Mike Thanks so much for the great stories about how it used to be here in Wyoming. I remember seeing your dad's film, "High Wild and Free, " in the movie theater when I was a kid. Please keep the stories coming.
Great story Mike. I’ve been fallowing you and your family for almost 30 years my dad moved us to Afton from 90-94 to fall timber. Your family name is very respected in that area. My father was able to harvest some very nice trophy mule deer in that time, one in particular was a 30” 6x9 all inline no drops or kickers, unfortunately it broke up tumbling down a scree field but he was lucky to find all the pieces. Not sure the year but you saw it at the local taxidermy and put a picture in your magazine of it. Thank you for telling these old stories they’re great to listen too.
I would like to say back then all of the west had thousands of mule deer and that we thought it wouldn't change but slowly it did never to come back in those numbers again. It's sad!
Great video. I’m a 7th generation land owner in eastern Oregon and I love hunting mule deer more then anything, the populations have suffered tremendously due to the cougars mainly and now we are starting to see wolves as well. Great video, I love hearing your stories.
Wolves will take down the elk population. I lived next to the Absaroka Beartooth wilderness and know what the can do to mule deer, elk, and moose populations.
@@BlazedTrailsForgotten Very true. Making it illegal to hunt cougars with dogs has made their population grow rapidly. And I know what you mean about Wolves, we’ve even had some neighbors ranches have problems with calves falling prey to the wolves
Great story that I really enjoyed. Army guy here and I was just a little younger so missed the whole VN deal. Anyway been hunting white tails in PA and NJ for the 40 years or so. Nothing like you talked about of course. But we still go out and it’s the best of times. Wish I had a chance to experience some of the things I expect you have done but I’m not complaining one bit. Still love the hard work involved in dragging deer other the hills with my brother and looking forward to this fall as much as ever. So thank you for the story. Hope to hear more from you. Be well.
Love your stories!! Been watching you and your family for 30 years. The big buck in the snow floating across the snake river is my favorite and first video of ANYBODY killing a monster mule deer!!!! Your dad and you should get a shout from everyone for filming hunting videos!!!! You started !! Fair chase is the only way. Love that .
I will post one maybe next week just before I leave for an Africa assignment on a 38-foot drift in the Beartooth wilderness at 10,994 ft. pass. The first time it's been documented.
Thanks very much for sharing your story of the good old days, boy how it’s changed, especially in Jackson Hole! What’s your favorite rifle caliber for mule deer hunting Mike? Thanks and God Bless you and all your family.
I have a similar story. I was gone to Washington state for almost 6 years and never went home on leave. When I did, a place that built me as a man and hunter. One of my favorite places on earth had been clear cut. I just sat there and cried for a while and ma dd's e my peace with it and have never been back.
Certainly enjoyed this story. And very pleased you made it home from your military experience in Vietnam. Thank you for serving! It appears you have lived a full and blessed life. But even more so, I hope your name is written in the Lambs book of life. God bless you and your family! Jesus is King!
Awesome story. Felt like I was there. Been in similar situations. And yes a 170 buck going away will look gigantic. You're a little older than I am, I missed the Viet Nam war by a year. We also had mule deer heaven in the early 70's here in Montana. Almost no deer here now and I've hunted the same mountain for 55 years, liberal season, people, and tons of predators. Love to hear more stories.
I authored a book, "Hunting High Country Mule Deer," which has a whole chapter on October hunting mule deer. I thank Eastman Journal have a few around I stop printing it after 51,000 copies.
@@BlazedTrailsForgotten Yes, great book. I have it and have read it several times over the years. In September I am usually bow hunting elk, so I don't have much chance to catch mulies in their summer range which is much easier to scout all summer. I also bow hunt the late mule deer season during the rut which is a blast in the winter range. But when it comes to October rifle season, I haven't figured that one out yet. I guess in theory they should be just below summer range in early October (timbered up?). Late October depending on weather they are somewhere in transition between summer and winter range. Not sure if I should focus more on summer range, or try to find migration routes. I guess that's why the they time the rifle season for October (at least in ID), hardest time of the year to find bucks. Love watching your stories, keep it up!
I love those old time stories of hunting with the mountains to yourself. Just out of curiosity, what was your favorite rifle and cartridge to hunt with in those days?
When I got back from the war I purchased a Rugger, 77 model in a Rem. 7mm magnum. Used it for over 40 years. Took many big game trophies including a big Alaska moose and Dall sheep.
@@BlazedTrailsForgotten First, thank you for the reply, and second, thank you for the great new channel. I look forward to more videos of your hunting adventures. The 7MM Rem Mag shooting 160 partitions is my favorite combo and has never let me down. Take care.
