# 15 BOB WELLINGTON Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
# 15 BOB WELLINGTON Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
Mr. Wellington came with us five years to Santa Rosa Island. He hunted with us in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2009. This buck he shot in 2003 was his largest. This was also the only year that I guided him. On this year he came with him friend Bumpy Moyer. Bob and Bumpy also shot Roosevelt elk bulls on this hunt. Nothing like being busy to make the days go by fast. On this particular fateful day, we were hiking off of Sierra Pablo. We spot this buck down below us many hundred yards away. Obviously this was a buck we needed to go after. After a 20 minute hike, we could only close to about 450 yards, due to the canyon walls and steep terrain. This was Bob's third year on the Island, and he had proven himself as being a great marksman. Doesn't hurt either that Bob owned a sporting goods store in him home state of Pennsylvania, so he was a gun nut too. I allowed him to shoot that that distance. He hit the buck, but it was not a killing shot. Now the chase was on. The buck was hit well enough that he didn't run off like a ball of fire, but got into a steady walk away from us. After a tense hour hike in some big country, we get close enough to put another shot into him. By then he had lost alot of blood. Notice that in the shot placement behind his shoulder in this photo that there is no visiable blood. Anyway, what a huge muley buck. Great mass, 35" wide ( aided by the large nontypical that points straight horizontally) and several other nonytypicals. You can tell from Bob's expression on his face that he fully appreciated what kind of buck he had shot. On a side story, while on the hunt, I mentioned to Bob that I was looking for a 25-06. He said that that was ironic since he had just taken one in to his sporting goods store on consignment. He allowed me to buy the gun for his cost. That gun became my go-to gun for deer herd reduction operations in the following years.
Congratulations Bob, you shot a trophy of a lifetime with MUM on Santa Rosa Island!!!
