A good friend of mine, my brother, and I all headed up to the hills this weekend for the Oregon opener. We hunted around some pretty rough country that has produced a few good bucks for us in the past. Opening morning I passed on a 470 yard shot on a small (20" maybe) four point, as I was breathing to heavy to hold steady. I headed up the hill to cut him off, but he made it to the neighbors place before I could get him in sight again. I had a great 100 yards shot, but I couldn't bring myself to shoot him on the neighbors place without permission.
We hunted hard the rest of the weekend and saw several bucks, but they were all very small three points or forkies. My buddy and brother both shot some forked horns on sunday though. It was his first buck in eight years (6 of those he was in FL. in the Air Force). He made a fine shot with a semi custom savage 300 WM shooting 180gr ABs. My brother made a pretty good shot as well with his 308 and some 130 TTSX bullets. His was around 280 yards, and my buddies was around 160. They were together when my buddy shot his, then the little guy ran a few hundred yards and stopped to look back. Aaron smoked him!
As hard as we worked I was pretty dissapointed in what we saw, and I'm not sure if I'll head back up again. Corn harvest will start in a few days, so I might not have time anyways. We'll see I guess.
As dissapointing as my weekend went, it didn't bother me a bit! My barrel showed up friday for my 270 WSM project, and I found out Thursday that my wife and I are expecting our first son in Feb.! So I'm one happy camper! Plus hanging out with some good friends and a good bottle in the hills is always a great time. We ha a very nice bull elk Bugling his head off about 500 yards above camp. It was one of the most enjoyable hunts I have ever had, and I didn't even get to pull the trigger.
We hunted hard the rest of the weekend and saw several bucks, but they were all very small three points or forkies. My buddy and brother both shot some forked horns on sunday though. It was his first buck in eight years (6 of those he was in FL. in the Air Force). He made a fine shot with a semi custom savage 300 WM shooting 180gr ABs. My brother made a pretty good shot as well with his 308 and some 130 TTSX bullets. His was around 280 yards, and my buddies was around 160. They were together when my buddy shot his, then the little guy ran a few hundred yards and stopped to look back. Aaron smoked him!
As hard as we worked I was pretty dissapointed in what we saw, and I'm not sure if I'll head back up again. Corn harvest will start in a few days, so I might not have time anyways. We'll see I guess.
As dissapointing as my weekend went, it didn't bother me a bit! My barrel showed up friday for my 270 WSM project, and I found out Thursday that my wife and I are expecting our first son in Feb.! So I'm one happy camper! Plus hanging out with some good friends and a good bottle in the hills is always a great time. We ha a very nice bull elk Bugling his head off about 500 yards above camp. It was one of the most enjoyable hunts I have ever had, and I didn't even get to pull the trigger.
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