I’m fortunate enough to be in a family with a huge cattle ranch in the California coastal mountains so we can drive for hours on our place with not a soul on it and manage the deer herd and see a ton of bucks. but you’re right if we could get the predators under control the deer would explode my family would tell me stories of counting three 400 deer in a drive from the front to the back of our property and nowadays you’re lucky to see 30 we have trail cams with three or four fully adult cougars drinking out of a water trough at the same time it’s crazy
My dad was friends with O'Connor; he would stop by, and he and Dad would swap hunting adventures. So as a kid, I would sit and listen. Then, in the early 60s, others like Ted Trueblood came. Dad guided him on the Green River with that raft we used to cross the Snake River. Then, Larry Kohler editor of Guns & Ammo would hunt elk with Dad. Plus, if you watch the floating across the Snake River story of mine, Duncan Barnes, editor of Field and Stream magazine, was the hunter that couldn't get a shoot of that buck I took. Also, as a teenager, I took him into the Greys River to late hunting for a few days while he was staying with us. Finally, when my two brothers and I were outfitting, Carmichael, editor of Outdoor Life, came elk and mule deer hunting. I have a funny story about him I will post onTH-cam sometime.
@@BlazedTrailsForgotten I would say Mike, you have been blessed to have lived a very full life. Looking back on all the hunts I have been on, what made them so memorable and fun at the time were the people I was blessed to share them with. I Imagine you know just what I mean. Good times experienced with family & friends doubles the pleasure. You got some great memories there Mike and I for one would love to hear you reminisce of those times with those old outdoor writers. I think they've all passed on except for Jim Carmichael, although I could be wrong about him. Jack O'Conner was my favorite gun writer when I was growing up. I have pretty much everything he published except for his fictional western, which if I ever come across in an old used book store I'll grab it. Thank you for responding back to me Mike. God bless!
What an neat story. Thanks SO MUCH for sharing it, Mike! Wouldn't it be AWESOME for Western States to STOP mule deer hunting for at least 5 years to maybe 10 years? Giving the bucks a chance to come back to the way it was in the 1950 - 60's? Hunters would come from all over the world paying HANDSOME fees to shoot some huge racks like Mike speaks of. I recall a few photos I saw back in 1968 of MOUNDS of huge bucks taken out of Colorado. They were pictures of a professional baseball team who was taken by their owner into Colorado to shoot mule deer. They purposed to shoot only HUGE racked bucks. There were dozens and dozens and dozens of HUGE racked muley bucks in a MOUND that had to reach 8 feet in the air. I had never seen so many huge racks in one photo. Yet that is what Mike is talking about. TONS of muleys back in that time frame. It COULD happen again. Just stop hunting them for a few years and let them grow. Let the State government's pay the ranchers what they need to prosper financially. Hunting license fees would pay for it.
Excellent…watched a lot of your hunts etc years ago and your son s as well.
Takes me back to hear you speak….
Thank you
New Brunswick Canada 🇨🇦
Wow, thanks!
Mike
Thanks so much for the great stories about how it used to be here in Wyoming. I remember seeing your dad's film, "High Wild and Free, " in the movie theater when I was a kid. Please keep the stories coming.
Good story, Mr Eastman!
I have 2 of your mule deer books and your "Elk Hunting the West".
I've enjoyed them greatly.
I'm glad you like them. I'm a better storyteller then a writer. My last one on antelope took almost 4 years to finish and that's the last one. lol
This story telling series is a great idea. I really like the way you tell them and add photos. I hope you plan to tell a lot more.
That's the plan!
These stories are GREAT! Can't get enough. Thank you for sharing!
Glad you enjoy it!
Freaking awesome! Your stories are legendary! Stay blessed and thanks for sharing 🙏🏽
I appreciate that!
Great story Mike. I’ve been fallowing you and your family for almost 30 years my dad moved us to Afton from 90-94 to fall timber. Your family name is very respected in that area. My father was able to harvest some very nice trophy mule deer in that time, one in particular was a 30” 6x9 all inline no drops or kickers, unfortunately it broke up tumbling down a scree field but he was lucky to find all the pieces. Not sure the year but you saw it at the local taxidermy and put a picture in your magazine of it. Thank you for telling these old stories they’re great to listen too.
I know that country and it's easy to find your trophy piled up in a pile of granite! LOL
Great tale. I look forward to hearing more hunting stories from you.
It would have been so awesome to hunt back then. Thanks for showing and telling this story. Thank you also for your service Mike.
You bet
Bill sounds like my Late Brother Don , QUICK DRAW On Them Deer 🦌
Great picture of you and that Sorrell Horse !!!
