Sieg-MM
11-17-2005, 01:21 AM
Last weekend my uncle and I packed our gear and headed out from Kelowna to Little Fort, BC to join his brother on a mule deer hunt. Little did I know the kind of luck I was going to have last week. My uncle, being a veteran hunter in the area, knew the country quite well and he was able to teach me lots about the country and the deer migration paths. Friday and Saturday turned out to be solid hunting days; I saw a couple smaller 4s, in which I passed up, and some illegal threes and deuces. Man… it just gets me excited when I’m able to see bone on top of the head every day. I was glad that I passed on the smaller 4s because on Sunday morning all hell broke loose.
The alarm clock rings early Sunday morning and our hunting camp wakes up to a pile of fresh snow. This was very exciting for us as we figured that this would help push the big guys off higher country and maybe speed up the rut. That morning we headed for an area that would have close to a foot of snow, but spun out trying to get up a hill that would take us to our spot (wet snow). At that time we were disappointed but settled to hunt a spur road that was close to our first intentions. After leaving the truck on foot, it wasn’t 10 minutes into the hunt when I spotted a deer through the big trees in the bottom of a draw. I could see its body but no head. I figured it must be some kind of buck because of it’s sheer size and black cape. From that point, I quickly scanned the area for a point that would provide a good spot to see the deer’s head. I found a wind fall 30 yards away and decided to crawl over to it. Once I got to the wind fall and peaked my head over and could not believe my eyes…. I could see a set of antlers outside the ears at around 200 yard. I then proceeded to lift by binos and put it on the deer. There he was, a big tank looking me strait in the eye and not moving a muscle… Broadside! Even thought he was looking strait in my direction, he had no clue I was there and with his antler configuration I could tell he had 4.
Knowing that he had 4 and a big frame gave me buck fever like never before! I could not even hold my bino’s on him I was shaking so much. However, I put down my bino’s, took a few deep breaths and quickly cleared the snow of the windfall so I had a rest for my rifle. Finally, I clamed down and was once again still. I then proceed to release the safety off my Ruger 7mm mag. (shooting 175 grain federal bullets) and line up that big boy right behind the front shoulder. KA…BOOM… I squeezed off a shot and noticed that it was a direct hit. The buck buckled but never left his feet. He took two slow steps and went just over the other side of this draw.
Now experience tells me when your shooting a Maggie, if you hit him a 200 yards in the kill zone he should flop right there on the spot. So then I quickly cranked in another shell and made my way over to where the buck was standing. While looking for his tracks and blood, out of the corner of my eye, I seen him slowly moving over the crest of a small hill. At that point he gave me a side profile of his antlers and I got extremely excited. I took two more wild shots at him while he was going over the small hill and I missed! Then panic started to set in because I knew he was nice. I started sprinting full out towards an opening, where I knew the buck would pass. As well, while on the run, reloading with more ammo. All of a sudden their he was, slowly moving across an opening. I knew I had time so once again I took a rest on the side of a tree. BOOM….. BOOM…. On my second shot I dropped that SOB.
Finally… I’ve been hunting 9 years for this day to come. My first really big mulie. WOW was I excited! This buck ended up grossing 174 and netted 171. I’ll take a buck like this any day! He is now at my uncle’s, who is a taxidermist, waiting to get mounted. In my books, he is definitely a prize for my trophy room.
I can’t figure out how to attach my pics of my buck and bullet (found while skinning it out). Can someone help me out, I think my pics are sized to big for the page?
The alarm clock rings early Sunday morning and our hunting camp wakes up to a pile of fresh snow. This was very exciting for us as we figured that this would help push the big guys off higher country and maybe speed up the rut. That morning we headed for an area that would have close to a foot of snow, but spun out trying to get up a hill that would take us to our spot (wet snow). At that time we were disappointed but settled to hunt a spur road that was close to our first intentions. After leaving the truck on foot, it wasn’t 10 minutes into the hunt when I spotted a deer through the big trees in the bottom of a draw. I could see its body but no head. I figured it must be some kind of buck because of it’s sheer size and black cape. From that point, I quickly scanned the area for a point that would provide a good spot to see the deer’s head. I found a wind fall 30 yards away and decided to crawl over to it. Once I got to the wind fall and peaked my head over and could not believe my eyes…. I could see a set of antlers outside the ears at around 200 yard. I then proceeded to lift by binos and put it on the deer. There he was, a big tank looking me strait in the eye and not moving a muscle… Broadside! Even thought he was looking strait in my direction, he had no clue I was there and with his antler configuration I could tell he had 4.
Knowing that he had 4 and a big frame gave me buck fever like never before! I could not even hold my bino’s on him I was shaking so much. However, I put down my bino’s, took a few deep breaths and quickly cleared the snow of the windfall so I had a rest for my rifle. Finally, I clamed down and was once again still. I then proceed to release the safety off my Ruger 7mm mag. (shooting 175 grain federal bullets) and line up that big boy right behind the front shoulder. KA…BOOM… I squeezed off a shot and noticed that it was a direct hit. The buck buckled but never left his feet. He took two slow steps and went just over the other side of this draw.
Now experience tells me when your shooting a Maggie, if you hit him a 200 yards in the kill zone he should flop right there on the spot. So then I quickly cranked in another shell and made my way over to where the buck was standing. While looking for his tracks and blood, out of the corner of my eye, I seen him slowly moving over the crest of a small hill. At that point he gave me a side profile of his antlers and I got extremely excited. I took two more wild shots at him while he was going over the small hill and I missed! Then panic started to set in because I knew he was nice. I started sprinting full out towards an opening, where I knew the buck would pass. As well, while on the run, reloading with more ammo. All of a sudden their he was, slowly moving across an opening. I knew I had time so once again I took a rest on the side of a tree. BOOM….. BOOM…. On my second shot I dropped that SOB.
Finally… I’ve been hunting 9 years for this day to come. My first really big mulie. WOW was I excited! This buck ended up grossing 174 and netted 171. I’ll take a buck like this any day! He is now at my uncle’s, who is a taxidermist, waiting to get mounted. In my books, he is definitely a prize for my trophy room.
I can’t figure out how to attach my pics of my buck and bullet (found while skinning it out). Can someone help me out, I think my pics are sized to big for the page?