Schnyd112
Well-Known Member
Had success earlier this year on an antelope on my first solo big game animal. Took them out again for mule deer. 117 hammer hunter, .270 wsm, 187 yards, have hunted hard on every spare moment. We were looking for a monster but never ran into him. Cold, snow, rain and big wind this weekend. The deer were hunkered down and tough to find.
Was able to hunt with my brother, something we haven't done in probably 15 years. Saw some great country, passed on a younger deer last week but couldn't let this guy walk. We saw him early in the day but he gave us the slip. Rather than push it we continued the hunt, seeing some scattered does way below us every now and then. Found him again in a real nasty ravine, hiding in the rocks to stay out of the weather. Watched him in his bed for maybe 15 minutes before he got uncomfortable. He stood up and took about a step and a half before I dropped the hammer. He walked a couple steps and was out of sight.
we headed down below him, hoping to see him piled up in the bottom, saw nothing. Walked back to where he was hit, found hair and a couple spots of bright red blood. Next blood had chunks of lung and my brother went full bloodhound. I was marking trail and he was up ahead finding more and more blood. He went down less than 40 yards from impact, never even made it to the bottom of the ravine.
We know there are better out there but we just never ran into them this season. I think I may have brother hooked again, we had some tough hunts and put on some serious mountain miles. There is some really pretty country with high desert sage and aspen. Suffered through ugly weather this week and it paid off.
Took the top of the heart, atrium and aorta, off of this one and toasted both lungs. Inside the rib cage on entry side was maybe 1.5-2", about the same sized exit on the far side and the bullet punched a quarter sized hole through the hide. Not long range by any means but there is no reason to make it harder than it need to be. With the wind this weekend I definitely wasn't going to chance a long shot. I've tested in 10 mph out to 650, this was easily 15-20 mph steady wind with gusts that would make us question why we were there.
Was able to hunt with my brother, something we haven't done in probably 15 years. Saw some great country, passed on a younger deer last week but couldn't let this guy walk. We saw him early in the day but he gave us the slip. Rather than push it we continued the hunt, seeing some scattered does way below us every now and then. Found him again in a real nasty ravine, hiding in the rocks to stay out of the weather. Watched him in his bed for maybe 15 minutes before he got uncomfortable. He stood up and took about a step and a half before I dropped the hammer. He walked a couple steps and was out of sight.
we headed down below him, hoping to see him piled up in the bottom, saw nothing. Walked back to where he was hit, found hair and a couple spots of bright red blood. Next blood had chunks of lung and my brother went full bloodhound. I was marking trail and he was up ahead finding more and more blood. He went down less than 40 yards from impact, never even made it to the bottom of the ravine.
We know there are better out there but we just never ran into them this season. I think I may have brother hooked again, we had some tough hunts and put on some serious mountain miles. There is some really pretty country with high desert sage and aspen. Suffered through ugly weather this week and it paid off.
Took the top of the heart, atrium and aorta, off of this one and toasted both lungs. Inside the rib cage on entry side was maybe 1.5-2", about the same sized exit on the far side and the bullet punched a quarter sized hole through the hide. Not long range by any means but there is no reason to make it harder than it need to be. With the wind this weekend I definitely wasn't going to chance a long shot. I've tested in 10 mph out to 650, this was easily 15-20 mph steady wind with gusts that would make us question why we were there.
