In September of 2007 I traveled to Wyoming from my home state of Ohio to hunt Whitetail and Mule deer on the Solitude Ranch! I had never been out west hunting before, so I was a little unsure of what to expect when my thirteen hundred mile journey began.

Upon arriving at the Solitude Ranch to meet owner Mike Schmid, the view was absolutely breathtaking and the accommodations were outstanding. With Devil’s Tower in the background, we unloaded our gear in the bunkhouse, where we were greeted by Mr. Mike Schmid and his head guide to go over where we would be hunting. As our guide drove us around the property, it didn't take long to realize that this was going to be an awesome hunt! I knew my chances were good, judging from all of the game we were seeing from the truck!

The first day and a half I spent hunt scouting, and seen everything from Whitetail Deer, Mule deer, Antelope, and even got to hear my first Elk bugle. Later that same morning, I was able to see two nice bulls in the morning sun. I had not released the first arrow and already this trip was awesome!

On the third morning, cameraman Bob Lott and I spotted a bachelor group of four nice Mule deer bucks. They were heading up to a high point in the dense shady pines of the Black Hills. We guessed that this is where they would bed for the day, and continued glassing. After watching several other Whitetail bucks, Antelope, and even a couple small bull Elk, we headed back to camp. Later that afternoon, I decided that I really wanted to try for one of those Mulie bucks, so we sat down came up with a strategy, and my hunt was planned!

That evening Bob and I hiked halfway up the hill to try and set up near a fence gap that the Mule Deer had walked through earlier that morning. Once there, we set up under a lone Ponderosa Pine tree that stood just 25 yards from the gap in the fence. We settled in for the evening and began glassing the high point that the Mule deer had walked into earlier in the day. We had only been there maybe an hour before spotting the group slowly feeding off the hill. Still unsure as to where exactly the Mule deer would enter the field, we sat patiently and watched through our binoculars.

As we watched them slowly work their way off of the hill, two of the bucks broke from the group and headed down into a ravine. Unable to see into this ravine, we just sat there patiently, with hopes that one of them would head our way. As darkness was getting closer, Bob spotted one of the bucks headed right for us. This Mule deer seemed to be on a string, headed straight for us. He kept getting closer, 200 yards, 150 yards, 100 yards, 50 yards and the hunt was on! The buck was walking right for the gap in the fence, that again, was only twenty-five yards from our ambush spot. When he hit the twenty-five yard mark, I drew my bow, settled my pin, and put a perfect shot on him. The buck ran about 80 yards into the alfalfa field where he flipped head over heals, and expired. I turned and looked at Bob, who got it all on film, and blew up with excitement.

With the sun fading and Devils Tower in the sunset, how could it get any better? What an awesome hunt and an even more awesome place to be, the Solitude Ranch!


I would like to thank Mike and his staff for a top-notch operation and hopefully on some other September evening I can make another dream come true!

Beau Kearns
Jackson, Ohio

Beau Kearns