Tikkamike
Well-Known Member
I dont usually hunt opening day but I decided to this year because I had a deer I believed to be about 30" wide located. My dad andI went out opening morning before daylight and got to a good vantage point to glass from. as soon as it was light enough to see I spotted a buck and noted his location and kept looking because it wasnt light enough to see what he was yet. found a few more but nothing that stood out as the 30" I had been watching. as it got a little lighter out I looked back at the first deer and saw it was a very nice deep forked 4x4. He had great mass and really tall and probably 26-28" wide. He struck me as a 180 buck so I knew I had to kill him. I had positioned myself behind a big rock but for where this deer was it was not a steady rest. I ranged the deer at 450 then moved leaving my RF binoculars behind because my dad had his and he could range for me so I tried a couple different rocks and couldnt get a good rest so I had to go down hill about 15 yards. I ask my dad a range before I went down there he said 500. (The gun im shooting is my 375 Rum that I just had rebarreled and had not done anything more than zero at 200 and shot 2 milk jugs at 500 to test my drops) I had a drop chart and felt confident I could kill anything under 500. I get down to the rock and while doing so I spooked another buck who started running up the hill toward the buck I was after. I didnt pay any attention to this buck because I knew it wasnt as big as the one I was after and there were a lot of rocks and holes for the deer to slip into and disappear. As I get ready the second deer get the first one all riled up and they take off into the rocks and disappear. Then a couple seconds later the big one appears at what I am guessing was about 400 but I wanted to be sure so I try to get my dads attention but he is half deaf and was wearing ear plugs so getting his attention didnt happen. By the time I figured that out the deer was gone again but they were getting closer trying to get out of this boulder field. so I was watching and finally one stepped out from behind a rock facing dead away from me. I could see he was heavy and pretty wide. "That has to be him" I looked down at my rifle to make sure I was good to go then at the deer to guess range. Looked to be about 300 and he was now facing me dead on. Looks good still so put the cross hairs on his chest and sent him a 270gr TSX at 3150 fps. he took a couple steps backward.. then a couple forward then piled up. My dad instantly says "WHY DID YOU SHOOT THAT ONE??!?!" thats a buzz kill to hear in case you were wondering. He says I dont know where the big one is but thats not him. I said well I guess he lives another day cause that one is pretty dead. I hiked over to him and felt the instant disappointment. I have always wanted a big 3 point, but knowing there was a 180" deer with him kind of took away from it for me. But it happened so I guess now I have my big 3 point. If he had developed rear forks he would have added maybe 6-7 inches per side and another circumference per side which would have put him in the high 170's. He is 26" wide with 27" main beams he scored 160" as is ..well actually 159 7/8" I am just going to boil the skull and call it good on this guy.. Maybe next year if I draw again.
