BiG Boar
12-31-2008, 12:38 PM
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentdf.jpg
Heading up to a doe draw I had in williams lake area for mulies, it starts to snow.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentwe.jpg
Its my brother and I hunting, we havnt hunted together in years. First day out at last light we see a good doe and I take aim under the chin as she was looking right at me standing in a field alone. Bang flop, meat in the freezer, never found an entrance hole.
Getting her back to camp I decided after some pics I would try the guttless method. :roll: Only read about it up till this point. Saw a couple pics, but if you can imagine where meat is and runs, I figured this might work. Had my first doe done, not boned out, but legs, back straps, and tenderloins in a meat bag in less than 25 minutes. Awsome trick, will never go back to gutting. Gutting is for the weak.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentd.jpg
A couple of days after that I am looking for any buck. Up till this point I had not seen any buck in the wild. I have low expectations because seeing big bucks is left for the pros. It has just snowed the previous night and the morning snow was beautiful on the ground. You could see fresh tracks and I figured it was best to drive the area and learn where the deer are moving, rather than just get out and walk. We, come to this clearning lakey sort of area with rolling hills. Start seeing some tracks crossing the trail. Theres one right there 20 yards in the trees. Oh wow its a buck and a big buck at that. Three hills in between us, I do a quick guess and say 300 yards. My sako 300 win mag is dead on at 200 yards. I mean dead on. Barnes TSX bullets 180 grain. I lay down on a small noll and the deer is standing broadside. I figure aim for the top of his back and the bullet drop should compensate. BANG. No flop? Wow. Wierd. I thought magnums allways worked. At this point I had lost sight of which way he went. Luckily there is fresh snow. Should be an easy tracking job.
I get over to where he was standing and look for his tracks. Where he stood there was this pile, and I mean pile of HAIR. probably 2 feet across. I look for blood and there is nothing. No blood. Okay I have hit him. I will follow. I get hot on his trail, really easy to follow his bounding through the woods. No blood still. followed him 1 km in the bush and still no blood. And hes not slowing his pace. I followed him for a long ways and eventually, after not seeing one darned drop of blood I turned back.
I walked back to the pile of hair and tried to figure out what went wrong. Was my gun out or something? I looked back to where I shot from and said ah ha! From this angle that is a 200 yard shot. In the heat of the moment I over estimated and aimed for the top of his back. At 200 yards my gun performed perfectly, unfortunatley.
However, looking back to where I shot from I saw another deer. Wait a second its a BUCK. I lay down, and he is trotting broadside at 400 yards. Okay, aim 2 inches over and pull the trigger when he stops. He never stopped. He just ran into the woods. So I got over there as quick as I could and got hot on his trail. If these woods open up I may have another chance at a buck. This buck is a good buck, but not the one I just missed. Dont blow this dave. Be quiet, and follow. Look up ahead for any kind of movement.
After following for about 15 minutes I catch sight of him, but hes 500 yards away and still walking. I wait till he goes over a small hill and I bolt for him. I am running as fast as is possible in hopes of getting a shot. As I crest the hill I see him, walking broadside. I lay down. "Dont blow this dave" I look through the swarovski on 10 power, hes about 180 yards away. Easy shot. However. No matter how good your scope is when breathing heavy in the cold after running my 240 lbs frame for now 2kms. The scope is foggy. What next. I try my best to rub the fog off. It works, but its pretty bad. Good enough for a shot though. After a few deep breaths to try and slow my breathing and heaving chest down I take aim and pull the trigger when he stops broadside. Nothing......
Oh great the safety is on! Take it off, and now hes slowly walking. Just still in a clearing. I take aim again, hold my breath, and fire. He stumbles, but runs. On no. I run after him and hope to cut him off so I circle around the back side of where he should have ran out. No tracks, no blood. Oh no he got away, but then circling to where I shot him, I come closer and can smell a musky scent. I look and there is a 1 foot wide swath of blood! Yes I must have got him! I follow the blood for 20 yards and down into a small ravine. There he lay! What a blessing! I snap a pic and head back to the truck where my brother was. However I was lost. I had followed the deer for 1 km at least and had no idea where I had ended up.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmente.jpg
Finally after 30 minutes I hear the truck start. My brother heads down the road towards me.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachment4g.jpg
I am soaking wet from sweat. So much for the word breathable camo. I get in the truck looking disappointed and say lets head back for camp. He says no lets keep hunting. So we turned around and were leaving when I pull out the camera and say Oh, I almost forgot, we got to go pick up something I forgot back there. He nearly craps himself and I snapped a shot of his surprise after he saw the buck in the camera, that pic is priceless and is what hunting with family and friends is all about!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentwef.jpg
Again the guttless method was awsome. It turned out to be a big 2x2 with a 3rd broken tine, that wouldnt measure an inch. All in all an awsome hunt.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmenthb.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentf.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmenterhb.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentee.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmenta.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachment31.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachment3.jpg
Heading up to a doe draw I had in williams lake area for mulies, it starts to snow.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentwe.jpg
Its my brother and I hunting, we havnt hunted together in years. First day out at last light we see a good doe and I take aim under the chin as she was looking right at me standing in a field alone. Bang flop, meat in the freezer, never found an entrance hole.
