Self-proclaimed opportunist hunter Tyler Preszler started hunting at a young age with his stepfather, mother, and brother. Raised in Southwestern Colorado, he’s used to hunting bucks, mule deer, and elk in the mountains. Tyler is a certified registered nurse anesthetist when he’s not out hunting. He shares that when he started out, he would see as much as 500 head of elk which has diminished throughout the years. Tyler encourages old and new hunters to just get out there and put in the effort. The deer will be there but you’ve got to show up.
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Rocky MT High Alpine Bucks Tyler Preszler
I’ve got Tyler Preszler and we’re going to be talking about hunting in Colorado and hunting in general. Tyler’s a CRNA out of Nebraska. He’s going to tell us what all those initials mean. Tyler, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me, Bruce.
Tyler and I have been on social media and he’s got an interesting background. He’s a young man who already got his PhD. What do you do?
I’m a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. I have my Doctorate of Nursing Anesthesia Practice that I got down in Lincoln, Nebraska. I provide anesthesia for general anesthesia as well as peripheral nerve blocks, labor epidurals, and any surgical suite needs that you would need if you were entering the hospital.
When I had my surgeries and the doctor comes in, you do the same thing as the doctor?
It depends on the individual hospital and how they have their anesthesia needs set up, but yes.
The worst one I ever had was when I had some surgery done in my hand. They gave me a whole arm block. I did not like that because my arm was dead weight. I did not like that at all.
I’ve never personally had a block, but I’ve given hundreds of them at this point in my career. People don’t tend to appreciate an arm that they can’t feel.
You can’t believe how heavy your arm is when you have a nerve block. Tyler grew up in Southwestern Colorado down by four corners and he’s been hunting for a long time. Tell me about your hunting heritage. Where’d that come from?
My stepfather was the first person to get my brother and me into hunting as soon as he came into my life. The first thing I remember was he bought my brother and I bows and we’ve been shooting bows since. I would have been five or six years old. That kicked things off for me at such a young age.
How far did you have to go to get into mule deer, antelope or for that matter, elk?
My parents have made a transition as far as they made a few moves. Early on, we had a few-hour drive to get up into the mountains. When I was a freshman in high school, they bought a small ranch in the southwest corner. It wouldn’t be uncommon to wake up in the middle of the winter and have 500 head of elk right outside our window. It was a fun opportunity to have through my high school years.
Were they in the oak brush or in the sage?
A mix between sage and some farmland. It’s a combination of the two.
What mountains do they come out of?
This is a traditional winter range. They’d come out of Southwest San Juan, migrate across the Dolores River area, and out onto the sagebrush/farmland.
Is it still that way nowadays?
They’ve wised up. A few more people have moved to the area. We still see some elk but not near as much as we used to when we first moved out there.
How far do these elk migrate to give the readers a little understanding?
These elks, in particular, I couldn’t tell you exactly, but I know the nearest peak. That’s anywhere near 10,000 feet. It’s probably 60 miles as the crow flies. A good way.
That’s traditional wintering grounds form and then up to 60 miles away. Think about that when you’re deer hunting in Wisconsin or Iowa. 60 miles from where you are is completely two counties over. It’s interesting hunting an elk. For that matter, mule deer because they also migrate.
There are fantastic mule deer out there, too. We used to have phenomenal mule deer hunting out there. It’s gone downhill the last few years since they’ve opened up a lot more doe tags. I have a deadhead here in my corner that’s 190-inch deer, not typical, that I found out there. There’s some beautiful deer out there.
Your uncle gave you a bow and arrow, stick and a string. When did you start hunting big game animals?
I started hunting at twelve. My stepdad got me into hunting. The first deer I ever took, I was with my mom, believe it or not. That was a cool experience to be able to harvest my first animal with my mom right by my side.
Tell us how that happened. Tell us about the hunt.
