Editor’s Note: Dyrk Eddie of Montana has hunted mule deer, elk, bears and other big game with his bow. He worked for a guiding service in high school and borrowed the money to go on his first sheep hunt when he was only 17-years old. He completed his Grand Slam of sheep with his bow, a quest that took 29 years. He took his first Pope & Young animal with a bow in 1979.

Some years ago, I drew an Arizona strip tag – one of three tags available for non-residents to bowhunt the strip in the northern part of the state close to St. George, Utah, one of the best places to hunt trophy mule deer in Arizona. My friend Matt also drew a tag to hunt the strip. At the same time, I drew an Oregon antelope tag – one I’d been trying to draw for 20 years. Matt was able to go to the strip, while I still was hunting antelope in Oregon. Matt found a good waterhole and set-up a Double Bull blind (www.primos.com/products/double-bull-blinds/) to hold the spot for me. Matt told me, “I think I’ve got you set-up pretty well over this waterhole. I’ve seen good deer sign there. Go ahead, and finish your hunt in Oregon, and I’ll help you find this blind when we get together.”

I got to Arizona a few days before the season, and Matt showed me the blind. We decided to move it a little and get it set-up under a juniper tree, since we’d have better cover there. The afternoon before the season opened, we spotted a nice group of seven trophy-class mule deer bucks in that area. Three of them would have measured more than 300 inches, so these were monster-sized mule deer. Thirty tags were awarded for that region that year, and I think most of the other hunters knew the site where I was set-up was the best place to take a trophy mule deer. We saw a lot of trail cameras around that waterhole. I decided I’d better get to that blind early, so I put a sleeping bag in the blind. Then I could arrive in the dark and possibly take a nap before daylight. I also liked having a sleeping bag in the blind, because I could move around more quietly. I left one shooting port open and decided I had a great place to take a trophy mule deer. I rode my 4-wheeler out near my hunt site and got in the blind about 3:30 am. Before I bedded-down, I looked around in the blind to make sure no critters were in there. I knew even if I fell asleep, and the mule deer came in before daylight, I’d be able to hear them, wake up and still have plenty of time to take the shot.

At first light, I woke up and looked out of the blind. I figured probably five or six other bowhunters had taken stands up on the hill to get shots before the deer came to the water, and to see what happened at the waterhole on opening morning. I heard something behind my blind, looked out the back shooting port and saw a basic 4-point mule-deer buck. I knew that 4-point had been running with a herd of other bucks, so I felt confident the other bucks also would appear.

In my mind, a voice in my head was saying, “Just pick a muley. It doesn’t matter which one, just pick one, shoot him, and get out of this tent.” I drew my bow with my right arm to shoot out the left-hand window. I leaned forward and put my pin sight on a deer. However, I also was leaning forward toward the snake, and it started rattling more intensely. I thought, “I’m going to get bit.” I missed the buck because I was so distracted by the snake. I realized immediately what had happened. I hadn’t made sure my arrow was clearing the bottom of the window when I released. All the muley bucks jumped and looked at each other. They didn’t know what had happened, but they knew they still wanted a drink. The closest buck turned quartering to me, so I nocked a second arrow and checked to make sure it would clear the window. Even though the buck was quartering to me, I took the shot. I saw the arrow go deep into the deer, and the buck took off. I jumped up, backed out of the tent, turned it upside down, grabbed a stick and beat the heck out of that snake.

I went and found my buck. When I returned, the snake was still moving, even though I was certain he was dead. Finally, it dawned on me that snake must have crawled into my blind between 3:00 am and first light. That meant my head wasn’t more than 3-feet away from the snake by my sleeping bag. Between the time I first saw the snake and delivered the second arrow, I was wound up as tight as a spring. I didn’t want to not take a buck, but neither did I want to get bit. I honestly can say that all I wanted was to get out of the blind. I realized there were two bucks that would score better than the buck I took, and that if I’d just waited, I could have gotten a shot at one of them. But I was as close to that snake as I’ve ever been to a snake in my life. I knew that one of us had to get out of that blind quickly, or we’d both have a problem.

When I finally settled down, I was really happy to have harvested a nice mule deer, and even more happy to get out of that blind without getting bitten by a snake. My buck grossed about 208 in the velvet. The next day, my friend Matt took his buck that scored a new Safari Club International World Record for a velvet-antlered mule deer.

To learn more about mule-deer hunting, check out John E. Phillips’ book, “Mule Deer Hunter’s Bible,” available in Kindle, print and Audible at https://amzn.to/2Kg62w5. You may have to copy and paste this click into your browser. (When you click on this book, notice on the left where Amazon allows you to read and hear 10% of the book for free). On the right side of the page and below the offer for a free Audible trial, you can click on Buy the Audible with one click. Also check out “Bowhunting Deer: The Secrets of the PSE Pros,” available in Kindle and print at http://amzn.to/VBr1qW.

Tomorrow: Ronnie Strickland Bags a Bow Muley