up the side of the canyon on a ledge in the shade. He was probably 800 to 900 yards from where we were. Jeremiah took a look at him and said, “I think that might be Elvis, and we have a good chance at him.”
We were sitting in the side-by-side, and Elvis knew we were there. Jeremiah made a game plan. He stayed in the side-by-side as I walked back up the road and dropped down into the canyon while Jeremiah kept his eyes on him to assure he didn’t get spooked. Elvis didn’t move, so Jeremiah proceeded to catch up with me. Once caught up, we were able to keep dirt between us and Elvis. We worked our way up the backside of a hill and proceeded to the top. Jeremiah took a look, and Elvis was still there. The worst thing was when we crested the hill and there wasn’t any cover for us to hide in to set up for a shot. We really didn’t have a choice but to go for it, so we did. We crawled over the top and set up. I laid my pack down and looked through my scope, but the sun’s glare was so bad I could hardly see through it. We were about 250 yards away. By the time I got on him, he had started running up the hill away from us. My first shot hit him in the front shoulder, but it was low. Elvis kept moving up and away from us, so I took a few more shots. I was not sure if I had hit him again or not. He went over the hill and out of sight.
We hustled up and got to the top of the hill so we could get eyes on him. Once we peaked at the hilltop, we noticed him bedded on a shelf in the neighboring canyon. We could tell Elvis was struck by one of my bullets, but it wasn’t enough. We ranged him around 400 yards for the next shot. Dealing with the same conditions as before with the glare of the sun, Jeremiah was doing everything he could to shade my eyes so I could see through my scope. With my Kimber 30-06 being set up dead on at 200 yards, I knew I would have several inches of drop at 400 yards. After running down and back up the canyon to get where we were, my heart was pumping. Plus, I was looking at Elvis bedded 400 yards away. By far, this was the largest deer I’d ever seen. We watched him for a few more minutes as he stayed bedded, which was good because it gave me time to catch my breath and lower my heart rate. Then he stood up. Now he needed to turn broadside. When he turned, I took a deep breath, holding high, and pulled the trigger. The shot stuck him, and he ran off the ledge and up the canyon, which was a dead end. We didn’t think there was any way he could get out, so we started working our way up the canyon slowly and spotted him bedded but with his head up. We were around 70-80 yards away and set up the shooting sticks to see if we could get a clean shot. We had to adjust a bit, and I was able to put my gun back up on the sticks and focus my crosshairs on his neck. Jeremiah and I decided that I should take the shot. I took a deep breath and steadied my shoulder against Jeremiah for the shot. When I pulled the trigger, Elvis rolled over and it was done.
I was the lucky hunter who was able to take Elvis. I think Jeremiah was as happy as I was. He had been chasing Elvis for the past few years. When we walked up to Elvis, he just kept getting larger (no ground shrinkage). One of the first things we looked at was his ear. We confirmed he still had a hole in his ear where the arrow had gone through the previous year. A lot of high fives and hugs followed. After that, we sat back and admired “The King of the Ranch.”
I want to thank Jeremiah, Les, and his crew at Sierra Grande Outfitters for a top-notch hunt and experience. I’m looking forward to going back in 2023.
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