This was on the ranch that I was telling you about. I might have been thirteen. I can’t remember. It’s been a while. We set up a small blind in our ravine just off of our dryland field that we have on our property. We grew up being neat hunters. I didn’t have anything special. As soon as we found something that we were happy with, that we were going to pull the trigger. Opening morning, first light, a small forked horn walked by at 110 yards. My mom looks at me and she’s like, “You want him?” I’m like, “I want him,” and that’s the end of the story. It’s quite the experience being able to share that opportunity with my mom.
Did she have you got it yourself?
My stepdad was hunting on the property as well. Luckily, he was able to come over and help with that at such a young age.
It does get a little bit messy. That’s for sure.
At that age, I don’t want anything to do with it, but obviously, things changed. A year or two had gone by and my stepdad threw me in the mix.
Your first deer was with a rifle. Is that correct?
Yes, that was with a rifle.
Being able to harvest your first animal with your mom right by your side is a cool experience. Share on XWas your first deer or elk with your bow?
My first animal with the bow is a doe out of my parent’s property. I was in nursing school at the time. I came home for a quick weekend hunt and ended up taking my first doe. I made a terrible shot on her, unfortunately, but luckily I was able to find her. It’s nothing special for that story. I’ll be honest, I do call myself an opportunist hunter and I prefer archery hunting, but I’ve only shot two animals with a bow. That’d be a cow elk and that doe mule deer.
You’ve got lots of time.
I plan on changing that. I’m in the market for a bow shooting. I’ve been shooting everything under the sun to see what I like.
I shoot an Excalibur Crossbow. I used to shoot a PSE, a Wildcat Compound, for years. I was fortunate to take a number of deer, elk, and bear. It’s neat getting up close and personal wood game 20 to 30 yards. There are guys that are shooting 16 to 100 yards. They can and that’s all good. My rifle is probably 400 to 450 yards as far as I’m going to shoot. For muzzleloaders, about 150 yards, that’s where I’m going to shoot. Those are my limitations. Not because the gear can’t do any better, but I figured out that that’s where I stand the best chance of putting them down. Let’s talk about when you got your first alpine mule deer. Let’s talk about the difference of hunting high altitude, high alpine, or tree line, however you want to call it. What type of hunt that is?
That’s my preferred mode of hunting. There’s a multitude of reasons why I prefer it. To be honest, I hate to say I’m a lazy guy, but I like sitting and glassing for miles away to see what’s out there. It definitely helps.
Tell us about your first alpine hunt.
I got stuck into the whole high-country era with David Long and Cam Hanes. I got stuck in that whole idea of things. I started to research where I could hunt in Colorado and find an easy tag. I got lucky and found some phenomenal units. In my first year of hunting, I went in with a buddy. We’re both in nursing school and we found some phenomenal deer, 160 to 200-inch mule deer. It’s absolute tanks of a mule deer. We went on the second weekend and we were both in school so we could only hunt weekends. We hiked in the dark and we got up to our glassing point right at sunrise and within five minutes, we spotted a nice buck. We call him a tripod buck. He had a split between his G2 and G3. He had a nice little tripod shape. The funny thing is my buddy that I was hunting with, stock deer in this exact same bed. We knew exactly what we needed to do right where the stock needed to happen. We dropped our packs that my buddy set up. He was giving me hand signals and by mid-afternoon, I was right on top of this deer. Unfortunately, I don’t have him on the wall due to rookie mistakes that happen with everybody.
What happened? Tell us the rest of the story.
I’ll tell the full story. About halfway into the stock, I knew at the elevation where I needed to drop down on top of this deer. I was doing what everyone said to do. I pulled off my boots and I went in with my socks. About halfway in on this stock, a massive rainstorm came in. I thought he got struck by lightning three different times and I’m soaking wet. This is a backpack-style hunt. We were still planning on being back there for the next two nights. I was getting a little worried.
