Memory of the shot

[Razorbacker]

These are all great stories and I really enjoyed reading them

 

[Elkman]

I have so many memories of "the shot" or the "hunt". I was with my dad when he killed his first elk in 58. He took me, trained me and gave me the opportunity to develop the passion that I have now. I was with my son when he killed his first deer and elk. I thank two wonderful wives "one gone" the other with me today. Who have supported me being gone for weeks throughout the summer, then disappearing again in the fall. I am thankful that I have had the resources friends, and health to continue to add on to those memories each and every day. Its been a hell of a ride. I could not have asked for more.

 

[DrMike]

Powerful and wonderful memories, Bill. A good life lived to the full is a rich benediction to leave our family and friends.

 

[pre6422hornet]

Amen Bill. I think all too often we forget to think about our better halves who stay home, get the kids to school, etc... while we sit in a treestand, skulk across a ridge, or hunker in a blind waiting for "the shot".

My wife doesn't entirely understand why I love waking up at 4am to go chase deer all over God's creation, to come home, play with the kids, do some work and do it all over again the next day. She accepts it and allows me to do it with no arguments. I don't play softball, chase women, go to bars, or have any other vices, and the amount of money we save by putting 2-3 deer in the freezer is pretty awesome.

Plus she loves venison. So do the girls

 

[tecumseh]

The first deer I took with a bow way back in 1986 with my Jennings Woody. The riser was made of wood with fiberglass limbs.

 

[PJGunner]

Probably my first elk. Seems like I was jinxed when it came to hunting elk. I'd hunterd elk off an on when I cold draw a tag for 33 years and no elk. In 2010 I finally went for a guided hunt and scored on a nice fat cow elk. The rifle was my custom mauser I found at an estate sale in .35 Whelen. I felt that the proper weight bullet had to be a 250 gr. so that's what I usually had worked up for the gun. I'd drawn a coveted der tag for the Kaibab National Forest and figured what better way to blood my "new" rifle. Seems the state of Arizona was asking huntes to go wwith monometal ullets and was even paying for the ammo (2 boxes) or one box of bullets for those that reloaded. I bought a box of the 225 gr. Barnes TSX to go along with the freebie from the state and hit he jackpot early on during the load work up. Worked all the way up to 60.4 gr. of Re15 and the seating depth was perfect on the first try. Groups ran from .50" to .75" when I did my part. Circumstances beyond my control prevented me from getting a deer and I had to go home early.
In 2010, after not drawing a tag for elk again, I booked a cow elk hunt in New Mexico and on the first day jumped a pair of cows the closest one was about 100 yards out running and by the time I got on her and took the shot she ws proabably 150 yards out quartering away to the left.
At the shot, it was like someone had tied ropes on all 4 legs and jerked them out from under that elk. I swear that animal bounced when she she hit the ground. I finally broke a 33 year jinx. In 60 plus years of deer and elk hunting, never have I seen an animal go down so hard or so fast as that cow did.
Just this last January I did another cow elk hunt with that .35 Whelen and I have to say that rifle is my lucky elk rifle. I got a shot at a an elk at roughly 325 to 350 yards as estimated by my guide, held for a lung shot and at the shot she went down. When we got her to the butcher's, we found that I'd broken her neck at the base of the skull. That didn't strike me as right and I'd called my shot where I'd aimed so when I got home, after resting up for a day or two wwwent to the range. That rifle was shooting all over the place. I replaced the scope and the rifle was accurate once more. I sent the scope back to Leupold and when it came back, the report said that they literally had replaced all the guts in that scope. That truly is one very lucky rifle and that was one truly lucky shot. I may end up selling off some of my rifles but that one is a keeper and with my great-grandfather's old M94 Winchester 30-30 carbine that I used to take my first deer at age 11.
Paul B.

 

[DrMike]

I may end up selling off some of my rifles but that one is a keeper and with my great-grandfather's old M94 Winchester 30-30 carbine that I used to take my first deer at age 11.

Yes, I'd say that rifle should never see another person's hand for many, many years. :grin: Great story of a great cartridge, Paul.

 

[SJB358]

Very cool story Paul. The Whelen is a keeper for sure.

