I like open-country mule deer hunting like the kind that’s found in West Texas down near the border. It’s dynamically different than the whitetail hunting I do at home in the Alleghany Mountains, partly because I spend a lot of time behind a binocular and a spotting scope, trying to pick a buck out of the black bush and honey mesquite that litters the landscape. Then, once I find a buck, I still need to size him up at distance to determine if a stalk is worth the effort. I did a lot of that last January while hunting with High West Outfitters just outside of Presidio, Texas, only about 10 miles from the Mexico border.
The ranch was immense and butted up against Big Bend Ranch State Park. We covered the country in an open-cab side-by-side, and while it was a bit chilly in the early hours, by mid-morning the weather was stellar. Every day we saw big bucks, and we looked at all of them long and hard. Josh Coffey, my guide, is a young and talented Texas hunter with more experience under his belt than his age would