I backed out and went back to the backpack that I dropped about 0.25 miles away. I screw up my spotting scope to look for my buddy. He was giving me the hand signals that the deer is still there. I pulled my wet socks off, I put my boots on without socks, and proceeded on my stock. I end up tripping and falling in the mud. I banged up my bow. At the same time, I see one deer ran away. I thought, “All was done.” My buddy is still giving me the hand signal that he moved in. I continued on to right where I feel like I need to be. I had some good landmarks picked out. There was a nice dead evergreen, one of those small dwarf pines that was dead right on top of this cliff where this buck was bedded under. I knew right where he was at. I continued to follow this cliff band, take a step at a time, glass, step at a time, glass, and try to slow down as best as I could.
Eventually, I picked up nice antler tines right above the brush above the willows. I had this buck dead at 37 yards. It’s perfect. I could see his head perfectly bedded down. I was ready to rock and roll and I made the rookie mistake. He stood up and I felt like I needed to shoot him right away. As soon as he stood, I drew my bow back. My bottom limb hit a branch and he looked right at me. I thought we were prepared for about a 30-minute stare off. That normally happens. Luckily, he continued feeding. He fed about probably four to five steps closer to me. In my rookie mistake, I didn’t accommodate for those extra few steps and I shot about two inches over his back. I talked about a heartbreaking experience. It was a big day because I then had to walk back to camp about three miles after I’ve already put in about eight for that day. It was quite the experience, to say the least, but it hooked me from right there. It was on.
If you haven’t been there, that’s okay. Sometimes, do yourself a favor, get up in the high country and experience that because you long glass them. You might be a mile or two away and you have a partner walking in on top of it. As you found out from Tyler, stuff happens to us all. You kicked the wrong rock; it rolls over and hits them in the head. That stuff happens and you go, “No. Yeah.” If it can’t happen, it will happen because hunting to close the deal is hard, especially in these conditions. Was the next hunt a muzzleloader then for the mule deer?
No. I got introduced to this guy from my brother. He and I have been hunting together for years. He had a bunch of points that he wanted to burn and he knew I had a good unit lined up so he burned his high-country mule deer points for Colorado. He shot an absolute stud of a deer with his rifle. That was years ago. That was my first true successful hunt and I was just there for the ride.
Sometimes, it was in August or September with a rifle above 10,000 feet, right?
Yeah. Every unit’s a little different in Colorado. It depends on the unit. Summer is the week before muzzleloader season and summer during muzzleloader season so you’re looking at the second to the third week in September.
Does archery start on September 1st?
The last weekend in August is usually when the archery season starts in Colorado.
It’s someplace in there. What I’m trying to get at is it’s absolutely gorgeous weather to be in the Rockies in late August and September. The only caveat is at 12,000, 13,000 or 14,000 feet. Storms do happen regularly every single day and it could rain, sleet, hail, thunder, and lightning. You have to be prepared for it. You got to be smart. Can lightning mess up your day?
It sure can.
Let’s talk about elk hunting. You killed them down by the family ranch. Have you been archery hunting up 10,000 feet or 8,000 feet?
I have. I feel embarrassed even to say this, but I’ve never even killed a bull elk. I’ve missed a lot of them. I’ve got a lot of cows though.
They’re the same.
They’re better.
Do you go up in the high country 8,000, 10,000 feet or above to hunt elk or do you wait until they come down for the farm or the ranch?
No. I definitely hunt them up high. Believe it or not, growing up, every Labor Day weekend, my stepdad would set up a teepee camp. It was what it sounds like. He’d set up a big old Indian-style teepee. He made this teepee back when in the late ‘20s or early ‘30s. Every Labor Day, he’d set them up for about two weeks and we hunt elk out of the teepee for that timeframe. It was incredible. It’s always been a good time.
Were you hunting the National Forest then?
Yes. That was still against Southwestern Colorado. We no longer set up the teepees because it’s so much work and the elk hunting is not near as good as it once was. We still try to get out. We try to stay a little more mobile at this point.
Have you been up close and personal to some bulls?
