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Billy52
11-13-2016, 04:39 PM
I have read and been told that still hunting for white tails is the least likely to have a successful harvest. That may be so , but for me it gives me the greatest gratification. And this year I decided to make it even more challenging…..I wanted to do it with iron sights. This season I have set up three trail/game cameras in various areas to help narrow down the spots I want to hunt. A few weeks ago I finally found a spot that looked it was going to be productive. In my chosen area most of my pictures were of wt bucks. The area was littered with rubs and scrapes. Yesterday morning I got home after working a night shift and slept for a few hours. After a few hours of sleep I drank a pot of coffee and headed out into the woods to see what I could find.
I was moving so slow through the woods, the wind was in my face…..and I was on high alert…..there was a tremendous amount of buck sign. Shortly into the hunt I found a spike raking the crap out of a small tree. It would actually go up on its two hind legs and paw the tree with its front legs…..it did this to a few trees before it moved on out of sight. This all occurred about 40 yards from me. It never let on that I was there…..pretty cool. I kept on moving at a snail's pace, constantly glassing as I went. A few hundred yards later I saw another deer…..and it had antlers. It was 80 yards, moving perpendicular to me and the wind was in my face. I moved ahead to try to get a better view of the deer…..I was hoping it was the "big one" from the pics on my trail camera. I got closer and glassed around. I could not find him. He simply disappeared. I went further down the hill in the direction I last saw him going…..nothing….he was gone. I went back up the hill thinking that he may of back tracked…….I glassed all of the way up and finally found him about 70-80 yards below me. And he has seen me. I leaned up against a tree and took aim…….no good…..tree was too small and moving. I ducked down and moved ahead about 20 yards to a big Larch…..I peaked around the tree, taking a lean at the same time ….hoping that he was still there……he must have been curious or something because he has moved towards me …..he was only 40 yards from me……I quickly took aim and shot. "Bang-Flop"….he did not move an inch and died quickly.

Below are a few pics. The first one is of the "Big One" I was hoping to actually find. I also have pictures of him from last year….at least I think it was him. The second picture was of the deer I got and the last one was right after I shot him.
It was a pretty good day.

Last week while hunting this spot I had an encounter with a female cougar and two kittens. They still had black spots. They came to about 40 yards before I made a "pssssst" sound to warn them of me….they left the area.
Thanks for reading……Billy.

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz171/Henry667/IMG_0225.jpg (http://s825.photobucket.com/user/Henry667/media/IMG_0225.jpg.html)


http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz171/Henry667/IMG_0029.jpg (http://s825.photobucket.com/user/Henry667/media/IMG_0029.jpg.html)




http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz171/Henry667/IMG_1438.jpg (http://s825.photobucket.com/user/Henry667/media/IMG_1438.jpg.html)

carnivore
11-13-2016, 04:46 PM
A beauty buck and great photo, thanks for sharing!

ElliotMoose
11-13-2016, 04:47 PM
Awesome! Another one for the before and after thread. Going to be some great eats

boxhitch
11-13-2016, 04:48 PM
You must be a ninja, attago.
Ruger with a NECG sight ? Nice!

Cyrus
11-13-2016, 04:49 PM
nice deer..but that other one is a brute! oh well whitetail tastes awesome...can't eat the antlers..

Rob
11-13-2016, 04:56 PM
That's awesome! My buddy and I hunted from daylight to dark yesterday still hunting for whitetails. We know the area well but it's tough to hunt. We each had bucks in our scopes at different times but neither of us had clear shots. They sure love the thick blow down..