 

[nvbroncrider]

I hope this fall I can share my first story on big game. I've been snake bitten when it comes to drawing tags so hopefully with tags in hand I can have some success. Great stories guys.

I do remember my first hunt and tag even though unsuccessful it taught me a lot. Being within 50 yards of 60 head of deer with a guy in the truck and a spotting scope saying he saw nothing. We were looking for a buck for a friend and had a couple there including a nice 5X6. He didn't get a shot that day but it was still exciting. We had 10 head of does within 10 yards and one was feeding within 5 yards of us as we stood along the fence line glassing for a buck. During this time a truck came by the dirt road about a quarter mile away from us. When the deer heard the truck they all laid over flat on their sides and rose up and began feeding again after the truck passed. I could've taken one at anytime but we were trying to get the buck for our friend so I decided against taking my doe. That experience was probably more exhilerating than filling my tag. The following day he was successful taking the 5X6.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Deer can be pretty clever. I remember watching a 3-point mule deer hiding behind some thick buck brush about 20 feet in diameter and 8 feet tall. That deer just kept that brush between himself and hunters walking up the trail to Grand Mesa. I watched him, and a box canyon on private land, for about half an hour. There must have been 25 hunters walk by that 2-1/2 year old buck and none saw him. He just kept moving around that brush keeping himself hidden!

 

[cloverleaf]

Thats me with that little antelope buck.... Dad and I, (in the picture) my wifes uncle John ad his son Cody had been huntining a little Dairy (yes...dairy) operation on thee outskirts of Belle Fourche. We were so close to town you had to be careful which way you shot.... Anyway, this herd of antelope had been making there way on and off the property we had permission to hunt. When they crossed on to where we were they would move to the middle of a large flat and gettting closer than 600 yards was almost impossible, esapecially for me. So Dad comes up with a plan....while those goats are laying under the trees along the Bellle Fourche Rivier, he drops me off with me back to some buck brush in the middle of that big pasture. He goes and parks the truck on the far side straight across from me about a 1/2 mile away, and waits for the goats to make the daily meander back to "our side of the fence". Sure enough, to keep way from that truck they follow the cow trail right alonrg the edge of the pasture and straight past me at about 150 yds. Dads only complaint was that I shot the first thing that came over ther hill. Aside from that, he said, "it worked out perfectly, just like they write it up in F&S. Dad was kinda sparse with his compliments, but when he saw that had broken the bucks neck with a 100gr BT from the original 250-3000. He smiled and said "that'll do..."

That little buck walked over a little rise and down the slope quartering toward me. I had the rifle up and ready as I had seen his horns come over that rise. He would stop, look towards Dads truck and take a few more steps.... I was holding high on the shoulder, when the shot broke, and I must have wobbled or yanked the right way, becuase the bullet broke his neck half way between the chin and the back bone. A lucky, perfect shot, that dropped the little guy right on top of his feet. he kicked once and that was all.

Dad got to watch it all, and I was hooked on the 250. That was awonderful hunt for so many other reasons but I will always remember that shot. As I write this the brass from that round has been riding in my pocket for almost 20 years. CL

 

[DrMike]

Very neat account, Troy. Great picture, as well. B&W adds to the aura of the story.

 

[nvbroncrider]

Deer can be pretty clever. I remember watching a 3-point mule deer hiding behind some thick buck brush about 20 feet in diameter and 8 feet tall. That deer just kept that brush between himself and hunters walking up the trail to Grand Mesa. I watched him, and a box canyon on private land, for about half an hour. There must have been 25 hunters walk by that 2-1/2 year old buck and none saw him. He just kept moving around that brush keeping himself hidden!

No doubt Charlie. A couple years ago I was seeing 35 head of does in the alfalfa and it was funny cause you would only see two or three. Take out some glass and all of a sudden you would see an ear flicker here and there and before you knew it there was 30 head. The one day I saw them all come in the field and there was a nice 4 pt buck that was with them. So I decided to take the glasses out and find him well 45 minutes of glassing later I finally found him. He laid down ears folded back in line with the one of the wheel line wheels. His antlers cocked and it just looked like the spokes. They are a lot smarter than people give them credit for. It's was awfully funny last year to see twice as many tags in 15 than the year before and the same number of animals taken.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I had a nice 4-point mule deer here in central Washington give me the slip. He was out in the open in the trash and branches of a recent cutdown. there was one thicket of brush about 6 feet in diameter out in the middle still standing. That deer walked behind that thicket in the middle of a 50 acre cutdown and I never saw him again, he was gone! He must have crawled through the ground trash from the lumber cut. He was gone forever! Do not underestimate those animals.

