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Start your own topic if you have a story.
Where are the hunting stories from this season?
- Thread starter Len Backus
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You might find this hard to believe but I haven't been out even one time yet this year! Had to cancel my elk hunt, didn't make it to Alberta or Wisconsin either, too busy to go out for local archery
.
I AM going out for the first day of our local deer season this coming Saturday.
[ 11-23-2004: Message edited by: Dave King ]
I AM going out for the first day of our local deer season this coming Saturday.
[ 11-23-2004: Message edited by: Dave King ]
cdmorten
Well-Known Member
My story is pretty uneventful. I set up on a hill that had good visibility in 3 directions. The grass was short so it was ideal for a prone bipod shot. I saw some movement to the left and saw that it was a 4x4 in a milo field. It moved behind a juniper tree which allowed my to make a quick move to get set up for the shot. When it stepped into the gap between some trees I made a noise to stop it and when it stopped. I dropped it on the spot. It was a good heart/lung shot from 190 yards.
My buddy on the other hand had an encounter with the the Holy Buck??
Since my tag was filled I walked with my hunting partner who decided that since we were going to walk a long ways that he'd take his 30/30 instead of his 30-06. As we were walking through some trees, we stopped to listen and heard some loud thrashing in the trees. I saw a glimps of white through the trees and thought it was a whitetails butt as it was running away from us. As it turned out, it was the rack of a huge buck and it was coming right towards us which is the craziest thing I've ever seen.
It stopped broadside about 30 yds from us and my buddy took a shot. The buck took off and sort of circled us, stopping a couple more times in which my buddy shot. He missed it 4 times.
We started walking again and about 5 minutes later, we saw it again about 40 yards off. Just like before, my buddy is throwing lead all over the place and the buck trots around us in a circle stopping a couple of times to see what was going on and again, not a scratch on him. I think my buddy shot 5 times.
It was pretty comical. My friend isn't a member of this forum as you may have guessed. I was kidding him about my deer (1 shot - 1 kill) vs. his deer, (9 shots - no kill). Anyway, I know where there will be a huge buck next year. You can count on me being there.
[ 11-23-2004: Message edited by: Corbett ]
[ 11-23-2004: Message edited by: Corbett ]
My buddy on the other hand had an encounter with the the Holy Buck??
Since my tag was filled I walked with my hunting partner who decided that since we were going to walk a long ways that he'd take his 30/30 instead of his 30-06. As we were walking through some trees, we stopped to listen and heard some loud thrashing in the trees. I saw a glimps of white through the trees and thought it was a whitetails butt as it was running away from us. As it turned out, it was the rack of a huge buck and it was coming right towards us which is the craziest thing I've ever seen.
It stopped broadside about 30 yds from us and my buddy took a shot. The buck took off and sort of circled us, stopping a couple more times in which my buddy shot. He missed it 4 times.
We started walking again and about 5 minutes later, we saw it again about 40 yards off. Just like before, my buddy is throwing lead all over the place and the buck trots around us in a circle stopping a couple of times to see what was going on and again, not a scratch on him. I think my buddy shot 5 times.
It was pretty comical. My friend isn't a member of this forum as you may have guessed. I was kidding him about my deer (1 shot - 1 kill) vs. his deer, (9 shots - no kill). Anyway, I know where there will be a huge buck next year. You can count on me being there.
[ 11-23-2004: Message edited by: Corbett ]
[ 11-23-2004: Message edited by: Corbett ]
Made a drive last Saterday,kickt out 5 deer.The buck came out first,my brother openend up on him @ 55yards with a 20ga slug.The buck is confused and unhit-runs twards my brother while he is still unloading(very steep angle he forgot to aim low :-( and jammed that **** old Mossberg.Buck stops broadside @ 40 yards but by now he is outa shell.The big guy takes off for the neighbors and we hear shots,figure the neighbor got him.....Wrong turns out a couple of guys from outa the area were trespasing and got him(****ed dont begin to explain it,I passed on him 2 years ago and missed last year)
Doe and fawn come out next but brother doen't take the shot as it was back twards the drivers.
Drive is all but done and my guard is down when nephew yells deer.I swing to see deer and nephew in sight picture so I dont take the safty off.Doe stops well past nephew but the **** safty is still on and by the time I get it off the neighbors house is in back of the doe...wait till they clear the building site and miss a hurried shot as they went over the bluff road.Trail them to make sure there is no blood.
Long story short,the nice buck we where after was taken by tresspassers(after my buck fevered brother forgot how to aim).Figured I'd talk to them when I cool down but get madder everytime I think about it.
We saw 5 got none but had a great time hunting with Dad,brother and three nephews!
