Redneck Rocket
10-30-2013, 09:51 PM
Well, this is my first season hunting. I've put in a number of days, spent a lot of time scouting, walking, driving, and sitting. I had imagined that my first one would happen out in the bush, in an area I had scouted and set up in but life is funny....
This week I sent my wife to stay with her Mum while I tore out the bathroom in our new house to put in a proper one. My wife has a chronic illness and needs a lot of rest & quiet time so all the banging and no hot water would not have worked.
So myself and my contractor who has become a hunting buddy are just packing up for the day and my brother walks in. Starts chit-chatting for 10 minutes or so and then casually mentions that he saw 'the biggest buck I've ever seen, probably a 5 or 6 pointer' out back of his place earlier in the day. I think I dropped a crowbar on my foot. "HOW COME YOU DIDN'T CALL ME!!!!" Turns out he had some surveyors in at his property, something to do with the LDB. So we jump in the trucks, drive up to his place and head out back. He borders on a 100+ acre private property which I have permission to hunt. There are usually a TON of does and fawns in there but never seen a buck.
We hiked up the hill to where he had seen him. Very steep hike, pretty much straight up. I was puffing as we snuck over a ridge. We split up and my brother moved off to the right, so we could see if they were down in one of the valleys. I spotted some movement above me, and lay down behind a bit of brush. Got the glass up and saw a couple of does & fawns moving towards me and hopping the fence which is the property line. It was getting late in the day and the light was starting to fade, they were coming down to the areas they use in the night. In the space of 2 minutes, over a dozen had come over the fence, and started moving down towards me. And then I saw Antlers appear. Got the binoculars up and confirmed it. Not a huge rack but it was there sure enough.
He came up to the fence line and stood there for what seemed like ages. I watched intently, still trying to catch my breath, waiting for him to cross the fence line and give me a good look. Just as he reached the fence and got ready to jump, I looked to my right & saw several of the deer who had come down before him, stood 30 feet from me. As I turned my head, they spooked, and the buck turned back uphill... Damn! I blew my chance.
But as soon as the deer to my right had spooked over the brow, they returned. More on that later.... I held my cool, and sat tight. Not long later, the buck came back down, and hopped the fence. I gently raised the rifle. There was nothing to take a rest on, but I got my elbow down and drew a bead. Trying to remember everything I learned about shooting. Breathe slowly and calmly, take your time. Started trying to figure the distance in my mind & settled on 150 yards. My rifle is sighted at 100, so I just took aim halfway between top & bottom, just behind the shoulder. Squeezed one off as gently as I could. I saw him get punched back by the shot, but he bounded forward a couple of strides and then stood dead still. Not wanting him to escape, or to die slowly, I ejected the round & chambered another. Aimed for the same spot and touched off another. This one knocked him back again, and he turned to go back uphill but hobbled a half step and stood again. I waited a moment, he took a couple of limping bounds, and went down. As I approached, I got to 10 feet and could see he was still breathing, still moving a little so I put one in the base of the spine, as low as I could and he was straight out. Autopsy showed the first shot hit a rib and deflected a little downwards, clipping the liver, and the second hit the lungs. I was shooting a 270 Winchester with 130 Remington Corelokt.
My brother came up the hill from the right to meet me, with a big old branch of wood in his hand. "So... while you were lining up that shot, I was trying to keep a pack of coyotes from spooking the deer" he says. We often here them around his place and they do hunt the deer quite regularly. Fortunately he managed to chase them off.
Pulled him down to the road, slit his throat and then loaded him up and drove him down the hill in the truck. We took him out to the back valley so the gut-pile would be as far away from the house as possible and my buddy & contractor guided me through gutting him. Think I did a decent job of it. I bagged the heart, liver & lungs for my 3 dogs, who all eat a raw food diet and who just enjoyed fresh heart & liver for dinner.
Gave him a good rinse out at home. He's in the truck tonight, should be fine I think, it was below freezing last night, only supposed to go down to 4 degrees tonight and is 6 right now so it should stay nice & cool. Was originally going to hang it at my buddy's place and butcher it next week, but remembered I'm out of town at a trade show all week, so I guess I'll take it to a butcher first thing in the morning. Anyone have any suggestions in Penticton or Oliver?
Super happy to get my first animal. Okay, it was a short hike and a quick adventure but I feel like I earned it and put in a lot of time so I'm just pleased to punch my tag. Longest antler was 19 inches, 58 inches in total of antler (19, 18, 8, 8 & 5.) I know he's no trophy but I'm really tempted to mount the head anyway as he is my first deer. What do you guys think, just do a skull mount and save the meat or is a taxidermy worth it? How much do they usually cost? Last question I promise... how much does it cost to have the hide tanned?
