CanuckShooter
11-22-2007, 08:56 AM
This little fellow is going to be my first full head mount because he will always be a little special in his own way... You see when we bought our property a couple of years ago all of my hunting buddies would come out to visit and naturally talk would get around to hunting on our 160 acre spread. It didn't take long and my wife was getting all antzy about all this chatter and we ended up having one of those 'we have to talk' moments. Well the out come of this wife straightening I got was that we agreed that on the house side of the river nothing would ever get shot but on the other side of the river it would be my playground where we could hunt to our hearts content. Naturally this suits me fine as I also enjoy seeing the wildlife cavorting in our front yard...but that's enough background as I am sure your anticipating the hunting story?
It was early in the morning and just breaking first light, my wife and I went outside onto the front deck to puff a nail and await the sound of a ford diesel pulling into our driveway, which would signal that my partner was here to pick me up. Well you can imagine my surprise when I gazed across the river with imaginary visions of the hunt to come...and saw the furtive movement of a deer! Even with it being close to 300 yards it was easy to see that it was a buck...a very very nice buck !! I immediately brought him to my wifes attention and imagine my surprise when her first response was "your not going to shoot him are you?"" !!
Well being an honourable fellow, and all ,I immediately replied with "he's on my side of the river...and the rifle is downstairs" and I quickly scurried off towards my pile of hunting gear beside the basement entry.
To my wifes surprise...I returned with the 10x50 binoculars and not the Tikka..and we both had a good look at a very nice 4x4 mulie...high and wide...easily an animal to surpass any mulie I have taken in my life. Being the crazed hunter that I am it was kind of funny to see the look on my wifes face as she gazed into my eyes...a gaze of wonderment..with the realization that this majestic animal was not going to be touched even if he was in the 'hunting zone'. We watched as he faded back into the alders to the sound of a diesel truck coming down the drive.
Well we were off to 'zipper mouth gully' to see if any deer with antlers would be kind enough to show themselves. We were headed out to a spot where I had been cutting firewood and seeing lots of deer tracks earlier in the year..a spot we had never hunted before but a place that looked promising. On the way we talked about not taking the mulie on the river and I planned a walking route in my head for the morning. Upon reaching the side road I had planned on taking I got my partner to drop me off and gave him a description of my plan of attack...basically to just meader across a few cut blocks, sit and walk, and slowly work my way towards the area he had chosen to hunt.
I had been afoot for about ten minutes and had covered a few hundred yards of side road...gazing around..enjoying the briskness of the morning air and the cold breeze in my face when I spotted a rise to my left that would afford a good vantage point of the cut block I was traversing through. Coming out on top I lit a smoke...and started glassing the far treeline..nothing..and then the back treeline...nothing...and again the far treeline to no avail. I stood there skylined on the small ridge [bad thing but what the heck] finished my smoke and contemplated whether I should sit and watch or continue walking and glassing likely looking spots.
My Tikka 06 was slipping down my shoulder a bit, so I hiked him back up and grabbed the glasses again gave the cut another once over...only this time I also scanned the mid-zone along with the timberline...and imagine my surprise when into my view comes a buck..broadside...about 250 yards out..just standing stock still and watching me dilly-dally away on the ridge !! I just about fell over in my haste to find a rest..get my gloves off..and rub the tears of gratitude out of my eyes !! I managed to find a rest and let the cross hairs settle on his vitals and sent my Hornady Light mag 165gr on it's way. I could clearly hear the impact of the bullet hitting and watched as he bounded a hundred feet or so...and stood with only a texas heart shot available for a second shot....a few minutes later he fell and was out of sight in scrub of the cut.
After calling my partner on the radio to come give me a hand with him I reflected on the odds of seeing two very nice bucks in such a short timespan and decided it was 'good karma' giving me the lucky kiss for passing on the 4x4 in my front yard..and that's why he'll always be the Karma Buck to me.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6910&cat=500
It was early in the morning and just breaking first light, my wife and I went outside onto the front deck to puff a nail and await the sound of a ford diesel pulling into our driveway, which would signal that my partner was here to pick me up. Well you can imagine my surprise when I gazed across the river with imaginary visions of the hunt to come...and saw the furtive movement of a deer! Even with it being close to 300 yards it was easy to see that it was a buck...a very very nice buck !! I immediately brought him to my wifes attention and imagine my surprise when her first response was "your not going to shoot him are you?"" !!
Well being an honourable fellow, and all ,I immediately replied with "he's on my side of the river...and the rifle is downstairs" and I quickly scurried off towards my pile of hunting gear beside the basement entry.
To my wifes surprise...I returned with the 10x50 binoculars and not the Tikka..and we both had a good look at a very nice 4x4 mulie...high and wide...easily an animal to surpass any mulie I have taken in my life. Being the crazed hunter that I am it was kind of funny to see the look on my wifes face as she gazed into my eyes...a gaze of wonderment..with the realization that this majestic animal was not going to be touched even if he was in the 'hunting zone'. We watched as he faded back into the alders to the sound of a diesel truck coming down the drive.
Well we were off to 'zipper mouth gully' to see if any deer with antlers would be kind enough to show themselves. We were headed out to a spot where I had been cutting firewood and seeing lots of deer tracks earlier in the year..a spot we had never hunted before but a place that looked promising. On the way we talked about not taking the mulie on the river and I planned a walking route in my head for the morning. Upon reaching the side road I had planned on taking I got my partner to drop me off and gave him a description of my plan of attack...basically to just meader across a few cut blocks, sit and walk, and slowly work my way towards the area he had chosen to hunt.
I had been afoot for about ten minutes and had covered a few hundred yards of side road...gazing around..enjoying the briskness of the morning air and the cold breeze in my face when I spotted a rise to my left that would afford a good vantage point of the cut block I was traversing through. Coming out on top I lit a smoke...and started glassing the far treeline..nothing..and then the back treeline...nothing...and again the far treeline to no avail. I stood there skylined on the small ridge [bad thing but what the heck] finished my smoke and contemplated whether I should sit and watch or continue walking and glassing likely looking spots.
My Tikka 06 was slipping down my shoulder a bit, so I hiked him back up and grabbed the glasses again gave the cut another once over...only this time I also scanned the mid-zone along with the timberline...and imagine my surprise when into my view comes a buck..broadside...about 250 yards out..just standing stock still and watching me dilly-dally away on the ridge !! I just about fell over in my haste to find a rest..get my gloves off..and rub the tears of gratitude out of my eyes !! I managed to find a rest and let the cross hairs settle on his vitals and sent my Hornady Light mag 165gr on it's way. I could clearly hear the impact of the bullet hitting and watched as he bounded a hundred feet or so...and stood with only a texas heart shot available for a second shot....a few minutes later he fell and was out of sight in scrub of the cut.
After calling my partner on the radio to come give me a hand with him I reflected on the odds of seeing two very nice bucks in such a short timespan and decided it was 'good karma' giving me the lucky kiss for passing on the 4x4 in my front yard..and that's why he'll always be the Karma Buck to me.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6910&cat=500