There is always next weekend
[ 11-23-2004: Message edited by: Mach V ]
Doe and fawn come out next but brother doen't take the shot as it was back twards the drivers.
Drive is all but done and my guard is down when nephew yells deer.I swing to see deer and nephew in sight picture so I dont take the safty off.Doe stops well past nephew but the **** safty is still on and by the time I get it off the neighbors house is in back of the doe...wait till they clear the building site and miss a hurried shot as they went over the bluff road.Trail them to make sure there is no blood.
Long story short,the nice buck we where after was taken by tresspassers(after my buck fevered brother forgot how to aim).Figured I'd talk to them when I cool down but get madder everytime I think about it.
We saw 5 got none but had a great time hunting with Dad,brother and three nephews!
There is always next weekend
[ 11-23-2004: Message edited by: Mach V ]
QuietHunter
Well-Known Member
I spent the opening day of my mulie hunt verifying the weather had pushed all the deer out of the elevation I had scouted and was hunting in. It was a great day where I saw around 500 head of elk but zero deer and one set of tracks from a small deer.
The next day I spent moving camp to a new area I was not really familiar with at a lower elevation.
Third day of season I spent covering a lot of country. I was quite a few elk and a few deer. I found a few good feeding areas with lots of tracks and planned an evening and a morning hunt there. The evening hunt had does and fawns around but no bucks.
Fourth day found me on the edge of a large habitat improvement area that I had seen the day before. Lots of tracks so I figured they had to be feeding there. At first signs of light the Zeiss showed some bodies out a ways. One large and two smaller bodies so I was guessing doe and two fawns. Glassed some others and setup to shoot. The large one turned out to be a big bodies buck with two does. He was feeding away from me and I could tell he was not as wide as I wanted but had good mass and was really tall. I thought "Four days into a 7 day season and this is the first descent buck... better shoot". I ranged him at 353 on the far side of a clearing and setup on shooting sticks. If he gave me something other than a Texas heart shot I would take him. Finally he turned and I put the first mil behind his shoulder and squeezed. Without losing sight picture I could tell I had hit but all he did was turn 180 giving me a broad-side shot on the other side. I figured I had hit him heat / lung so I quickly decided to anchor him by going for the shoulder. At the shot I could see him roll.
First shot was a bit back through the ribs at a funny angle. Second shot broke both shoulders. I ranged from where he fell to where I shot and it was exactly 360 yards. He is 25" wide and 24" tall. A nice buck but not good enough for my wall.
The next day I spent moving camp to a new area I was not really familiar with at a lower elevation.
Third day of season I spent covering a lot of country. I was quite a few elk and a few deer. I found a few good feeding areas with lots of tracks and planned an evening and a morning hunt there. The evening hunt had does and fawns around but no bucks.
Fourth day found me on the edge of a large habitat improvement area that I had seen the day before. Lots of tracks so I figured they had to be feeding there. At first signs of light the Zeiss showed some bodies out a ways. One large and two smaller bodies so I was guessing doe and two fawns. Glassed some others and setup to shoot. The large one turned out to be a big bodies buck with two does. He was feeding away from me and I could tell he was not as wide as I wanted but had good mass and was really tall. I thought "Four days into a 7 day season and this is the first descent buck... better shoot". I ranged him at 353 on the far side of a clearing and setup on shooting sticks. If he gave me something other than a Texas heart shot I would take him. Finally he turned and I put the first mil behind his shoulder and squeezed. Without losing sight picture I could tell I had hit but all he did was turn 180 giving me a broad-side shot on the other side. I figured I had hit him heat / lung so I quickly decided to anchor him by going for the shoulder. At the shot I could see him roll.
First shot was a bit back through the ribs at a funny angle. Second shot broke both shoulders. I ranged from where he fell to where I shot and it was exactly 360 yards. He is 25" wide and 24" tall. A nice buck but not good enough for my wall.
cdmorten
Well-Known Member
Hey Quiet Hunter. Nice buck! Congrats. What caliber gun and what type of bullet did you use?
QuietHunter
Well-Known Member
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Hey Quiet Hunter. Nice buck! Congrats. What caliber gun and what type of bullet did you use? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thank you.
This is my 25-06 using the 101 Groovebullet, MV 3400 fps. The gun started as a Browning A-Bolt but has a Pac-Nor 25" fluted barrel. Glas bedding and trigger lightened to 2 pounds by Kevin Knight at HPG. Scope is a Leupold Vari-X 3 3.5-10x50 with illuminated mil-dot. Funny thing is I did not think to turn on illumination
Thank you.
