Darkhorse
Handloader
- Mar 14, 2014
- 800
- 150
I found these on an old computer with a bad battery, so it’s a pain to boot it back up to see what’s on it. I’ve found a few photo’s but most don’t really have a story behind them. But some do so I think I’ll concentrate on those.
I was actually in better shape here than I look as I just like to wear baggy overalls when hunting as I don’t like restrictive clothes. Good thing too as the terrain was a little rough in spots.
This was a new lease of about 3,000 acres close to the Flint River and the ground was littered with chunks of flint and other rocks. I had found a recent clearcut with no deer stands so I set up a stand in the very back where I could see about 150 yards down a creek bottom. I saw nothing there but on about Nov. 12th (one of the magic days) I heard a noise to my left at 1:05 PM and turned to see a massive buck glowing in the sun wearing a huge, tall 8 point rack. He walked right behind be and never gave me a shot. Heartbreaker.
So, the next summer I put up a 16 ft. Tripod about 100 yards north of where I had been. Talk about hot! Blistering August in Georgia and all for a chance at a buck.
The spot was on a ridge with pretty good visibility all around except for the thickness of the brush. They had not replanted the clearcut but just let it grow up into all kinds of brush. Across a brushchoked bottom was another ridge. This one had standing pines and midsized oak trees covering the sides and top with some openings among the trees. This ridge gave me shots from about 250 to maybe 350 yards in places. On top, beyond sight was an old logging road. I won’t go into the detail of cutting brush for access and shooting lanes but it was brutal in the heat.
I had installed some 1X6’s all around the top of the stand to hold a sand bag in case I got a long shot so I figured I was ready. Again, about Nov. 11 or 12th during the seeking phase of the rut, I was there way before daylight sitting in the thick frost. Things started happening fast. Does and a couple of small bucks were running everywhere starting right at daybreak. About 9 I saw 6 or 7 does run through the trees on the ridge across from me. I didn’t see a buck but figured he was there, chasing those does.
About 20 minutes later the does came running back. My rifle was across the sandbag and I reached up and spun the selector ring for my magnification (probably 6X). Then I saw him coming at a fast trot through the trees right on the crest. Through the scope I remember seeing 6 large points and tracking him as he moved. I moved the crosshairs in front to an opening and when he reached it I followed him and shot. That’s the best I can describe it as it all just sorta happened and muscle memory just took over. At the shot he turned straight away and ran over the hill. I felt sure of a hit. Usually when missed at a distance they will either stop and look around or just stay on the doe running out of sight.
I marked the spot of the shot real well in my mind. There was a dead pine tree laying at an angle right there. So I made my way across the bottom and it WAS thick with most brush higher than my head. I looked for almost 2 hours for the spot with no luck as things were totally different looking 300 yards away. Finally, I was just coursing back and forth across the ridge when I spotted some fresh white pieces of pine on the ground. That’s usually a bad sign. I looked closer and found the dead pine. My bullet had dead centered the dead one then cut a groove about 2 inches deep through a live tree. And just beyond that was a spot of blood and a few hairs!
So I took up the trail with a heavy heart but the blood sign just got better and better. He had made it about 60 yards with a large ragged entry hole in the heart then fell in the logging road.
I field dressed him right there to remove as much weight as possible. Usually I load deer on my ATV by holding the antlers and backing up the step and onto the rear cargo deck pulling the deer behind me. Not this one. Too Heavy. So I tied his antlers as high as I could then grabbed the bloody torso and heaved. It took a few tries but I finally got him loaded then sat down to let my heart rate and breathing return to normal. He was heavy and it was quite an effort.
When I got back to camp some of those guys saw all the fresh blood on my arms and clothes and thought I’d cut myself . They said it looked like I’d been in a war.
Rifle was a Browning Stainless Stalker in .300 Win. Mag. IMR 4350 and 165 gr. Hornady spire points. Leupold 3.5X10X40.
I was actually in better shape here than I look as I just like to wear baggy overalls when hunting as I don’t like restrictive clothes. Good thing too as the terrain was a little rough in spots.
This was a new lease of about 3,000 acres close to the Flint River and the ground was littered with chunks of flint and other rocks. I had found a recent clearcut with no deer stands so I set up a stand in the very back where I could see about 150 yards down a creek bottom. I saw nothing there but on about Nov. 12th (one of the magic days) I heard a noise to my left at 1:05 PM and turned to see a massive buck glowing in the sun wearing a huge, tall 8 point rack. He walked right behind be and never gave me a shot. Heartbreaker.
So, the next summer I put up a 16 ft. Tripod about 100 yards north of where I had been. Talk about hot! Blistering August in Georgia and all for a chance at a buck.
The spot was on a ridge with pretty good visibility all around except for the thickness of the brush. They had not replanted the clearcut but just let it grow up into all kinds of brush. Across a brushchoked bottom was another ridge. This one had standing pines and midsized oak trees covering the sides and top with some openings among the trees. This ridge gave me shots from about 250 to maybe 350 yards in places. On top, beyond sight was an old logging road. I won’t go into the detail of cutting brush for access and shooting lanes but it was brutal in the heat.
I had installed some 1X6’s all around the top of the stand to hold a sand bag in case I got a long shot so I figured I was ready. Again, about Nov. 11 or 12th during the seeking phase of the rut, I was there way before daylight sitting in the thick frost. Things started happening fast. Does and a couple of small bucks were running everywhere starting right at daybreak. About 9 I saw 6 or 7 does run through the trees on the ridge across from me. I didn’t see a buck but figured he was there, chasing those does.
About 20 minutes later the does came running back. My rifle was across the sandbag and I reached up and spun the selector ring for my magnification (probably 6X). Then I saw him coming at a fast trot through the trees right on the crest. Through the scope I remember seeing 6 large points and tracking him as he moved. I moved the crosshairs in front to an opening and when he reached it I followed him and shot. That’s the best I can describe it as it all just sorta happened and muscle memory just took over. At the shot he turned straight away and ran over the hill. I felt sure of a hit. Usually when missed at a distance they will either stop and look around or just stay on the doe running out of sight.
I marked the spot of the shot real well in my mind. There was a dead pine tree laying at an angle right there. So I made my way across the bottom and it WAS thick with most brush higher than my head. I looked for almost 2 hours for the spot with no luck as things were totally different looking 300 yards away. Finally, I was just coursing back and forth across the ridge when I spotted some fresh white pieces of pine on the ground. That’s usually a bad sign. I looked closer and found the dead pine. My bullet had dead centered the dead one then cut a groove about 2 inches deep through a live tree. And just beyond that was a spot of blood and a few hairs!
So I took up the trail with a heavy heart but the blood sign just got better and better. He had made it about 60 yards with a large ragged entry hole in the heart then fell in the logging road.
I field dressed him right there to remove as much weight as possible. Usually I load deer on my ATV by holding the antlers and backing up the step and onto the rear cargo deck pulling the deer behind me. Not this one. Too Heavy. So I tied his antlers as high as I could then grabbed the bloody torso and heaved. It took a few tries but I finally got him loaded then sat down to let my heart rate and breathing return to normal. He was heavy and it was quite an effort.
When I got back to camp some of those guys saw all the fresh blood on my arms and clothes and thought I’d cut myself . They said it looked like I’d been in a war.
Rifle was a Browning Stainless Stalker in .300 Win. Mag. IMR 4350 and 165 gr. Hornady spire points. Leupold 3.5X10X40.
