“mule”

The Boone & Crockett Club’s Generation Next Youth Awards, amid the organization’s 31^st Big Game Awards, included a remarkable 132 great animals entered. Among the black bears, pronghorns, mountain goats and mule deer were eight typical and eight non-typical whitetails taken in nine different states.

Faced with back-to-back hunts this past fall—the first in pursuit of pronghorn on the rolling prairie outside Casper, Wyo., the second combing the rugged Idaho mountains for mule deer—I knew I would need a balance between wide field of view, detailed clarity and precise ranging capabilities. Luckily for me, a pair of Leupold’s BX-5 Santiam HD 10x42mm binoculars and an RX-2800 TBR/W rangefinder were on hand, ready to be put to the test.

I have just returned from my first scouting trip for the season. Out here in Wyoming scouting is a bit different than our whitetail hunting brethren do elsewhere—mostly in terms of scale.

The "Let a Deer Walk," program was founded to incentivize hunters to band together and take the 2023 season off in Wyoming, in order to give the herd a chance to recover.

For decades, elk hunters have resorted to camouflage patterns designed for the whitetail woods. Now, Western hunters have another option: Mossy Oak Mountain Country.

The configuration and dimensions of deer antlers are dependent on genetics and physical condition, and at times can be quite odd.

For the hunter with courage, resourcefulness and a bit of skill, opportunities for hunting the West abound. Here’s how to begin turning your dreams into reality.