This is my 25-06 using the 101 Groovebullet, MV 3400 fps. The gun started as a Browning A-Bolt but has a Pac-Nor 25" fluted barrel. Glas bedding and trigger lightened to 2 pounds by Kevin Knight at HPG. Scope is a Leupold Vari-X 3 3.5-10x50 with illuminated mil-dot. Funny thing is I did not think to turn on illumination
Daniel Ludwig
Active Member
has been pretty uneventful here too, took a spike the first evening @ about 100 yds with my .35 Whelen, first shot cut a foot long groove in the top of a haybail and struck him in the brisket infront of the front legs, second shot took both lungs, dropped him where he stood. today took a doe at about 80 yds with the Whelen, hit under left eye, exited back of skull just above last vertibre. shooting 250gr remington factory loads, cant wait to see what it does with handloads and 225 SGKs.
later
Daniel J Ludwig
later
Daniel J Ludwig
Pa deer opens Monday after Thanksgiving
I had a small area to hunt in NY, Lady Luck was with me and I managed to get my biggest NY deer, no long range but it was a memorable hunt.
Started climbing the hill about 10:45 20deg, watched some turkey & started to walk some, I spotted a nice buck on a 4 wheeler trail, no matter how I tried getting a clear kill shot, it was not happening, not even a tree I could rest/steady on, I chose to take what was given me, angling away through briars, freehand, 120yds 1 shot behind the left shoulder, shattering the right shoulder (sierra stopped by the skin - recovered) Buck does not drop but turns even further to head away, 2nd shot (same briars) across the belly skin, exiting the chest between both frt shoulders, didnt go down, but I could see internals hanging, he will lay, I am not going to push him, I start my circle around, 45 minutes later I jump him, perfect broadside - NOPE he is on the horizon with a highway & homes in the distance, I continue to circle putting the horizon to my back while he jogs off up the hill, I find his stomach & intestines stuck to the ground where he had been laying, ok I wait a half hr hoping he would die, I start the pursuit again not wanting to lose my trophy, I catch up w/ him & he jumps up ready to run, broadside shot, rib heart lungs exit & off he goes down the valley, I catch up w/ him a couple hundred yds away, I finally had my buck in hand.
30+ yrs hunting, that deer was the toughest, the load I been using for the past 6 yrs seems to drop them fast, but not this deer, I thought he was going to outlive me that day
My son used the same load earlier in the week on a 8pt 100yds, frontal, base of the neck exiting behind the left shoulder (recovered - stopped by the skin) dead on the spot.
86grs IMR7828/Fed215/30 165 Sierra BTSP
I had a small area to hunt in NY, Lady Luck was with me and I managed to get my biggest NY deer, no long range but it was a memorable hunt.
Started climbing the hill about 10:45 20deg, watched some turkey & started to walk some, I spotted a nice buck on a 4 wheeler trail, no matter how I tried getting a clear kill shot, it was not happening, not even a tree I could rest/steady on, I chose to take what was given me, angling away through briars, freehand, 120yds 1 shot behind the left shoulder, shattering the right shoulder (sierra stopped by the skin - recovered) Buck does not drop but turns even further to head away, 2nd shot (same briars) across the belly skin, exiting the chest between both frt shoulders, didnt go down, but I could see internals hanging, he will lay, I am not going to push him, I start my circle around, 45 minutes later I jump him, perfect broadside - NOPE he is on the horizon with a highway & homes in the distance, I continue to circle putting the horizon to my back while he jogs off up the hill, I find his stomach & intestines stuck to the ground where he had been laying, ok I wait a half hr hoping he would die, I start the pursuit again not wanting to lose my trophy, I catch up w/ him & he jumps up ready to run, broadside shot, rib heart lungs exit & off he goes down the valley, I catch up w/ him a couple hundred yds away, I finally had my buck in hand.
30+ yrs hunting, that deer was the toughest, the load I been using for the past 6 yrs seems to drop them fast, but not this deer, I thought he was going to outlive me that day
My son used the same load earlier in the week on a 8pt 100yds, frontal, base of the neck exiting behind the left shoulder (recovered - stopped by the skin) dead on the spot.