Getting her back to camp I decided after some pics I would try the guttless method. :roll: Only read about it up till this point. Saw a couple pics, but if you can imagine where meat is and runs, I figured this might work. Had my first doe done, not boned out, but legs, back straps, and tenderloins in a meat bag in less than 25 minutes. Awsome trick, will never go back to gutting. Gutting is for the weak.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentd.jpg
A couple of days after that I am looking for any buck. Up till this point I had not seen any buck in the wild. I have low expectations because seeing big bucks is left for the pros. It has just snowed the previous night and the morning snow was beautiful on the ground. You could see fresh tracks and I figured it was best to drive the area and learn where the deer are moving, rather than just get out and walk. We, come to this clearning lakey sort of area with rolling hills. Start seeing some tracks crossing the trail. Theres one right there 20 yards in the trees. Oh wow its a buck and a big buck at that. Three hills in between us, I do a quick guess and say 300 yards. My sako 300 win mag is dead on at 200 yards. I mean dead on. Barnes TSX bullets 180 grain. I lay down on a small noll and the deer is standing broadside. I figure aim for the top of his back and the bullet drop should compensate. BANG. No flop? Wow. Wierd. I thought magnums allways worked. At this point I had lost sight of which way he went. Luckily there is fresh snow. Should be an easy tracking job.
I get over to where he was standing and look for his tracks. Where he stood there was this pile, and I mean pile of HAIR. probably 2 feet across. I look for blood and there is nothing. No blood. Okay I have hit him. I will follow. I get hot on his trail, really easy to follow his bounding through the woods. No blood still. followed him 1 km in the bush and still no blood. And hes not slowing his pace. I followed him for a long ways and eventually, after not seeing one darned drop of blood I turned back.
I walked back to the pile of hair and tried to figure out what went wrong. Was my gun out or something? I looked back to where I shot from and said ah ha! From this angle that is a 200 yard shot. In the heat of the moment I over estimated and aimed for the top of his back. At 200 yards my gun performed perfectly, unfortunatley.
However, looking back to where I shot from I saw another deer. Wait a second its a BUCK. I lay down, and he is trotting broadside at 400 yards. Okay, aim 2 inches over and pull the trigger when he stops. He never stopped. He just ran into the woods. So I got over there as quick as I could and got hot on his trail. If these woods open up I may have another chance at a buck. This buck is a good buck, but not the one I just missed. Dont blow this dave. Be quiet, and follow. Look up ahead for any kind of movement.
After following for about 15 minutes I catch sight of him, but hes 500 yards away and still walking. I wait till he goes over a small hill and I bolt for him. I am running as fast as is possible in hopes of getting a shot. As I crest the hill I see him, walking broadside. I lay down. "Dont blow this dave" I look through the swarovski on 10 power, hes about 180 yards away. Easy shot. However. No matter how good your scope is when breathing heavy in the cold after running my 240 lbs frame for now 2kms. The scope is foggy. What next. I try my best to rub the fog off. It works, but its pretty bad. Good enough for a shot though. After a few deep breaths to try and slow my breathing and heaving chest down I take aim and pull the trigger when he stops broadside. Nothing......
Oh great the safety is on! Take it off, and now hes slowly walking. Just still in a clearing. I take aim again, hold my breath, and fire. He stumbles, but runs. On no. I run after him and hope to cut him off so I circle around the back side of where he should have ran out. No tracks, no blood. Oh no he got away, but then circling to where I shot him, I come closer and can smell a musky scent. I look and there is a 1 foot wide swath of blood! Yes I must have got him! I follow the blood for 20 yards and down into a small ravine. There he lay! What a blessing! I snap a pic and head back to the truck where my brother was. However I was lost. I had followed the deer for 1 km at least and had no idea where I had ended up.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmente.jpg
Finally after 30 minutes I hear the truck start. My brother heads down the road towards me.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachment4g.jpg
I am soaking wet from sweat. So much for the word breathable camo. I get in the truck looking disappointed and say lets head back for camp. He says no lets keep hunting. So we turned around and were leaving when I pull out the camera and say Oh, I almost forgot, we got to go pick up something I forgot back there. He nearly craps himself and I snapped a shot of his surprise after he saw the buck in the camera, that pic is priceless and is what hunting with family and friends is all about!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentwef.jpg
Again the guttless method was awsome. It turned out to be a big 2x2 with a 3rd broken tine, that wouldnt measure an inch. All in all an awsome hunt.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmenthb.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentf.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmenterhb.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmentee.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachmenta.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachment31.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/GetAttachment3.jpg