Deer Opened With a Bang

[DrMike]

Well, I opened deer with a fat, young mulie doe. I used my 30-06 loaded with 165 grain Hornady Interbonds. It did massive damage at 150 yards. Most of the does had fawns, so I took my time to ensure that I took a dry doe. She is certainly fat.

I saw over 50 mulies yesterday. I'll be back out later this week to see if I can tag a large buck that I watched (actually, there were several still hanging together in a bachelor group). I didn't observe any lip curling or tending of does.

While hunting for deer, I observed a herd of elk (which closed on Saturday), including two large 6 x 6 bulls. I do believe those critters get a fax from the Ministry of the Environment telling them when it is safe to come out.

 

[JD338]

Congratulations on your doe DrMike.

JD338

 

[Guest]

Good news on the doe. Glad you scored. How was the weather there?

I have been 3 times for a couple hours each time looking for white tail. The first time I saw 3 does .... one on the way in and 2 after getting in the stand .... the two would walk a little and stand looking back over their shoulders, walk a little and stand watching their back trail, walk a little and stand watching the back trail as if something was following them. I just knew it would be a big buck but after sitting an hour or so after they left it was obvious I would not be so lucky. The last 2 times I did not see anything ... not even a gray squirrill. I have until Jan 1 though. We are fortunate to have a loooooong season.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Congrats on the fat doe!! They are just as fun to shoot as bucks IMO.

 

[DrMike]

It was -4 and there was about 12 to 16 inches of snow on the ground. Perfect.

I plan on going out tomorrow to look for a whitetail. I'm not fussy whether it is a doe or a buck. Either would be fine eating. I also have my eye on a fine mule deer buck that I will attempt to take. Actually, there are two that have attracted my attention. One is a large 3 x 3 and the other is a 4 x 6. Either would be fine for me. Hopefully, the weather tomorrow will be clear and bright. The projected high is 2 degrees. It is snowing at the moment.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

4x6 all the way!!!

character...

 

[FOTIS]

Congrats! How does the IB compare with the AB?

 

[DrMike]

How does the IB compare with the AB?

More violent expansion, it seems. I have never gotten IBs to shoot well; accuracy on the ABs is simply superior across the spectrum of loads I have tested. This is the first time I have used IBs in hunting. The '06 seemed to tolerate them well, so I loaded up a batch and took them out. I must say that I'd be inclined to use ABs for the future.

 

[DrMike]

[Does] are just as fun to shoot as bucks IMO.

I agree. I really hunt for meat, so in fact I prefer a fat doe to a buck in any case. I really don't mind taking does, and since deer are practically overrunning this area, I don't feel at all bad about taking a doe.

 

[SJB358]

Mike, congrats on the doe. Some more meat for the deep freezer. Glad you are getting some great hunting weather.

I tried to get the 165gr Interbonds to shoot out of my 300 Win Mag, but I could never get them to be consistent at all. I do have some 130gr Interbonds loaded up for my 270WSM and they are very consistent and they are shooting pretty fast, at around 3300FPS. Hopefully I get a chance to try them on some deer this year. Scotty

 

[Desert Fox]

Picture Doc, don't forget!

 

[DrMike]

Didn't have my camera last evening, so no picture of her. I packed it in my kit for tomorrow, however. It is sure rough growing old, but the excuses come easier. I forgot! :lol:

 

[jmad_81]

They all taste the same, and like somebody told me a while back...the antlers don't eat very well. I like hunting the does for the meat and because I can usually find one on the farm that I can push the shot distance on a bit.

Nicely done Dr. Mike.

Do the interbonds terain the weight like the AB or are they more like a BT? I'm guessing that more violent expansion mean more like the BT.

 

[DrMike]

Do the interbonds terain the weight like the AB or are they more like a BT?

It was a complete pass through, so no bullet recovered. It blew out a portion of the rib on the opposite side that was bigger than my fist, however. It sure shredded the inside of that poor girl.

 

[longwinters]

Congrats on the fresh meat. How are you cutting it up? I just had some breakfast sausage made with some of the meat from the doe I took in bow season. Mighty fine :wink:

Long

 

[Greg Nolan]

DrMike
It's worse than you thought :shock:
The elk have been issued "Blackberrys" so they can keep track of the season dates. I never would have believed it myself but I swear I even saw two blacktail bucks out in my back area and one kept checking the time while the other one pillaged my young redwood sapling. GRRRRRR :evil:
Congrats on a fine meat animal and I'm looking forward to hearing of your hunts. I'm hoping for a wild boar hunt for my birthday. I'm out of "OINK" in the freezer.
Good Hunting
Greg

 

[bullet]

Hey, way to go Doc good job :grin:

 

[DrMike]

How are you cutting it up?[/code]

A friend butchers. It will be cut boneless and turned into sausage and jerky.

The elk have been issued "Blackberrys" so they can keep track of the season dates.

I believe it. Three bulls out tonight! We found about three veritable super highways this afternoon. Bulls seem to be everywhere all at once.

Thanks, bullet.

I found quite a few whitetail does tonight (no bucks). However, each had twins! There is a large and growing population here. I didn't take my muley buck today. I'll have to go back out.

I'm hoping for a wild boar hunt for my birthday.

Greg,

I've never hunted boar. That sounds like a hoot. There is some hunting in Alberta with bow and arrow. I may have to try that, or make a trip down to California or Texas to see if I can make an arrangement to hunt hogs.

 

[sask boy]

Hey DrMike, congrats on a mulie doe. We are leaving on Nov. 14th for our whitetail hunt and we get a buck tag and 2 doe tags this year.
While hunting these past 3 days we sure had to be careful as there is getting to be so many whitetails in traditional mulie country.
We saw 1 whitetail buck that would score well over 180 he was at that range were you sure had to take a long look then he gave us the whitetail wave :wink:

Blessings,
Dan

 

[DrMike]

We sure had to be careful as there is getting to be so many whitetails in traditional mulie country.

The whitetails are certainly more aggressive than mule deer. I have watch fork-horn WTs push four point mule deer all over a meadow on several occasions.