86grs IMR7828/Fed215/30 165 Sierra BTSP
ATH
Well-Known Member
I already posted my first two kill stories --
1st mule deer, Montana, 438 yds 15 degree angle
1st elk (6X6), Montana, 683 yds 15 degree angle
Both with a Remington Sendero 300WM
First day of deer season here was cold, wet and miserable, I saw a couple good bucks come out early but they were never within 400 yds and my rangefinder would not work well in the rain (and I was hunting with a muzzleloader since we can't use rifles). Some bedded does got up and led the bucks off the property so I hunted around the perimeter of the field to get downwind of the area since I knew more deer were bedded down on that ditch. When I got relatively close a tall 6-pt came out and busted me, I dropped and got the gun on the bipod but could not reach my rangefinder without spooking him. I estimated 200 yds and a touch, and held for the base of the neck on a frontal shot. It was really 275 yds, the bullet planted between his feet and he and about 10 does were GONE. I reloaded and started for my truck, but not 5min later here comes the slightly smaller of the two nice bucks back in a hurry with his nose to the ground. I got the ditch he had to cross ranged at 225 yds, and when he crossed I practically had to yell a bleat to get him to hold for the shot he was so engaged in that doe scent. The 200gr Shockwave bullet put him down in his tracks at about 200 yds, a relatively easy shot for me after a couple 300+ yd shots the last few years.
I don't have any pics of me with the buck yet as they were on a 35mm, but yesterday we checked the trail cams on the property and found a shot of him 5 days before I took him. I thought that was kind of neat.
1st mule deer, Montana, 438 yds 15 degree angle
1st elk (6X6), Montana, 683 yds 15 degree angle
Both with a Remington Sendero 300WM
First day of deer season here was cold, wet and miserable, I saw a couple good bucks come out early but they were never within 400 yds and my rangefinder would not work well in the rain (and I was hunting with a muzzleloader since we can't use rifles). Some bedded does got up and led the bucks off the property so I hunted around the perimeter of the field to get downwind of the area since I knew more deer were bedded down on that ditch. When I got relatively close a tall 6-pt came out and busted me, I dropped and got the gun on the bipod but could not reach my rangefinder without spooking him. I estimated 200 yds and a touch, and held for the base of the neck on a frontal shot. It was really 275 yds, the bullet planted between his feet and he and about 10 does were GONE. I reloaded and started for my truck, but not 5min later here comes the slightly smaller of the two nice bucks back in a hurry with his nose to the ground. I got the ditch he had to cross ranged at 225 yds, and when he crossed I practically had to yell a bleat to get him to hold for the shot he was so engaged in that doe scent. The 200gr Shockwave bullet put him down in his tracks at about 200 yds, a relatively easy shot for me after a couple 300+ yd shots the last few years.
I don't have any pics of me with the buck yet as they were on a 35mm, but yesterday we checked the trail cams on the property and found a shot of him 5 days before I took him. I thought that was kind of neat.
Last week I tried three different rifles for whitetail in North Carolina. The first was a 6mm-06 with a 88 grain berger @ 3640. Two kills where the dear dropped in their tracks. First was a heart lung shot at 260 yds and a mid neck shot at 276 yards. The heart lung never exited. The next was a neck shot at 156 yds with a 9.3x64 275 grain A-Swift small exit hole as you would expect but did anchor the deer.
The next dear is the unbelievable. I was hunting soy bean fields where 600 to 800 yard shots were expected using a 338 edge 300 grain smk @ 2850. The unexpected happened when a buck showed up on woodlot edge at 125 yds. I hit the deer high and behind the front shoulder which knocked him to the ground immediately. As I slid another shell in he began to roll then crawl to some high brush. I lost site of him at that point. When I went to find him all I found was the leaves scraped where he fell, but not even a drop of blood. I was able to trail him by the disturbed leaves for about 20 yards but never found a drop of blood. Searched for two days and never found him. I know that the bullet may not expand much but cannot believe that there was not at least a one inch hole on the exit side.
Open for comments on this one.
The next dear is the unbelievable. I was hunting soy bean fields where 600 to 800 yard shots were expected using a 338 edge 300 grain smk @ 2850. The unexpected happened when a buck showed up on woodlot edge at 125 yds. I hit the deer high and behind the front shoulder which knocked him to the ground immediately. As I slid another shell in he began to roll then crawl to some high brush. I lost site of him at that point. When I went to find him all I found was the leaves scraped where he fell, but not even a drop of blood. I was able to trail him by the disturbed leaves for about 20 yards but never found a drop of blood. Searched for two days and never found him. I know that the bullet may not expand much but cannot believe that there was not at least a one inch hole on the exit side.
Open for comments on this one.
ATH
Well-Known Member
That's really unfortunate. Sounds like you went above and beyond to recover the animal though. I bet that bullet just punched through almost unscathed. I've tested some SMKs at short range and not been pleased with the results, though I know people have decent luck with them further out. This was the reason I developed both SMK and Accubond loads for my rifle even though I'd rather shoot 1 load for everything.
Yes I too developed a 250 grain soft point which would have done better but I have been having such a great time long range on paper with the 300 SMK. 6-8 groups at a thousand with no wind and good results at 1400 yds. I guess I'll just have to take out the shoulder next time.