Yeah. My first time ever out with a bow, believe it or not, I was out with my mom’s bow. This is before I ever even owned my first adult bow. I was about twelve. This is my first day ever out hunting elk with the bow with my stepdad. We were about ten minutes into our hike, my stepdad lets out a bugle and immediately, we get a response back at about 100 yards. This small red-horned bull came up to me about ten yards away. At twelve years old, you can imagine my eyes. I swear, I’ve seen a ghost. I wish I would have a video camera on myself at that point in my life. It was an incredible experience to have at a young age.
He looked at you, you looked at him, and he walked away.
I was shooting my mom’s bow at the time. I tried to draw the thing back and I couldn’t. It was a fiasco, to say the least. It’s funny. Live and learn. It was a good experience.
Spend less money on hunting gear and more money on tags. Share on XWhat tips would you give somebody from Iowa who wants to come out and hunt elk in Colorado archery season? What would you tell them to do?
Number one, I would say, “Make sure you have enough time.” That’s the hardest part. Especially, if you’re going archery, I’d say, “Try to take two weeks if you can.” I know it’s a lot of time but I’m a firm believer that the more days to feel that you can have, the better chance you are filling your tag. Other than that, I would say, “If you’re willing to work for it, if you’re willing to hike, and if you do not hear an elk, keep moving until you find huntable elk.” That’s my best tip.
That could be a few miles.
It could be. Huntable elk could mean a lot of different things. Maybe you’re hearing them, maybe you smell them, and maybe you’ve seen a fresh sign. It’s hard to hunt elk that you can’t hear. That’s the advantage of archery season. They’re usually noisy at that time of year so you can find them. I’m a firm believer that you can at least, hopefully, have an opportunity.
The odds in the State of Colorado are 17% of everybody who buys an archery tag kills a bull or a cow.
Those odds sound good to me.
What was the last piece of gear that you bought? Why’d you buy it?
The last piece of gear that I bought was a tripod mount for my binoculars, a swivel-style mount. The mount’s direct to my binos.
If I understand, you bought a swivel mount for your binos and you have a tripod that you mounted on?
That is correct. I’m rocking that 10x42s.
For what it’s worth, Vortex is good, the 15s especially for sheep hunting. I use them more than my 10x42s.
I do have a bino and a spotting scope as well. I use my binoculars off of a tripod more than anything at this point. The field of view you get, the clarity you get, the lack of eye strain you’re not going to have with the binoculars as opposed to a single-piece binocular. I’m running a 10x42s and they’re nice. I would like to have a pair of 15x56s but I’m not sure they’re in the budget.
You can always save up. That’s for sure. Let’s talk about your upcoming year hunting whitetails. You’re in Nebraska and there are some great bucks there. You’re near Kansas and there are some great bucks there. You’re near Iowa and there are great bucks there. You’ve got three states that you can hunt and you got some great opportunity. Talk to me about your plans for 2018.
You talk about all the good hunting opportunities that are out here and I would agree but I have a different play on things because you’re probably thinking whitetails, aren’t you?
Yes.
I’m thinking mule deer.
Western Kansas and Western Nebraska got some great mule there.
As well as Western South Dakota. I’m planning on Colorado mule deer, Nebraska mule deer, as well as South Dakota mule deer. I’m hoping I can make that happen. I’d be a muzzleloader or tag in Colorado and then archery tags in South Dakota and Nebraska.
As I understand in Nebraska, because I plan the hunt there DIY, you can get two buck tags. Is that correct?
That is correct. Nebraska is definitely an opportunity state so you can shoot two bucks and as many doe tags as you want. They are capped per each unit but if you wanted to go in and buy five of them, you could buy five of them. They’re not going to say no. You can shoot two bucks and archery tags statewide over the counter and muzzleloader is statewide over the counter as well. The only capped pegs in the state would be if you’re hunting mule deer down in a few of the conservation units, that would be the south-central to the southwest corner of Nebraska or anything during the rifle hunter. Typically, they’re all over the counter but they do have caps set on their units.
