handirifle
09-14-2013, 01:54 AM
Well I was beginning to think it might not happen this season, but it finally all came together. As I like to say, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
Thursday eve I headed a couple miles down the road to my neighbors property for an evening hunt. The local acorns are dropping and the deer seem to be out a little more. They had been very nocturnal but we were seeing more and more out in the day.
About 4 PM I headed out, and was driving pretty slow, cause I had a "feeling" I would see something. I was not road hunting, mind you, I was turned into the "driveway of my neighbor (it's about 300yds long) and saw a buck jump up the hill to my right. I watched him disappear into a gully, and not come out. I pulled the truck over, grabbed the rifle and headed up the hill. The brush was VERY thick, and I actually got to within 20yds of him, but didn't know it till he jumped up. He was moving too fast and too much brush for a shot. I'm not a fan of shooting on the run, but was hoping he might do the "mule deer" thing and take a look. No luck.
He ran across the driveway, it's actually a dirt road, and all of this is on private property. I followed him down to where I had last seen him, and found his tracks crossing the road.
I parked the truck in a better area, got all my gear, and headed in his direction. I know the property well and had an idea where he went, so I slowly worked my way there. This is about a quarter to 5 by now, and it's 87 deg outside, and I am hunting on a west facing hillside, in other words I'm getting hot, fast. I was wearing my guillie suit top, now, and was moving very slowly, then studying the bushes for any sign. Finally as I was starting to sweat, I started looking for a shady bush to sit under. I found one and as I started to turn, something caught my eye. I slowly turned and studied what caught my attention. It was something white. You know how when you look at something and suddenly it comes into focus? It finally did for me. There about 50 yards away, lay the buck looking right at this stupid sweaty bush, probably wondering what it was doing.
In disbelief, for many reasons, I slowly turned, raising the rifle and lining up the crosshairs. My preference would have been a neck shot, but given that he had jumped twice already and fearing he might not stop in the same county on the third time, I too a high percentage shot of the shoulder. When the crosshairs settled, I pulled the trigger. I do not remember the shot, but remember hearing it echo off the surrounding hills. I quickly jacked another round in the chamber, and found him in the scope again, but the follow up was not needed. The bullet I later found, took out the left (facing) shoulder, several ribs, both lungs, and the top of the right shoulder on it's way out. I didn't take pics of the damage, since I'm not a fan of that kind of pic anyway, but damage was considerable. The odd thing, was on the hide, the entry and exit holes were basically caliber size.
The deer is estimated at 4yrs old with a nice spread, but only forks on each side. His dressed weight was 124, big for this area.
My rifle is a flat backed left hand 30-06, using hand loaded Barnes 168 gr TTSX's at 2970fps (yes they're hot loads but accurate) My scope is a Luepold VX I 2x7. This rifle is wearing a Kick eze recoil pad and a 1/4" thick kick eze cheek pad as well, primarily for eye alignment but it does help the cheek slap as well.
I couldn't believe I stood there between 5 and 10 minutes and it took that long to see him, right in the open, now I wonder how many I have missed in the past???? You know that "spot" and stalk thing? The spotting part is pretty important.
Anyway here's a few pics for memories (mine).
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n82/handirifle/2013Deer3_zps83327085.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n82/handirifle/2013Deer2_zpsbb6cdf08.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n82/handirifle/2013Deer_zpsc4cdf5da.jpg
I took the first two with my cell phone, and my wife took the one of him hanging in my shop. That's me on the right :thumb: in case you're wondering!
Thursday eve I headed a couple miles down the road to my neighbors property for an evening hunt. The local acorns are dropping and the deer seem to be out a little more. They had been very nocturnal but we were seeing more and more out in the day.
About 4 PM I headed out, and was driving pretty slow, cause I had a "feeling" I would see something. I was not road hunting, mind you, I was turned into the "driveway of my neighbor (it's about 300yds long) and saw a buck jump up the hill to my right. I watched him disappear into a gully, and not come out. I pulled the truck over, grabbed the rifle and headed up the hill. The brush was VERY thick, and I actually got to within 20yds of him, but didn't know it till he jumped up. He was moving too fast and too much brush for a shot. I'm not a fan of shooting on the run, but was hoping he might do the "mule deer" thing and take a look. No luck.
He ran across the driveway, it's actually a dirt road, and all of this is on private property. I followed him down to where I had last seen him, and found his tracks crossing the road.
I parked the truck in a better area, got all my gear, and headed in his direction. I know the property well and had an idea where he went, so I slowly worked my way there. This is about a quarter to 5 by now, and it's 87 deg outside, and I am hunting on a west facing hillside, in other words I'm getting hot, fast. I was wearing my guillie suit top, now, and was moving very slowly, then studying the bushes for any sign. Finally as I was starting to sweat, I started looking for a shady bush to sit under. I found one and as I started to turn, something caught my eye. I slowly turned and studied what caught my attention. It was something white. You know how when you look at something and suddenly it comes into focus? It finally did for me. There about 50 yards away, lay the buck looking right at this stupid sweaty bush, probably wondering what it was doing.
In disbelief, for many reasons, I slowly turned, raising the rifle and lining up the crosshairs. My preference would have been a neck shot, but given that he had jumped twice already and fearing he might not stop in the same county on the third time, I too a high percentage shot of the shoulder. When the crosshairs settled, I pulled the trigger. I do not remember the shot, but remember hearing it echo off the surrounding hills. I quickly jacked another round in the chamber, and found him in the scope again, but the follow up was not needed. The bullet I later found, took out the left (facing) shoulder, several ribs, both lungs, and the top of the right shoulder on it's way out. I didn't take pics of the damage, since I'm not a fan of that kind of pic anyway, but damage was considerable. The odd thing, was on the hide, the entry and exit holes were basically caliber size.
The deer is estimated at 4yrs old with a nice spread, but only forks on each side. His dressed weight was 124, big for this area.
My rifle is a flat backed left hand 30-06, using hand loaded Barnes 168 gr TTSX's at 2970fps (yes they're hot loads but accurate) My scope is a Luepold VX I 2x7. This rifle is wearing a Kick eze recoil pad and a 1/4" thick kick eze cheek pad as well, primarily for eye alignment but it does help the cheek slap as well.
I couldn't believe I stood there between 5 and 10 minutes and it took that long to see him, right in the open, now I wonder how many I have missed in the past???? You know that "spot" and stalk thing? The spotting part is pretty important.
Anyway here's a few pics for memories (mine).
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n82/handirifle/2013Deer3_zps83327085.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n82/handirifle/2013Deer2_zpsbb6cdf08.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n82/handirifle/2013Deer_zpsc4cdf5da.jpg
I took the first two with my cell phone, and my wife took the one of him hanging in my shop. That's me on the right :thumb: in case you're wondering!