WildRose
Well-Known Member
Well as some of you know the last 2-3 years have been tough on me physically with a total of 9 surgeries in 3 years, 7 in the last 30 months.
I was flat getting sick to death of hurting and sitting around the house when I wanted to be working, shooting, or hunting not to mention fed up with seeing most of what little money I was making all going for deductibles and co pays.
The last week of the season last year I was at least able to get out and feed the freezer but of course there were three more surgeries following that.
In October I finally got the first green light to go back to work and so three days later I joined Mario for an Elk Hunt in NM and just had a ball.
I got pretty excited about getting serious about deer hunting this year and have been doing my normal studying my favorite spots, getting to know the patterns etc and getting to know a few of the bucks.
Tonight I decided I'd get all the chores done early and get to my shooting position by 3:30-4:00 but of course I got hung up with customers and didn't even get out there to do chores until just after 5:00pm.
I'd already had to stop and glass 3 really nice bucks that were out in my neighbors fields which of course was part of the delay and then when I get to my gate I notice quite a few deer well over in the CRP; far enough away that I wasn't disturbing them any.
Well I see one of them that just stands out and put the glasses on him and he's the heaviest rack I've seen on a live deer. I was only using a 15x scope and looking pretty much straight into the setting sun so I couldn't really tell a whole lot more about him other than seeing that his total mass was just amazing!
I sit and watch them for about five minutes as he starts to walk off and decide I'll just drive on in and then put on a short stalk and see what happens.
Well I get a great show with a dozen does coming through and three little bucks, then two nice mature bucks but nothing worth getting too excited about. As I was driving in the heavy buck appeared to be off chasing a doe and I'd hoped he'd pop his head back up in range but apparently she took him for quite a run.
Well about the time I'm thinking of giving up and just carrying on with chores I see a buck that I think might be worth a second look so I put the scope on him. Of course by this time all I can see are his tines occasionally popping up just above the grass (lots of blue stem) but I never could get a good look at him.
As the sun is setting I lose him completely and go back to watching the does feed and a couple of more mature bucks come through with the does they are bedding but they were not shooters.
So far this is the perfect deer hunt. I get to watch a bunch of deer and scope a couple of really nice deer but I don't see anyone worth pulling the trigger.
Just as I'm packing up Mr. Tall Tines shows up again where I can actually get a good look at him and I start seriously considering pulling the trigger.
Not a real wide rack and I get a good profile look which shows me his main beams don't extend past his nose but man, his G2's look like they are at least 10" or more and he has long brow tines as well.
So I break out the range finder and just as I thought he was well past 500yds which wouldn't normally deter me but I wasn't shooting from a blind or stand with good support. All I had was a mesquite to lean against and I was having trouble really getting steady enough to be comfortable with a shot that long.
So the sun is fading and I'm trying to make up my mind and I range him a few more times and come up with 547yds. For me, just leaning against a tree that's a fair poke and Even though I had my long bipod there was just no way to shoot off of it or to even use it under the rear end bracing off of the tree because it put me so low I couldn't see anything but grass.
Finally I get fairly comfortable and flip off the safety thinking "If I can get steady for three full seconds I'll let one fly".
Well it happened and I see it's a solid hit which is confirmed by a really loud "Thawak" about a half second after I see him fold.
That has me feeling pretty darn good!
I put the scope on where I saw him last and don't see anything but dust and wire flopping like maybe he'd gone through the fence so I decide to just give it fiver or ten minutes and then drive over to see what I'd done.
Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me but had to snap a couple with the phone and text them to Mario. He text's back with one that looks almost like a twin to mine!
I'm then laughing thinking "Well we both had pretty good nights" as I'm driving over to finish up the chores for the night and thinking how lucky I am.
Six months ago I had a really bad break of my left Humerus right below the head and had it all put back together with a foot of steel and a box full of screws and yet here I am today able to load a buck by myself that weighs somewhere over 225lbs easily!
No, he's not the best buck of my life, and hopefully not the best one I'll shoot this year but he certainly means as much to me as any I've ever managed to be lucky enough to take.
