500mag_guy
Well-Known Member
We hunted hard and put close to 30 miles on the heal toe express but by Sunday at 1:00 pm myself and two good friends had our tags filled.
Opening morning started at 4:30am Saturday with a long drive and then a 3 mile hike once we arrived. We made it to our nice little high spot on the flats where we glass from just as shooting light hit. We glass for about 30 minutes before we found our first goat, a decent buck. We put a good sneak on him to just under 600 yards only to end up with a pulled shot.
We spent the next 4 hours searching the flats only to find a few coyotes so we decided to head back to the trucks and get some lunch. Half way back to the trucks I spot a group of 15 goats feeding below us about a mile away. Our hunger immediately went away and were back in hunt mode.
Brandon and I decided to go down and get in front of the group in hopes to turn them up to Todd and Robby with the buck tags. We fallowed drainages down and got in front of them only to be winded from the help of a light breeze that blew in the goats favor. Unfortunate for myself but our main plan worked flawlessly, pushing the group right in front of Robby and Todd where Robby bagged a decent buck. After congratulating him and leaving him and Todd to the extraction, Brandon and I continued our hunt to fill my doe tag.
Minutes after walking away from the kill site Brandon spot a lone doe below us so we began the stalk to get in front of her. About 30 minutes later we were in position and I was setting up to take a shot with my Barrett 50bmg. Trying to get an accurate reading on her range through all the tall grass wasn't going well at all but finally after many attempts we both got an accurate range. 987 yards with a 5 mph right wind, I adjusted accordingly and waited for Brandon to call it. I touched off and watch as the vapor tail went right over her back I tried one more shot with an eye denial result.. Off she went on a dead run only to stop long outside my range. We packed up and started after her but she stayed one step ahead of us until she found her safe zone on private property. I got one more shot at another doe at 804 yards but due to a false reading of 625 yards I hit feet short of hitting her. At 5:00pm we decided to head back to the truck to meet up the the other two tired hunters to call it a day.
We ended up putting on between 12 and 15 miles that day and I was extremely tired after packing the Barrett every step of the way. I didn't think I had another day of hiking in me and a decent rain storm had rolled in so I decided I was done for the weekend. Laying on the couch I got a hold of my good friend Jayson (doublezranch) to tell him about my unsuccessful day. After he gave me plenty of crap for even considering quitting he convinced me into getting back out there the next day. (Thanks again buddy
)
Sunday morning I decided it was time to put the Barrett back in the safe and take the custom 300 rum for a walk. Todd and I were the only ones who decided to go up again so we headed out to fallow the same routine as the previous day but this time I spot a group of 20 goats right off the bat but about 3 miles away. After a few minutes of discussing a game plan we decided that Todd would walk up the fence line to get in front of them and I was going to sneak in behind them and try to get a doe while hoping to push the others over to him.
An hour later after fallowing drainages to a distance of 896 yards I settled in for a shot with my 300 rum. I sent it off and watch the bullet hit directly over her back. The group took off in a fast manner with no intention of stopping so I dialed my scope back to it's zero and starting packing everything back up. While doing so I hear a shot ring off from behind me in the distance. Not thinking anything of it I continued getting everything back into my backpack.
After I had got everything all packed up I turned around to see two orange dots in the distance. I pulled up my binoculars to see what they were doing.. They were glassing up in my direction??? Hmm I said to myself, I wonder why they are so interested in me as I reached down to pick up my piece of brass... Then it clicked!! I looked to my left and 400 yards away stood 4 goats starring at me... On my knees I reacted for my rifle and began extending my bipod. They busted me, and for the life of me I couldn't get the right leg of my bipod extended. I pulled up and and started following them. The front three were running extremely close together with the buck in the middle. I panned back till the fourth goat came into sight. Yes! It was a doe. I started following her in my scope and moved ahead of her by roughly 4-5 feet and touched it off. That next split second a hundred thoughts ran through my head and at million miles an hour because just as I touched off she disappeared but so did the rest of the goats into a drainage.. Then... I heard the report! WHOP! I immediately knew I hit her. Only three goats came out of the end of the drainage so I knew she was down!
I walked over there and sure enough a dead goat with an entrance hole just behind the lungs angling through the lung and out just behind the shoulder with an exit I could stick both of my fists in. No meet loss, what a relief! Said a prayer, dressed her out then up onto the shoulders she went and back to the truck we go.
After dropping off my goat at the truck I met up with Todd to try and find him a buck. A little while later we spot a group with a very nice buck getting ready to jump the fence off of private and onto the land we can hunt. We made the 2 mile hike to get in front of them only to have them get spooked back over by another hunter. We decided to sit next to the fence and have some lunch. After and hour or so of glassing the group getting closer to the fence the wind picked up and Todd loses his hat due to a wind gust so he gets up to retrieve it. As I'm sitting there glassing the group on private landI hear Todd say, quick hand me my rifle there's a buck I spin around and sure enough 200 yards behind us is a beautiful buck. Todd quickly steadies on his bipod and sends the shot. He drops like a sack of potatoes then gets up and takes off like a bat out of hell!
We took off tracking him and 6 miles later we finally got another shot at him which ended it all with a neck shot. The first shot hit a little far back sadly but we thankfully recovered him in a timely manner.
Taking turns carrying him on our shoulders we finally made it back to the truck and headed home with big smiles!
