I saw this buck once during archery season and wasn't able to get closer than 100 yds sneak style. I'm not one to sit around waiting for an opportunity in a tree stand, I'd rather create my own. He was just a 3x4 but his mass and height/width were unlike any of the other bucks I'd seen this year. I put the sneak on him but he was smarter than me and walked his way out into the middle of a grassy, sloped, natural clearing and to the edge of the timber on the other side (range of 400 yds from me). His does kind of tipped him off that maybe something was out there and he just stood on the other side of that big field watching. Of course I had no way to cross without getting spotted, so he lived another day. I never saw him again for close to three months until this Saturday, and by then I'd nearly forgotten about him.
Low and behold here he was in the middle of that same big slope feeding up behind a few does. I was over 1200 yds away and the only way to get closer was to sneak through the open grass, which wouldn't normally be a problem due to the distance, but it was evening and there were close to 60 deer all around this field. There is a fence about halfway between where I was and where the deer was so I figured I would get up to it and rest my rifle on the post. After 20-30 minutes of crawling on my hands and knees up to the fence I had my rifle in position and my dope dialed in for 500 yds (3.6 Mils & 0 wind).
I struggled internally for 10 minutes or so as to whether I wanted to end my deer season and have more time for elk or find myself a buck with more points. Realizing I didn't have the greatest rest I slowly piled a few rocks and placed my pack over the top of them giving me a much better rest and laid down prone.
Five minutes later I'd finished watching him on 24x magnification and decided he was the one for me and with confidence I slowly squeezed the trigger and sent a factory 123 gr SST downrange. He shot into the air and took off behind a small rise in the landscape roughly 40 yds from where he was. I watched all the other deer sprint for the safety of the trees and kept my eyes glued around the edges of the rise. He never came out from behind it so I threw my pack on and gathered my things and took off towards it. I walked to the top of the rise and glassed around not really seeing anything. Walked 100 feet or less and there he was.
Age estimates put this buck at about 5 or 6 years old so I'm glad to have eliminated his swimmers from the breeding pool this year. I've noticed a few thick, big bodied 2x2's and 3x3's so his genes are still out there, but at least the patriarch is gone. His body was absolutely huge and required two people to get him into the truck. Most deer I shoot can be loaded by one person.
As for the bullet, there was no visible entry point and the exit was about 1" in diameter with no recovered bullet or fragments. It went in between ribs and passed out between ribs. The shot was a bit lower than I aimed but it still did the trick. I love the Vortex Viper PST 6-24 MRAD EBR2 w/ FFP.
Low and behold here he was in the middle of that same big slope feeding up behind a few does. I was over 1200 yds away and the only way to get closer was to sneak through the open grass, which wouldn't normally be a problem due to the distance, but it was evening and there were close to 60 deer all around this field. There is a fence about halfway between where I was and where the deer was so I figured I would get up to it and rest my rifle on the post. After 20-30 minutes of crawling on my hands and knees up to the fence I had my rifle in position and my dope dialed in for 500 yds (3.6 Mils & 0 wind).
I struggled internally for 10 minutes or so as to whether I wanted to end my deer season and have more time for elk or find myself a buck with more points. Realizing I didn't have the greatest rest I slowly piled a few rocks and placed my pack over the top of them giving me a much better rest and laid down prone.
Five minutes later I'd finished watching him on 24x magnification and decided he was the one for me and with confidence I slowly squeezed the trigger and sent a factory 123 gr SST downrange. He shot into the air and took off behind a small rise in the landscape roughly 40 yds from where he was. I watched all the other deer sprint for the safety of the trees and kept my eyes glued around the edges of the rise. He never came out from behind it so I threw my pack on and gathered my things and took off towards it. I walked to the top of the rise and glassed around not really seeing anything. Walked 100 feet or less and there he was.
Age estimates put this buck at about 5 or 6 years old so I'm glad to have eliminated his swimmers from the breeding pool this year. I've noticed a few thick, big bodied 2x2's and 3x3's so his genes are still out there, but at least the patriarch is gone. His body was absolutely huge and required two people to get him into the truck. Most deer I shoot can be loaded by one person.
As for the bullet, there was no visible entry point and the exit was about 1" in diameter with no recovered bullet or fragments. It went in between ribs and passed out between ribs. The shot was a bit lower than I aimed but it still did the trick. I love the Vortex Viper PST 6-24 MRAD EBR2 w/ FFP.
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