What about whitetails? You’re excited about mule deer. I need some scouts. I need some people on the ground. I need some nice material to hear. Are you going to spend more time hunting mule deer than whitetails?
I’ll do both but if that’d take days away from work or my vacation days, I’m going to go elsewhere to hunt. The nice thing about where I live, I can be hunting whitetails within 20 to 30 minutes from my front door. I’ll do a lot of whitetail hunting during the week, get off work early, sneak out to the stand or quick weekend hunts. I’ll do both but if I take any extended days away from work, I’ll probably head a little further west and chase some mule deer.
You’re no help at all.
I know I’m not. I’m still learning the ground around here. It’s been tough. Like you, I don’t have access to anything private around here. I’m hunting all public walking areas and it gets hunting hard. 2018 was proof of it. I hunted a lot. I didn’t see a whole lot either.
Why do you think it is? They’re deer there.
They are. A big part of it was I didn’t start hunting out here in Nebraska until muzzleloader season. That’s the entire month of December. That’s post-rut but that’s post rifle season as well. They got hammered good during rifle season.
One thing that I know and I used to do when I lived in Wisconsin and then up in Montana, I could hunt out of my front door or back door. I have one stand and if I had twenty minutes, I’d go sit in that stand. That’s one thing that I learned from a guy that wrote a book. He’s a chiropractor from Montana. He said that before he goes to work, if he could get twenty minutes in the stand because it took five minutes in, five minutes out, he’s at the office in ten minutes, he would do that to grab the opportunity rather than go to work because he could. It’s the same thing with coming home. He’ll grab that 20 to 30 minutes, get up to stand and wait. If you get one, then you get one. I always remember that because it only takes a second. Think of all the times you’ve had deer come by and all of a sudden, they’re not there and then they are there. You have to be there at the right time.
That’s the name of the game. You’ve got to be there.
What would you suggest to the people who are starting out hunting? They’re thinking about it, they’re interested in hunting, and they’re interested in maybe not hunting elk but certainly mule deer. Quite a few states have mule deer. What advice would you give to a person?
Spend less money on gear and more money on tags. Hopefully, have the time away from work where you can just go. The deer are going to be there. It’s just a matter of finding them. I’m a positive person. Ask anyone I know. They sometimes get annoyed because I’m such a positive person. I’m a firm believer that as long as you’re there and you put in the effort, eventually, the cards will all fall into order. It may not be this year. It might be next year and it might be the year after that. Eventually, what you’re looking for is going to show up. You just got to be there. I’m a gear junkie so I’m guilty of it as well but you need to spend less money on gear and more money on tags, then do that.
That is wise information because a lot of it, in hunting, is showing up. Sometimes, you have to climb a mountain to do that. Sometimes, you have to pull a river. Sometimes, you have to go through a swamp. I don’t know what that is but when you pay that price, the opportunities will present themselves. We’ve all sat in a tree stand and there’s not a buck around us for miles. All of a sudden, you’ll hear a grunt, a snort wheeze, stomp or something. You go, “He was right behind me.” That happens all the time.
I’ve had that happen on numerous occasions. All hope is lost and the next thing you know before you can blink an eye, it’s over. The buck steps out and the hunt’s over.
On behalf of Whitetail Rendezvous and thousands of readers across North America, this has been fun. Tyler, thank you for being a guest. I can’t wait until we do it next time.
Thanks for having me, Bruce. It’s been a pleasure.
Important Links:
- Tyler Preszler – Instagram
About Tyler Preszler
Tyler Preszler hunts big mulies above treeline
Raised in Southwestern Colorado, Tyler’s passion for the outdoors began at a young age. His youth was filled with summer camping trips and falls spent in the aspen grooves of the Colorado high country surrounded by bugling elk.
While Tyler’s true passion is archery hunting, he is a self-proclaimed “opportunistic hunter” and never turns down a new hunt, free food, or a good beer.