Thanks guys! His horns aren't as pretty as the 76" ivory tipped ones on this buck that I got in the same unit in 2009 with my Ruger M77 25-06, but his mass is better all the way up and that is where the score on a goat goes up real fast. I spotted him laying down the 4th morning of the season at about 600 yards and there was a deep ditch with a small trickle of water going down the valley he was in. It was really a pretty simple stalk using the ditch for cover and the first time I peeked over the top to see where he was I had covered the entire distance and he was only about 100 yards to the north of the ditch and was still laying down. I eased up with the .243 on my camera tripod ready for the shot and when he saw movement as I eased up to take him he stood up and the rest is history. The Sako is the only gun my Dad had not given me before he died on 9/11/11, just five days short of his 89th birthday. It was his favorite rifle and the most accurate one he said he had ever owned and he told me several times that it would be his until he passed. I dedicated the hunt to him and was really hoping to break the 80" mark. The buck will not quite make that score when the 60 day drying period is up, but I'm tickled to death with him and it will probably be the last buck antelope I will take. From now on it will probably just be does for the great salami sticks that I like to have made from all but the backstraps.
