Dieselbuilder
12-09-2012, 04:58 PM
Well this year I didn't go hunting on our anniversary, I actually took the wife out to dinner. :laugh:
Didn't have time this year to get any trail cams out or do any scouting at the ranch so had to do it the hard way by just getting out early and walking draws. My son and I been out few times early in the season and had seen a couple of does, but not able to get clear shots at them. Wednesday we went out in separate vehicles since he had to leave early to pick up his son and take him out to one of his friends place to try and get him on a deer.
I left my truck at the ranch house and rode with him a couple miles down the river where he dropped me off so I could walk back. I proceeded up the river (dry except for a few isolated waterholes) stopping to glass frequently. There is a small field fenced off along the river that had been let go back to grass where my brother keeps one of his horses. I cut into the field staying on the edge of the field to view down in the river bottom. go clear across the field and no joy. His horse comes up to me and I mess with him for a few minutes before heading on. As I am going out the gate, up a draw to the west something catches my eye. About a 1/4 mile away was a brown speck moving. I get the binos on it and it is a buck... however he is in the neighbor's pasture. Fortunately he is headed my way, slowly. He comes to the fence about 350 yards away and stays on the other side for a while feeding. Finally he jumps the fence and continues down the draw towards me. I can't go prone due to a very slight rise between us puts him out of sight, so I get braced against a tree and wait. He keeps coming slowly closer, however the sun is also getting lower and starting to make my scope wash out. He turns and quarters slightly so I decide to take the shot. By now the adrenaline has kicked in and I find it hard to keep the crosshairs in place... I take a breath... back on the trigger... I feel myself start to jerk the trigger... relax, take a breath... back on the trigger, on target, BANG! surprising myself as it should be. Out of recoil and I pick him up in the scope... oops he has kicked it into high gear and heads out of sight behind some trees toward the ridge to the south. I move about 10 yards expecting to see him going over the ridge and nothing. I think to myself, no way he could of gotten over out of sight before I could see the whole ridge. I start moving up the draw and catch some movement... I bring the rifle up and get the scope on him... in the brush so I don't have a good shot, he takes a couple of steps favoring his front leg, and then lays down. Now he is in the draw and I still have no shot but can see an ear moving. I wait a while and start moving closer. Keeping my eyes on him I am not watching where I am walking and kick a rock making quite a racket in the leaves but no reaction. So I go ahead and walk up on him to find that the ear was being moved by the wind.
I took the shot at about 230 yards according to gps and he ran about 50 yards toward me before laying down and expiring. I hit him in the shoulder, the 155gr A-Max demolishing it before taking out the lungs.
He isn't quite as big, either rack or body as the 8 pointer I got last year but he is a 10 pointer. Not too bad for only my second deer ever.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/Dieselbuilder/10pointbuck.jpg
Didn't have time this year to get any trail cams out or do any scouting at the ranch so had to do it the hard way by just getting out early and walking draws. My son and I been out few times early in the season and had seen a couple of does, but not able to get clear shots at them. Wednesday we went out in separate vehicles since he had to leave early to pick up his son and take him out to one of his friends place to try and get him on a deer.
I left my truck at the ranch house and rode with him a couple miles down the river where he dropped me off so I could walk back. I proceeded up the river (dry except for a few isolated waterholes) stopping to glass frequently. There is a small field fenced off along the river that had been let go back to grass where my brother keeps one of his horses. I cut into the field staying on the edge of the field to view down in the river bottom. go clear across the field and no joy. His horse comes up to me and I mess with him for a few minutes before heading on. As I am going out the gate, up a draw to the west something catches my eye. About a 1/4 mile away was a brown speck moving. I get the binos on it and it is a buck... however he is in the neighbor's pasture. Fortunately he is headed my way, slowly. He comes to the fence about 350 yards away and stays on the other side for a while feeding. Finally he jumps the fence and continues down the draw towards me. I can't go prone due to a very slight rise between us puts him out of sight, so I get braced against a tree and wait. He keeps coming slowly closer, however the sun is also getting lower and starting to make my scope wash out. He turns and quarters slightly so I decide to take the shot. By now the adrenaline has kicked in and I find it hard to keep the crosshairs in place... I take a breath... back on the trigger... I feel myself start to jerk the trigger... relax, take a breath... back on the trigger, on target, BANG! surprising myself as it should be. Out of recoil and I pick him up in the scope... oops he has kicked it into high gear and heads out of sight behind some trees toward the ridge to the south. I move about 10 yards expecting to see him going over the ridge and nothing. I think to myself, no way he could of gotten over out of sight before I could see the whole ridge. I start moving up the draw and catch some movement... I bring the rifle up and get the scope on him... in the brush so I don't have a good shot, he takes a couple of steps favoring his front leg, and then lays down. Now he is in the draw and I still have no shot but can see an ear moving. I wait a while and start moving closer. Keeping my eyes on him I am not watching where I am walking and kick a rock making quite a racket in the leaves but no reaction. So I go ahead and walk up on him to find that the ear was being moved by the wind.
I took the shot at about 230 yards according to gps and he ran about 50 yards toward me before laying down and expiring. I hit him in the shoulder, the 155gr A-Max demolishing it before taking out the lungs.
He isn't quite as big, either rack or body as the 8 pointer I got last year but he is a 10 pointer. Not too bad for only my second deer ever.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/Dieselbuilder/10pointbuck.jpg