Thanks for reading and I apologize in advance for such a long read but once I started typing I decided to just tell it all. Lol
Thanks again, Eric
Opening morning started at 4:30am Saturday with a long drive and then a 3 mile hike once we arrived. We made it to our nice little high spot on the flats where we glass from just as shooting light hit. We glass for about 30 minutes before we found our first goat, a decent buck. We put a good sneak on him to just under 600 yards only to end up with a pulled shot.
We spent the next 4 hours searching the flats only to find a few coyotes so we decided to head back to the trucks and get some lunch. Half way back to the trucks I spot a group of 15 goats feeding below us about a mile away. Our hunger immediately went away and were back in hunt mode.
Brandon and I decided to go down and get in front of the group in hopes to turn them up to Todd and Robby with the buck tags. We fallowed drainages down and got in front of them only to be winded from the help of a light breeze that blew in the goats favor. Unfortunate for myself but our main plan worked flawlessly, pushing the group right in front of Robby and Todd where Robby bagged a decent buck. After congratulating him and leaving him and Todd to the extraction, Brandon and I continued our hunt to fill my doe tag.
Minutes after walking away from the kill site Brandon spot a lone doe below us so we began the stalk to get in front of her. About 30 minutes later we were in position and I was setting up to take a shot with my Barrett 50bmg. Trying to get an accurate reading on her range through all the tall grass wasn't going well at all but finally after many attempts we both got an accurate range. 987 yards with a 5 mph right wind, I adjusted accordingly and waited for Brandon to call it. I touched off and watch as the vapor tail went right over her back I tried one more shot with an eye denial result.. Off she went on a dead run only to stop long outside my range. We packed up and started after her but she stayed one step ahead of us until she found her safe zone on private property. I got one more shot at another doe at 804 yards but due to a false reading of 625 yards I hit feet short of hitting her. At 5:00pm we decided to head back to the truck to meet up the the other two tired hunters to call it a day.
We ended up putting on between 12 and 15 miles that day and I was extremely tired after packing the Barrett every step of the way. I didn't think I had another day of hiking in me and a decent rain storm had rolled in so I decided I was done for the weekend. Laying on the couch I got a hold of my good friend Jayson (doublezranch) to tell him about my unsuccessful day. After he gave me plenty of crap for even considering quitting he convinced me into getting back out there the next day. (Thanks again buddy
)Sunday morning I decided it was time to put the Barrett back in the safe and take the custom 300 rum for a walk. Todd and I were the only ones who decided to go up again so we headed out to fallow the same routine as the previous day but this time I spot a group of 20 goats right off the bat but about 3 miles away. After a few minutes of discussing a game plan we decided that Todd would walk up the fence line to get in front of them and I was going to sneak in behind them and try to get a doe while hoping to push the others over to him.
An hour later after fallowing drainages to a distance of 896 yards I settled in for a shot with my 300 rum. I sent it off and watch the bullet hit directly over her back. The group took off in a fast manner with no intention of stopping so I dialed my scope back to it's zero and starting packing everything back up. While doing so I hear a shot ring off from behind me in the distance. Not thinking anything of it I continued getting everything back into my backpack.
After I had got everything all packed up I turned around to see two orange dots in the distance. I pulled up my binoculars to see what they were doing.. They were glassing up in my direction??? Hmm I said to myself, I wonder why they are so interested in me as I reached down to pick up my piece of brass... Then it clicked!! I looked to my left and 400 yards away stood 4 goats starring at me... On my knees I reacted for my rifle and began extending my bipod. They busted me, and for the life of me I couldn't get the right leg of my bipod extended. I pulled up and and started following them. The front three were running extremely close together with the buck in the middle. I panned back till the fourth goat came into sight. Yes! It was a doe. I started following her in my scope and moved ahead of her by roughly 4-5 feet and touched it off. That next split second a hundred thoughts ran through my head and at million miles an hour because just as I touched off she disappeared but so did the rest of the goats into a drainage.. Then... I heard the report! WHOP! I immediately knew I hit her. Only three goats came out of the end of the drainage so I knew she was down!
I walked over there and sure enough a dead goat with an entrance hole just behind the lungs angling through the lung and out just behind the shoulder with an exit I could stick both of my fists in. No meet loss, what a relief! Said a prayer, dressed her out then up onto the shoulders she went and back to the truck we go.
After dropping off my goat at the truck I met up with Todd to try and find him a buck. A little while later we spot a group with a very nice buck getting ready to jump the fence off of private and onto the land we can hunt. We made the 2 mile hike to get in front of them only to have them get spooked back over by another hunter. We decided to sit next to the fence and have some lunch. After and hour or so of glassing the group getting closer to the fence the wind picked up and Todd loses his hat due to a wind gust so he gets up to retrieve it. As I'm sitting there glassing the group on private landI hear Todd say, quick hand me my rifle there's a buck I spin around and sure enough 200 yards behind us is a beautiful buck. Todd quickly steadies on his bipod and sends the shot. He drops like a sack of potatoes then gets up and takes off like a bat out of hell!
We took off tracking him and 6 miles later we finally got another shot at him which ended it all with a neck shot. The first shot hit a little far back sadly but we thankfully recovered him in a timely manner.
Taking turns carrying him on our shoulders we finally made it back to the truck and headed home with big smiles!
Thanks for reading and I apologize in advance for such a long read but once I started typing I decided to just tell it all. Lol
Thanks again, Eric
