#38 ARTHUR GUTIERREZ Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks

Like #39 Eric Johanson yesterday, Mr. Gutierrez was more than a good hunting client to MUM. He allowed us to manage an elk hunting ranch for him in New Mexico, and we also helped him buy a large cattle and hunting ranch in Central Oregon. Arthur first started hunting with us in 1987. Since that fateful day, we've had the opportunity to guide three generations of the Gutierrez family, plus many other members of this great family. Guiding clients is as much about forging great relationships as it is finding big animals.

This is Arthur's first entry into the SRI Top 100, but it won't be his last! He will also enter into the countdown at #25. Wait until you see that one-- it is the widest buck ever harvested on Santa Rosa Island. This is one of those Santa Rosa bucks that had that "drop beam" thing going. Kinda cool how the beam curves down after the G-4 branches off. We would get one of these different looking bucks at least once a year out there. This buck still has great velvet on him, and we always did out best to preserve the velvet on the bucks if clients so wanted it. That was one of the nice things about having a full-time skinner employed out there during the hunts. If we got the buck into camp in good shape, we were pretty much assured of maintaining the velvet. I guided Arthur a couple times, but if the bossman, Wayne was in camp, the two of them always hunted together. Over the years, they had some great hunts together on the Island. For this particular hunt, Arthur and Wayne also got on to the buck that Andy Wood (#47) ended up shooting the next day. As it turned out, it was fortunate for Arthur that he bagged this one instead.