2017 Hunt Report and Meat Pole Contest - Win a $300 or $100 Gift Certificate

operator1 said:

Very nice bull. Missed huinting this year due to torn rotator cuffs in both shoulders. Couldn't face the recoil from my Browning x bolt 300 win mag. Hope to get up and going for next year.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Good luck next year. It sucks missing a year, but it makes the first year back more memorable

South Texas
Wednesday December 20, 2017
About 12 miles North West of Eagle Pass, Texas
My fathers Remington 270 with 150 grn Sierra game King bullets

Spotted this deer on a fence line about 800 yards away. Eric and I bailed off the high rack and went about 60 -100 yards off the sendero and proceeded to close the distance. Eric did a great job of judging how far we had gone and when we came back out on the fence line, we would have been right on top of him, but to our dismay the deer were gone. Eric decided to head down the fence another 100 plus yards, so we could watch the road both ways from a high spot, set up and see if we could rattle him back in?
After getting into position with me facing into the wind and looking back the way we came and Eric facing the other way, Eric started rattling and racking the bushes. It didn't take long before i spotted this buck along the fence line, right about where we had just come out of the brush. He was tending two does and started pushing them towards us. He moved down the fence to about 150 yards away and Eric had given me the green light to shoot him as he was old enough. Eric had moved further out to the edge of the road and kept repeating that he was old enough to take him if I wanted him, since I was facing away from him, he couldn't here me answer him, as I didn't want to take my eyes off the deer for waiting on him to turn and give me a shot, so he couldn't hear me answer him that I wanted him and was waiting for him to turn.
When he finally turned I completely blew the shot and shot over him. To say I was completely mortified at missing this deer is an understatement, but to my relief Eric says shoot again he is still there. The deer didn't spook and even came a little closer. My next shot redeemed myself and put this one in the high shoulder and dropped him where he stood. Although I had broke his back, it took another shot into his chest to put him down completely.
This was a deer as you walked up on him, he didn't shrink one bit. He had the kind of rack that carried the mass all the way out to his tips. It was a hunt of a life time for me. Spotting a deer from afar, stalking through the brush to close the distance and then rattling him back in was more than I could ask for.
To say I am grateful is an understatement and couldn't be more excited.

Here's a pic of my 'portable meatpole'.....What do I win?

Filled our final tag for the year today. We went out with my nephew and he ended up taking his first coues buck (108 inches) at 760 yards with my 270 WSM using 170 Bergers. Glassed him up early but didn't get a clear shot until mid afternoon. He sat on the scope for a good part of the day to get a shot at this buck. Neighboring hunting party said they heard the cheers from a distance after he made the shot and knew it was successful. Great day of hunting at 70 degrees in eastern AZ

Sorry. Thought I was finished but a good friend asked if I would help his daughter take her first deer and I thought you might appreciate the joy in her smile. We saw several nice bucks but just couldn't get her a good shot until the end of the day. Found this nice little buck beaded in some scrub oak but it wouldn't get up. As the day was running short decided to take a shot beside it and it payed off. Stood up just in time to drop it from about 400 yards with her 25-06. Is spite of bumping into a cactus preparing for the shot and considerable drama she had a great day.

I've often wondered why one doesn't take a shot at bedded game. Can you tell me?

Rich Coyle said:

I've often wondered why one doesn't take a shot at bedded game. Can you tell me?

Click to expand...

Rich
We will definitely take a shot at bedded game when there is a clear shot. She was not able to get an unobstructed view in this case (only the head and antlers were visible). We normally watch a buck from a distance until it beds before trying to close the distance. Your larger coues bucks may lay hidden in one location throughout the day or just slightly move out of direct sunlight into the shade. Sometime we will sit on a bedded buck for hours waiting for a clear shot but as soon as we have one we take it whether bedded or standing. The reason you don't hear of many taken while bedded is because nice bucks normally find a well obstructed location to lay and the shot only clears when they finally stand; sometimes only for a couple of seconds

Project, Get 8 Year Old a Deer, has now been accomplished! This has been a 2 season effort, likely lengthened greatly by my refusal to hunt out of heated box stands or blinds. Endless amounts of questions were answered during this quest. We also went through a ton of beef jerky, Skittles, and hand warmers. Our problems last year mainly centered around sitting still, cold, hunger, and hunting in places that "had no deer and we should move". 8 years old has been a slight improvement but the endless questions have increased in complexity. Yesterday we had many moving deer. My son finally got a sight picture of a deer that he was comfortable with. He shot a whitetail doe at 125 yards exactly where he was told to. Right before he shot he said that his heart was "pounding". I told him the standard "breathe and slowly squeeze the trigger". I did not micro manage the situation and told him to shoot whenever he was comfortable. Before I knew it the gun went off and I heard a the bullet impact the doe. Of course I feared a leg or butt shot. When we found the doe she was shot perfectly behind the shoulder.

Equipment used included; a Savage Axis Youth 7mm-08, Bog Pod shooting stick bipod, 120gr Ballistic Tip bullet, 38gr IMR 4895, and Jack Links beef jerky, and almost all the monthly wireless data limit of my cell phone.

I have never seen my son so happy!

Andy Backus said:

Congratulations to the two big winners from this year's Meat Pole Contest thread!

tulsaburnside was our choice for Best Post and he won a $100 gift certificate from the LRH Store. His post is on page 4 of this thread.

And chosen by random drawing, ATH was the lucky winner of a $300 gift certificate.

I am in Germany right now for a Zeiss product launch and hunt but when I return I will choose 10 winners by random drawing who will get a LRH hat, T-shirt and sticker.

Click to expand...

Did this ever get settled out for the random 10?

Shot my second elk last year with my BLR .243 (80 grain bullet). After chasing the herd for most of the morning I was able to get within 30 yards in thick timber. When I shot she was looking at me so I shot her in the chest. Funnest Hunt that I've been apart of

Varmintnv said:

View attachment 80947 Here's my wife's 2017 antelope. Killed opening morning at 277yds. She shoots a Rem 700 in 7mm-08. This guy dropped in his tracks thanks to a Hornady 139gr Interlock and perfect placement. This was her first big game harvest. Awful proud husband right here!

Click to expand...

Excellent! I am trying to get my wife interested in hunting. What tips do you have?

Although I joined here too late for the giveaways gonna share anyway. New Mexico was really good to me in 2017. Bedded this bull around 10am , stalked as close as the terrain and breeze would allow and waited on him to get back up. Stood up to feed around 3:30pm at 877 yds. 338 lapua 250 berger did a great job.