My 1st WT buck

[smallfry14]

well, in the fall of 2014 I decided I wanted to try and get a whitetail buck in the rut. I had never hunted deer in the rut because it's common to hear people say they stink and the meat is too strong, but I'd never tried it for myself. We went for a few day trips over the weekends in November, either seeing does, or sweet F all. One weekend we decided we were going to try and go up a bit higher and take a look for some mule deer, sit on a cut block for a while and maybe try some calling...we didn't end up making it to our destination. As we drove past a cut block we looked up to the right and saw a WT doe running across it, so I got out to take a look just in case there was a buck near by. I took a quick look through the binos and realized that there was indeed some bone up top on that "doe". I looked around and found a good sized rock to rest on, and loaded my rifle as I headed over to it. I lined up my crosshairs on the buck but he was trotting at a pretty steady pace and there was a thick patch of trees that I didn't want to shoot through for obvious reasons. I waited, following him along with my scope for what felt like hours, but was really only a matter of seconds . About 30 yards later he came to an opening and stopped to look back. Big mistake. I let the .243 bark and down he went. I started celebrating as I headed back to the vehicle , but as I walked my hunting partners looked at me with a WTF look and pointed up on the hill and said something along the lines of "he's up again..shoot em.." I turned around and he was up again, making his way slowly to the edge of the cut, clearly hurtin pretty bad. I followed him and lead him a couple inches , squeezed the trigger, and ...click? I pulled the bolt back and realized that when I hadn't pulled it back far enough in all the excitement, and there wasn't even one in the chamber. I cycled the action again, making damn sure this time that it was done right and repeated the process. When I looked through the scope again he was just standing there wobbling , about to go down, but I always want the job done as quick as possible so I put one behind the ear before he fell on his own. Walked up to him expecting a 2 point, as I hadn't even 2nd checked the rack when I first saw him, but he sure wasn't, I was pretty stoked with my first WT buck. Never posted pics on here so forgive me it it ain't right. let's see how she goes:

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpslbxvs5fu.jpg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpslbxvs5fu.jpg.html)

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsio9ftqfd.jpg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsio9ftqfd.jpg.html)

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsoaamwxih.jpg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsoaamwxih.jpg.html)

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsxa8vejy2.jpg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsxa8vejy2.jpg.html)

He had broken off his left side, which I thought was pretty awesome, he had some character. As a side note, putting the deer on the roof probably isn't the most ethical thing to do, but it really wouldn't fit in the SUV. as we drove home someone passed us on the high way with their phone out the window taking a video/pictures. We had a laugh at that.

[Fisher-Dude]

Nice buck! And I like seein' 'em on the roof - old school way!

[Liveforthehunt]

Thanks for the story and pics during the "off season"

[monasheemountainman]

Cool! Congrats dude how did you find the meat? I have had some rut bucks that were pretty tough but I usually find the smaller ones aren't too bad

[Buckmeister]

Way to go!!! I've shot white tails and mule deer in rut, and they have turned out both tasting excellent and tender, it's all in how you handle the animal in my opinion.

[HarryToolips]

Congrats! Nice little buck way to maintain your composure..I personally watch it flop, wait several minutes to let it die, then walk over poke it in the eye, then celebrate, just a tip:wink:

[smallfry14]

Thanks for the story and pics during the "off season"
No problem. I personally don't hunt bears anymore so I'm not-so-patiently waiting for deer season again..it is absolutely brutal. I'm so stoked already and it's 3 months away. Hopefully some more members will post some off-season pics too.

And monasheemountaiman, the meat was excellent. I have yet to find better tasting meat than WT doe or young bucks. This buck was still young, tasted very good. I've never had a tough deer before, but then again I've never shot a mature buck. I'm hoping to change that in September though

[smallfry14]

Nice buck! And I like seein' 'em on the roof - old school way!
lol, here's some more roof porn.

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpskmumeas0.jpg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpskmumeas0.jpg.html)

[Fisher-Dude]

^^^ Awesome! Thanks for that!

And only 3 months 'til deer season - wow, let's get this summer BS over with and get back in the woods!

[Sylus]

Awesome story and pics. Thanks for posting :smile:



And only 3 months 'til deer season - wow, let's get this summer BS over with and get back in the woods!

x2. It's to damn hot this time of year.

[SR80]

Nice buck, thanks for the story. Nice to see the deer stories this time of year.

[Citori54]

Love the "old school" photo with the buck on the roof. I remember years ago when there was a three buck limit on the Island my brother and his in-laws went hunting in Renfrew for the weekend in a truck and camper. Between the four of them they got eight or nine decent bucks and the bloody things were strapped on the hood of the truck, the roof of the camper and back of the camper. In this day and age they probably would have been arrested or attacked by naked PETA protesters. Nice first whitetail.

[wideopenthrottle]

Love the "old school" photo with the buck on the roof. I remember years ago when there was a three buck limit on the Island my brother and his in-laws went hunting in Renfrew for the weekend in a truck and camper. Between the four of them they got eight or nine decent bucks and the bloody things were strapped on the hood of the truck, the roof of the camper and back of the camper. In this day and age they probably would have been arrested or attacked by naked PETA protesters. Nice first whitetail.

how do you get those naked peta chicks to show up.... please tell me again i'll do it?...heheheh

[Everett]

Great story and I love the deer on the roof brings back memories of when I was a kid with all the deer on roof and trunks of V8 land yachts

[Seeker]

Well done! Let me guess, not the wife's vehicle! Congrats.

[.264winmag]

That's great! Congrats bro on the nice buck and deadly grub

[Lastcar]

Full marks for getting home how you had to. One my favourite pics of all time on here is the guys with the civic, dirt bike sticking out of the trunk and a bear strapped to the roof. Still makes me smile.

Ya, I was just thinking the other day about when deer would be strapped to the hood of the old beasts of a cars from the 70's and 80's.

Deer on the hood, no seatbelt and a pack of smokes with the windows up, and a 6 pack on the bench seat next to you.

Too young to have done it first hand, but growing up in Hope can think of plenty of the characters who would have done just that.

Seems pretty romantic now, but really would many of us go back to it? Hell my current vehicle damn near drives itself.

And as much as I hated it at first, I've grown to like it. If only it could strap a deer to its own hood, then we'd be talking!

[smallfry14]

Thanks everyone..that reminds me of another deer we got...we didn't have a hunting rig and were desperate to get out so we ended up taking out grandmas little car. Laid a tarp down and threw a doe in the hatch back. No pics of that one unfortunately