BrandonA
Well-Known Member
Starters... The deer is OLD I'm pretty sure his top teeth are completly worn down and bottom are barely there. So I think he's past his prime(looking for more opinions). Buck has a lot of character and they don't get too much bigger in this area. I was thinking he was almost a hybrid since he has a lot of grey on him and was about ~250 lbs so a TOAD in this area. I'm stoked but I know it's no monster Mullie like you guys get!
Background: This is a private area hunt with housing around. Landowner think the deer are pests while most of his neighbors think they are pets. So we generally try to only archery hunt. Today though it was pouring rain and took the rifles out. A buddy and I went out and we only had our .300 RUM's. I would have prefered having the .22-250 for this area but it was a spur of the moment thing. Pull up about 9:30 and spot a nice tall 3x3 with solid mass on top of a hill. Knowing the area we know there are houses up top so we pass him up not wanthing to chance anything because SAFETY is more important then the deer. We watch him for another 30 minutes knowing he is a good buck and he's just walking around in circles (literally) eating. So my buddy drove me to the top of the ridge about 700 yards down and he drove back down to the vantage point to watch it unfold. I stalked down the ridge knowing I'd be closer than I wanted but I stalked up over a hill and to my suprise he was only 20 yards away. He started to walk off not afraid when I found this old guy right behind him. ~ 20 yard shot on him (with a 200 yard zero) I held base of his body and nailed him right through the shoulder. And to my amazement he took off running although he only lasted 20 yards. 180 grain TSX with 96 grains of retumbo I will post entrance/exit wounds later if people want to show close range ability of them..
Background: This is a private area hunt with housing around. Landowner think the deer are pests while most of his neighbors think they are pets. So we generally try to only archery hunt. Today though it was pouring rain and took the rifles out. A buddy and I went out and we only had our .300 RUM's. I would have prefered having the .22-250 for this area but it was a spur of the moment thing. Pull up about 9:30 and spot a nice tall 3x3 with solid mass on top of a hill. Knowing the area we know there are houses up top so we pass him up not wanthing to chance anything because SAFETY is more important then the deer. We watch him for another 30 minutes knowing he is a good buck and he's just walking around in circles (literally) eating. So my buddy drove me to the top of the ridge about 700 yards down and he drove back down to the vantage point to watch it unfold. I stalked down the ridge knowing I'd be closer than I wanted but I stalked up over a hill and to my suprise he was only 20 yards away. He started to walk off not afraid when I found this old guy right behind him. ~ 20 yard shot on him (with a 200 yard zero) I held base of his body and nailed him right through the shoulder. And to my amazement he took off running although he only lasted 20 yards. 180 grain TSX with 96 grains of retumbo I will post entrance/exit wounds later if people want to show close range ability of them..