 

[Guest]

It's not just muleys. I've had several white-tails "ghost" on me, as well. Most disappointing was a nice buck (either a big 7 or a good 8, with nice G2s glistening in the sunlight through the trees...pardon me while I grab a kleenex...). I had a first time hunter with me, and he initially spotted the deer, but could not make out whether it was buck or doe. I looked at it, confirmed buck, and whispered, "Shooter." He asked me where it was, as he'd already lost sight. I tried like heck to get him back on it quietly, and finally got him in position, but there were too many obstructions for a clear shot. The buck was walking to our left, in the creekbed below us. It's fairly thickly wooded at this location, but I saw the trail the buck was on, and where it went through an opening for the shot. New hunter is prepped, watching, and ready. Buck should walk through this location in about 30sec. Except the buck walked in behind a clump of trees, and we never saw him again. For the life of me, I can't figure out how he got out of there without me seeing him, as I stared at that location through my field glasses for the next 10min. I was heartbroken as I really wanted my new hunter to bag a deer. But that dang buck just literally vaporized! We walked down there a little later on, as it was time to head out anyway, and still could not figure out exactly what happened. My suspicion is that the buck turned and walked up a steep draw onto the point of a ridge, where our deer commonly bed. That he chose that exact spot with perfect camouflage and walked perfectly in line with the trunks of those trees, so that we saw not even an ear flick or tail swish, is amazing, but it's the only explanation I could muster. I'll be back out there this fall, God willing, looking for that fellow and a couple of his bigger brothers, all of whom evaded us through this past season.

 

[Wincheringen]

I can keenly remember every hunting trip I've ever been on, good and bad.

This is one of the funny ones.

It was probably the second week of the season, maybe a little later. The weather here is so unpredictable it just isn't that funny. It can be blizzard snowing or 60 degrees and sunny. This day turned out to be one of the nicer ones. I was hunting on the family ranch, up a particular coulee that didn't necessarily house big bucks or any deer at all at any particular time. You just had to be lucky to spot one in there. They could be there in the morning, evening, or during the day. Just about like the weather, they are very unpredictable. I'd gotten the brilliant idea to start at the bottom and hike up through there. Mind you, this is deer country and they are well aware that the upright two legged objects aren't there for coffee and cookies. Generally they see you and quietly meander on out of there long before you are ever aware they were there to begin with. Picture this coulee as the typical large U shape, but with one leg shorter than the other and the long one forming a big J all running Northwest.

The best way to hunt it is to put one or two people up on top, one to the west, one to the east, and have two come up either side of the coulee. I've rarely had that kind of group, but this year we did have enough guys to push. You absolutely can't make any mistakes or shoot at motion, because even though it isn't particularly thick, you can be shooting at somebody.

Anyway, my brother, one friend and I all met up in the middle wondering where TJ was at. We decided to wait for a bit. Finally we saw him off on top of the coulee about 800 yards away. He was working towards us but had never hunted there before so he didn't really know it. Suddenly, just as plain as day, my brother says, "There is one." A nice shooter muley less than 80 yards away. The buck was working towards up and I can't believe he didn't get spooked. The rule is whoever spots gets to shoot, so Dan gets his gun up. Dan has the worst buck fever of anyone I've ever met. After about 17 minutes he finally pulls the trigger. I tell you, that was the loudest click I've ever heard. He'd forgotten to chamber a cartridge. The other rule is that it is a free for all whenever the first shooter misses. I don't waste any time and with a quick flick, my 25/06 barks and the buck tumbles right to the bottom. Seconds later TJ bounds up in his pickup. I'm still kinda surprised at how quickly he was able to cover a couple miles, but it was handy.