Thanks 👍
Love this series. thanks for sharing. I grew up in that Era.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks for the great stories I really enjoy listening to them.
Thanks for listening
Great story Mike, keep em coming
Thanks, will do!
Thanks for sharing your stories and keep them coming please.
More to come!
Thank you for sharing your hunting stories from the mule deer hay day.
The hay day for me was when I was in highschool that would be in the mid 60's when in some areas you could harvest two buck.
I would like to say back then all of the west had thousands of mule deer and that we thought it wouldn't change but slowly it did never to come back in those numbers again. It's sad!
Love it Mike!! Can’t imagine seeing a Mule buck with back scratchers!! Great story I’ll be around for more
Cheers from southern BC
Thanks!
Great video. I’m a 7th generation land owner in eastern Oregon and I love hunting mule deer more then anything, the populations have suffered tremendously due to the cougars mainly and now we are starting to see wolves as well. Great video, I love hearing your stories.
Wolves will take down the elk population. I lived next to the Absaroka Beartooth wilderness and know what the can do to mule deer, elk, and moose populations.
@@BlazedTrailsForgotten Very true. Making it illegal to hunt cougars with dogs has made their population grow rapidly. And I know what you mean about Wolves, we’ve even had some neighbors ranches have problems with calves falling prey to the wolves
What a great story! Thanks for sharing it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great story. I was born in 1955 I remember your dad showing movies in the mid 1960s at merrill wisconsin high school, I believe from Alaska. Awesome
Yes, Dad toured with his film and showed it in towns all over the west and middle west starting in 1957 to 1966. Show hunts from the north country.
Great story Mike
Great story that I really enjoyed. Army guy here and I was just a little younger so missed the whole VN deal. Anyway been hunting white tails in PA and NJ for the 40 years or so. Nothing like you talked about of course. But we still go out and it’s the best of times. Wish I had a chance to experience some of the things I expect you have done but I’m not complaining one bit. Still love the hard work involved in dragging deer other the hills with my brother and looking forward to this fall as much as ever.
So thank you for the story. Hope to hear more from you. Be well.
Thanks for the kind words! I plan on doing many stories of my humble life growing up in the west but throughout the world.
Super cool, keep them coming, love the old stories.
Thanks! Will do!
Thank you for sharing your blessed adventures.
You bet!
Love your stories!! Been watching you and your family for 30 years. The big buck in the snow floating across the snake river is my favorite and first video of ANYBODY killing a monster mule deer!!!! Your dad and you should get a shout from everyone for filming hunting videos!!!! You started !! Fair chase is the only way. Love that .
Kory, Thanks for the kind words
Great video Mike full of information and history.
God's Blessings on your New adventure
Thanks 👍
Amazing story about deer and you
Great story! Can’t wait to hear more of them
I will post one maybe next week just before I leave for an Africa assignment on a 38-foot drift in the Beartooth wilderness at 10,994 ft. pass. The first time it's been documented.
This is a great idea, thanks for sharing your stories.
You are so welcome!
Thanks very much for sharing your story of the good old days, boy how it’s changed, especially in Jackson Hole!
What’s your favorite rifle caliber for mule deer hunting Mike?
Thanks and God Bless you and all your family.
I packed in those days a 7mm magnum ruger 77, now I like a 6.5 Creed
Awesome story 👍, thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks Mike 👍 4 sharing
My pleasure!!
These are awesome. Thanks for sharing them
Thanks for watching!
I have a similar story. I was gone to Washington state for almost 6 years and never went home on leave. When I did, a place that built me as a man and hunter. One of my favorite places on earth had been clear cut. I just sat there and cried for a while and ma dd's e my peace with it and have never been back.
Cameron, Welcome to my world, unfortunately!
Certainly enjoyed this story. And very pleased you made it home from your military experience in Vietnam. Thank you for serving! It appears you have lived a full and blessed life. But even more so, I hope your name is written in the Lambs book of life. God bless you and your family! Jesus is King!
Amen brother
This is absolute gold!
Thanks!
Great hunting story
Great video thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Awesome video boss
Thank you so much 😀
Awesome story. Felt like I was there. Been in similar situations. And yes a 170 buck going away will look gigantic. You're a little older than I am, I missed the Viet Nam war by a year. We also had mule deer heaven in the early 70's here in Montana. Almost no deer here now and I've hunted the same mountain for 55 years, liberal season, people, and tons of predators. Love to hear more stories.
I will be posting many of my stories so subscribe to not miss one. I feel your pain on the mule deer counts it's all over the west.