I'm not smart enough to load pictures from my phone but maybe Mario can from his.
I was flat getting sick to death of hurting and sitting around the house when I wanted to be working, shooting, or hunting not to mention fed up with seeing most of what little money I was making all going for deductibles and co pays.
The last week of the season last year I was at least able to get out and feed the freezer but of course there were three more surgeries following that.
In October I finally got the first green light to go back to work and so three days later I joined Mario for an Elk Hunt in NM and just had a ball.
I got pretty excited about getting serious about deer hunting this year and have been doing my normal studying my favorite spots, getting to know the patterns etc and getting to know a few of the bucks.
Tonight I decided I'd get all the chores done early and get to my shooting position by 3:30-4:00 but of course I got hung up with customers and didn't even get out there to do chores until just after 5:00pm.
I'd already had to stop and glass 3 really nice bucks that were out in my neighbors fields which of course was part of the delay and then when I get to my gate I notice quite a few deer well over in the CRP; far enough away that I wasn't disturbing them any.
Well I see one of them that just stands out and put the glasses on him and he's the heaviest rack I've seen on a live deer. I was only using a 15x scope and looking pretty much straight into the setting sun so I couldn't really tell a whole lot more about him other than seeing that his total mass was just amazing!
I sit and watch them for about five minutes as he starts to walk off and decide I'll just drive on in and then put on a short stalk and see what happens.
Well I get a great show with a dozen does coming through and three little bucks, then two nice mature bucks but nothing worth getting too excited about. As I was driving in the heavy buck appeared to be off chasing a doe and I'd hoped he'd pop his head back up in range but apparently she took him for quite a run.
Well about the time I'm thinking of giving up and just carrying on with chores I see a buck that I think might be worth a second look so I put the scope on him. Of course by this time all I can see are his tines occasionally popping up just above the grass (lots of blue stem) but I never could get a good look at him.
As the sun is setting I lose him completely and go back to watching the does feed and a couple of more mature bucks come through with the does they are bedding but they were not shooters.
So far this is the perfect deer hunt. I get to watch a bunch of deer and scope a couple of really nice deer but I don't see anyone worth pulling the trigger.
Just as I'm packing up Mr. Tall Tines shows up again where I can actually get a good look at him and I start seriously considering pulling the trigger.
Not a real wide rack and I get a good profile look which shows me his main beams don't extend past his nose but man, his G2's look like they are at least 10" or more and he has long brow tines as well.
So I break out the range finder and just as I thought he was well past 500yds which wouldn't normally deter me but I wasn't shooting from a blind or stand with good support. All I had was a mesquite to lean against and I was having trouble really getting steady enough to be comfortable with a shot that long.
So the sun is fading and I'm trying to make up my mind and I range him a few more times and come up with 547yds. For me, just leaning against a tree that's a fair poke and Even though I had my long bipod there was just no way to shoot off of it or to even use it under the rear end bracing off of the tree because it put me so low I couldn't see anything but grass.
Finally I get fairly comfortable and flip off the safety thinking "If I can get steady for three full seconds I'll let one fly".
Well it happened and I see it's a solid hit which is confirmed by a really loud "Thawak" about a half second after I see him fold.
That has me feeling pretty darn good!
I put the scope on where I saw him last and don't see anything but dust and wire flopping like maybe he'd gone through the fence so I decide to just give it fiver or ten minutes and then drive over to see what I'd done.
Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me but had to snap a couple with the phone and text them to Mario. He text's back with one that looks almost like a twin to mine!
I'm then laughing thinking "Well we both had pretty good nights" as I'm driving over to finish up the chores for the night and thinking how lucky I am.
Six months ago I had a really bad break of my left Humerus right below the head and had it all put back together with a foot of steel and a box full of screws and yet here I am today able to load a buck by myself that weighs somewhere over 225lbs easily!
No, he's not the best buck of my life, and hopefully not the best one I'll shoot this year but he certainly means as much to me as any I've ever managed to be lucky enough to take.
I'm not smart enough to load pictures from my phone but maybe Mario can from his.
