We arrived at our area just before light. We didn't even start setting up camp. Unloaded the side by side, grabbed his rifle and our packs, and headed out. Almost immediately we were seeing deer in the foothills, but only really small bucks. We headed into an area that we had not hunted before and spent an hour glassing three draws. We saw a couple does getting ready to bed down. Just when we're getting ready to move on, I picked up an ear near a clump of brush. As I looked closer I could see antlers moving. I set up my spotter to get a better look and sure enough he was a shooter. But, he was going to be difficult to get to. It was open terrain between us. So we back tracked up this two track. Got our gear and started the hike. Our plan was to get above him. We hiked three miles around the mountain to cover over the top. As we popped up over the ridge we found him still bedded in the same place. From where we were, he was 220 yards away. Wind was perfect as we sat and waited for him to stand up. My son found a rock that worked perfect as a rest and he was ready to go. All of a sudden the buck jumped out of his bed and started trotting up the hillside. We still don't know what spooked him. At this point the buck is going up hill straight away from us. He stopped for a brief second and my son touched one off and it was done. The bullet hit right between the shoulder blades. Broke the spine and took out the lungs.
The little 6.5 Creedmoor with 143gr ELDx did a great job and my son was super excited that he had just killed his first buck. Now that excitement faded a little when he realized that we still had to pack him out the three miles back to the side by side. But, he worked his but off and never complained. 4 hours later we were back at the truck and heading home.