Great story. Would love to hear your strategies on how to find mule deer in October when they are in transition. Such a mystery...
I authored a book, "Hunting High Country Mule Deer," which has a whole chapter on October hunting mule deer. I thank Eastman Journal have a few around I stop printing it after 51,000 copies.
@@BlazedTrailsForgotten Yes, great book. I have it and have read it several times over the years. In September I am usually bow hunting elk, so I don't have much chance to catch mulies in their summer range which is much easier to scout all summer. I also bow hunt the late mule deer season during the rut which is a blast in the winter range. But when it comes to October rifle season, I haven't figured that one out yet. I guess in theory they should be just below summer range in early October (timbered up?). Late October depending on weather they are somewhere in transition between summer and winter range. Not sure if I should focus more on summer range, or try to find migration routes. I guess that's why the they time the rifle season for October (at least in ID), hardest time of the year to find bucks. Love watching your stories, keep it up!
I love those old time stories of hunting with the mountains to yourself. Just out of curiosity, what was your favorite rifle and cartridge to hunt with in those days?
When I got back from the war I purchased a Rugger, 77 model in a Rem. 7mm magnum. Used it for over 40 years. Took many big game trophies including a big Alaska moose and Dall sheep.
@@BlazedTrailsForgotten First, thank you for the reply, and second, thank you for the great new channel. I look forward to more videos of your hunting adventures. The 7MM Rem Mag shooting 160 partitions is my favorite combo and has never let me down. Take care.
I’m fortunate enough to be in a family with a huge cattle ranch in the California coastal mountains so we can drive for hours on our place with not a soul on it and manage the deer herd and see a ton of bucks. but you’re right if we could get the predators under control the deer would explode my family would tell me stories of counting three 400 deer in a drive from the front to the back of our property and nowadays you’re lucky to see 30 we have trail cams with three or four fully adult cougars drinking out of a water trough at the same time it’s crazy
That would've been the last damn time I ever hunted with ol' Bill. !!
I was just wondering if you ever hunted with Bill again?
Jesse, it seems like I was always busy. LOL
What I'd give to hunt WY and MT in the 60s...
Did you or your Dad ever guided some of the big name hunting and gun writers of those days like Jack O'Connor or Warren Page?
My dad was friends with O'Connor; he would stop by, and he and Dad would swap hunting adventures. So as a kid, I would sit and listen. Then, in the early 60s, others like Ted Trueblood came. Dad guided him on the Green River with that raft we used to cross the Snake River. Then, Larry Kohler editor of Guns & Ammo would hunt elk with Dad. Plus, if you watch the floating across the Snake River story of mine, Duncan Barnes, editor of Field and Stream magazine, was the hunter that couldn't get a shoot of that buck I took. Also, as a teenager, I took him into the Greys River to late hunting for a few days while he was staying with us. Finally, when my two brothers and I were outfitting, Carmichael, editor of Outdoor Life, came elk and mule deer hunting. I have a funny story about him I will post onTH-cam sometime.
@@BlazedTrailsForgotten I would say Mike, you have been blessed to have lived a very full life. Looking back on all the hunts I have been on, what made them so memorable and fun at the time were the people I was blessed to share them with. I Imagine you know just what I mean. Good times experienced with family & friends doubles the pleasure. You got some great memories there Mike and I for one would love to hear you reminisce of those times with those old outdoor writers. I think they've all passed on except for Jim Carmichael, although I could be wrong about him. Jack O'Conner was my favorite gun writer when I was growing up. I have pretty much everything he published except for his fictional western, which if I ever come across in an old used book store I'll grab it. Thank you for responding back to me Mike. God bless!
Leave it to Bill!
What an neat story. Thanks SO MUCH for sharing it, Mike!
Wouldn't it be AWESOME for Western States to STOP mule deer hunting for at least 5 years to maybe 10 years? Giving the bucks a chance to come back to the way it was in the 1950 - 60's? Hunters would come from all over the world paying HANDSOME fees to shoot some huge racks like Mike speaks of.
I recall a few photos I saw back in 1968 of MOUNDS of huge bucks taken out of Colorado. They were pictures of a professional baseball team who was taken by their owner into Colorado to shoot mule deer. They purposed to shoot only HUGE racked bucks.
There were dozens and dozens and dozens of HUGE racked muley bucks in a MOUND that had to reach 8 feet in the air. I had never seen so many huge racks in one photo. Yet that is what Mike is talking about. TONS of muleys back in that time frame.
It COULD happen again. Just stop hunting them for a few years and let them grow. Let the State government's pay the ranchers what they need to prosper financially. Hunting license fees would pay for it.