So I thought you guys would like to hear about my first long range white tail harvest. I found this web site about a year and a half ago. I built a rifle, got quality optics, got a swaro LRF,began reloading and then shot 1500 rounds at up to 1000 yards in as many conditions as possible in as many possitions as possible.
So last season I shot a doe at 87 yards...not really long range but thats the hand I was delt. I had planned on taking a couple pigs at extended ranges but it hasn't been cold enough to mess with pigs....they are nasty...
I got a call for a guy that I hunt with that I needed to get to the lease asap because there was a Buck I needed to take a look at in the grain field below my stand. He said if I didnt come he was going to shoot it....Well on our lease we were able to pick our stand locations but we dont hunt each other spot so I knew it had to be worth the drive. (2 1/2 hours) I loaded up that night and made the drive.
My wheat field is 270 acres I had a pretty good idea what area they were hanging out in, but knot exactly where they were coming from. So since there was not a stand set up i would just go prone. I found a spot on the fence line and layed down. First there were 5 doe and I kept looking to the trees to see if this buck would be joining them. I guess I had been looking for about 5 minutes and i glanced to my right and HOLY CRAP!!! He was right he was a bruiser. Now here is where some very important info is for the newbies like me...It is almost Immpossible to get a range while laying prone on flat (slightly rolling ground) I tried everything I got 940 which I knew was the tree line I got 88 yards which I knew there was no way. I knew he was in the 750 to 650 range at that time but I never even got one reading in thoes ranges. I even had the entire deer in the circle of the swaro still nothing!!!!
This went on for over an hour and a half!!! Buck fever had settled to a mild headache and excitement and faded to anger. How could I get all the top of the line gear and could not get a **** range!!!! Then it hit me "scan mode" I put the LRF in scan mode and started on the treeline behind him..940..then I slowly lowered it towards the deer....536....holy crap i could not believe it. I dialed my dope but not wanting to make a mistake used the same method to confirm....535.....again...537.....I adjusted for the 2MPH crosswind settled on the target and squeezed it off. All the practice started to payoff. I was able to call my own shot...no dust, and the buck hopped like they do with a good hit. I learned something else here...it is almost impossible to follow an animal in the prone position if it runs out of your field of view. I grabbed the binos and threw them up but could not find him...To cut to the chase he had gone down in the field on the other side of one of the small hills. I had him scored today by an official scorer and he nets 175......with a missing eye guard and G5 on the right side...He would have easily gone 185+ if everything was there. On interesting note...Once the decision to shoot was made the "buck fever" was gone. It became about the shot and not about the target. My spelling sucks and its late so there will probably have to be 100 edits as I read over it....ok here is the proof...Oh and I know 536 isnt that long but come on he scores 175...lol OH and the shot was a perfect shot, both lungs and the top of the heart.
So last season I shot a doe at 87 yards...not really long range but thats the hand I was delt. I had planned on taking a couple pigs at extended ranges but it hasn't been cold enough to mess with pigs....they are nasty...
I got a call for a guy that I hunt with that I needed to get to the lease asap because there was a Buck I needed to take a look at in the grain field below my stand. He said if I didnt come he was going to shoot it....Well on our lease we were able to pick our stand locations but we dont hunt each other spot so I knew it had to be worth the drive. (2 1/2 hours) I loaded up that night and made the drive.
My wheat field is 270 acres I had a pretty good idea what area they were hanging out in, but knot exactly where they were coming from. So since there was not a stand set up i would just go prone. I found a spot on the fence line and layed down. First there were 5 doe and I kept looking to the trees to see if this buck would be joining them. I guess I had been looking for about 5 minutes and i glanced to my right and HOLY CRAP!!! He was right he was a bruiser. Now here is where some very important info is for the newbies like me...It is almost Immpossible to get a range while laying prone on flat (slightly rolling ground) I tried everything I got 940 which I knew was the tree line I got 88 yards which I knew there was no way. I knew he was in the 750 to 650 range at that time but I never even got one reading in thoes ranges. I even had the entire deer in the circle of the swaro still nothing!!!!
This went on for over an hour and a half!!! Buck fever had settled to a mild headache and excitement and faded to anger. How could I get all the top of the line gear and could not get a **** range!!!! Then it hit me "scan mode" I put the LRF in scan mode and started on the treeline behind him..940..then I slowly lowered it towards the deer....536....holy crap i could not believe it. I dialed my dope but not wanting to make a mistake used the same method to confirm....535.....again...537.....I adjusted for the 2MPH crosswind settled on the target and squeezed it off. All the practice started to payoff. I was able to call my own shot...no dust, and the buck hopped like they do with a good hit. I learned something else here...it is almost impossible to follow an animal in the prone position if it runs out of your field of view. I grabbed the binos and threw them up but could not find him...To cut to the chase he had gone down in the field on the other side of one of the small hills. I had him scored today by an official scorer and he nets 175......with a missing eye guard and G5 on the right side...He would have easily gone 185+ if everything was there. On interesting note...Once the decision to shoot was made the "buck fever" was gone. It became about the shot and not about the target. My spelling sucks and its late so there will probably have to be 100 edits as I read over it....ok here is the proof...Oh and I know 536 isnt that long but come on he scores 175...lol OH and the shot was a perfect shot, both lungs and the top of the heart.
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