As he lay:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd312/studickie15/Deer1_zps2e95c72f.jpg
And a quick shot my brother took. I'm 6'3" for size reference, so I feel like he's a decent size.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd312/studickie15/Deer2_zps04894a86.jpg
This week I sent my wife to stay with her Mum while I tore out the bathroom in our new house to put in a proper one. My wife has a chronic illness and needs a lot of rest & quiet time so all the banging and no hot water would not have worked.
So myself and my contractor who has become a hunting buddy are just packing up for the day and my brother walks in. Starts chit-chatting for 10 minutes or so and then casually mentions that he saw 'the biggest buck I've ever seen, probably a 5 or 6 pointer' out back of his place earlier in the day. I think I dropped a crowbar on my foot. "HOW COME YOU DIDN'T CALL ME!!!!" Turns out he had some surveyors in at his property, something to do with the LDB. So we jump in the trucks, drive up to his place and head out back. He borders on a 100+ acre private property which I have permission to hunt. There are usually a TON of does and fawns in there but never seen a buck.
We hiked up the hill to where he had seen him. Very steep hike, pretty much straight up. I was puffing as we snuck over a ridge. We split up and my brother moved off to the right, so we could see if they were down in one of the valleys. I spotted some movement above me, and lay down behind a bit of brush. Got the glass up and saw a couple of does & fawns moving towards me and hopping the fence which is the property line. It was getting late in the day and the light was starting to fade, they were coming down to the areas they use in the night. In the space of 2 minutes, over a dozen had come over the fence, and started moving down towards me. And then I saw Antlers appear. Got the binoculars up and confirmed it. Not a huge rack but it was there sure enough.
He came up to the fence line and stood there for what seemed like ages. I watched intently, still trying to catch my breath, waiting for him to cross the fence line and give me a good look. Just as he reached the fence and got ready to jump, I looked to my right & saw several of the deer who had come down before him, stood 30 feet from me. As I turned my head, they spooked, and the buck turned back uphill... Damn! I blew my chance.
But as soon as the deer to my right had spooked over the brow, they returned. More on that later.... I held my cool, and sat tight. Not long later, the buck came back down, and hopped the fence. I gently raised the rifle. There was nothing to take a rest on, but I got my elbow down and drew a bead. Trying to remember everything I learned about shooting. Breathe slowly and calmly, take your time. Started trying to figure the distance in my mind & settled on 150 yards. My rifle is sighted at 100, so I just took aim halfway between top & bottom, just behind the shoulder. Squeezed one off as gently as I could. I saw him get punched back by the shot, but he bounded forward a couple of strides and then stood dead still. Not wanting him to escape, or to die slowly, I ejected the round & chambered another. Aimed for the same spot and touched off another. This one knocked him back again, and he turned to go back uphill but hobbled a half step and stood again. I waited a moment, he took a couple of limping bounds, and went down. As I approached, I got to 10 feet and could see he was still breathing, still moving a little so I put one in the base of the spine, as low as I could and he was straight out. Autopsy showed the first shot hit a rib and deflected a little downwards, clipping the liver, and the second hit the lungs. I was shooting a 270 Winchester with 130 Remington Corelokt.
My brother came up the hill from the right to meet me, with a big old branch of wood in his hand. "So... while you were lining up that shot, I was trying to keep a pack of coyotes from spooking the deer" he says. We often here them around his place and they do hunt the deer quite regularly. Fortunately he managed to chase them off.
Pulled him down to the road, slit his throat and then loaded him up and drove him down the hill in the truck. We took him out to the back valley so the gut-pile would be as far away from the house as possible and my buddy & contractor guided me through gutting him. Think I did a decent job of it. I bagged the heart, liver & lungs for my 3 dogs, who all eat a raw food diet and who just enjoyed fresh heart & liver for dinner.
Gave him a good rinse out at home. He's in the truck tonight, should be fine I think, it was below freezing last night, only supposed to go down to 4 degrees tonight and is 6 right now so it should stay nice & cool. Was originally going to hang it at my buddy's place and butcher it next week, but remembered I'm out of town at a trade show all week, so I guess I'll take it to a butcher first thing in the morning. Anyone have any suggestions in Penticton or Oliver?
Super happy to get my first animal. Okay, it was a short hike and a quick adventure but I feel like I earned it and put in a lot of time so I'm just pleased to punch my tag. Longest antler was 19 inches, 58 inches in total of antler (19, 18, 8, 8 & 5.) I know he's no trophy but I'm really tempted to mount the head anyway as he is my first deer. What do you guys think, just do a skull mount and save the meat or is a taxidermy worth it? How much do they usually cost? Last question I promise... how much does it cost to have the hide tanned?
As he lay:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd312/studickie15/Deer1_zps2e95c72f.jpg
And a quick shot my brother took. I'm 6'3" for size reference, so I feel like he's a decent size.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd312/studickie15/Deer2_zps04894a86.jpg