Wild one
11-13-2016, 05:11 PM
Congrats

would not call still hunting least effective probably 2nd best option

hoochie
11-13-2016, 05:22 PM
Beauty buck

adriaticum
11-13-2016, 05:47 PM
Great job, I'm thinking of a lever action 30-30 just for this

Rob
11-13-2016, 05:49 PM
Great job, I'm thinking of a lever action 30-30 just for this

Thought about this but would hate to see a cranked at 200 yds. Lol

monasheemountainman
11-13-2016, 05:52 PM
Nice deer! Beautiful Ruger too!

adriaticum
11-13-2016, 05:58 PM
Thought about this but would hate to see a cranked at 200 yds. Lol


Should be no problem for a 30-30

Whonnock Boy
11-13-2016, 06:02 PM
Nice work. I would have had a hard time deciding to shoot or not knowing that the big guy was around. Thanks for sharing.

Rob
11-13-2016, 06:05 PM
Should be no problem for a 30-30

Perhaps, but mine is open sights so would be too far for me.

Billy52
11-13-2016, 06:08 PM
Nice work. I would have had a hard time deciding to shoot or not knowing that the big guy was around. Thanks for sharing.

I hear ya……I already made the decision for this scenario before I left the house……maybe he will survive the hunting season and be around for next year…..one can only hope….

Useyourfeet
11-13-2016, 06:10 PM
Great deer, love the iron sites!!!!

Billy52
11-13-2016, 06:14 PM
Great deer, love the iron sites!!!!

Ya me too….this is my third deer with iron sights. The first one was with a Winchester model 94 in 30-30……..it was also the biggest deer I ever shot……..

shortrange
11-13-2016, 06:31 PM
Nice buck! Meat for the freezer.

Ourea
11-13-2016, 06:31 PM
Billy52, what a great post.
So nice too see hunts like these being shared.

There is a great "information" component to it as well.

How disciplined you were to still hunt at a "snails pace" stands out.
I am sure others will take note.
Well done.

Iron sights...love it.

Billy52
11-13-2016, 06:36 PM
Billy52, what a great post.
So nice too see hunts like these being shared.

There is a great "information" component to it as well.

How disciplined you were to still hunt at a "snails pace" stands out.
I am sure others will take note.
Well done.

Iron sights...love it.

Thanks for the input ….this is my first "story" type post…..I'm glad you enjoyed it…..

HarryToolips
11-13-2016, 11:04 PM
Great buck on a still hunt to boot congrats..

Dash
11-13-2016, 11:06 PM
Beautiful buck! Congratulations!

coach
11-14-2016, 12:14 AM
Great story and an awesome buck! Good on you for hunting the way you like and for connecting on a cagey whitetail. Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

338 whisper
11-14-2016, 11:14 PM
Great buck Bill. Great story too.

jaeger
11-14-2016, 11:27 PM
Thanks for the input ….this is my first "story" type post…..I'm glad you enjoyed it…..

Well done! still hunting is one of the most challenging hunts for white tail! snail pace is the answer with wind in your face and lots of glassing!

avadad
11-14-2016, 11:42 PM
Excellent work! I love still hunting. Good to know others can make it happen with whitetails.

Linksman313
11-15-2016, 08:27 AM
Nice buck, looks pretty close in body size to the "big one", and with open sights great job.

Linksman313
11-15-2016, 08:29 AM
Thought about this but would hate to see a cranked at 200 yds. Lol
My 14 year old niece dumped her first whitetail at 200yds on Friday, spined with a 70yr old model 94 in .30-30. A little practice can make all the difference.

Jack Russell
11-15-2016, 08:32 AM
Good story to your deer hunt - nice job, great looking deer too. Congrats.

Billy52
11-20-2016, 07:22 PM
Well …..somebody got the "Big Guy" ….just saw his picture posted on line……congratulations to whoever was the lucky guy……start from scratch next year…...

Brambles
11-20-2016, 07:43 PM
Nice buck...good job on the still hunt

rudysteelhead
11-20-2016, 09:55 PM
My introduction to hunting (as a kid) was 'still hunting' those Whitetails. It has to be my favourite hunt. I have also taken a couple with iron sights, but in Model 94 (.32 special). Super FUN. Great buck you got! Congrats.