brotherjack
11-24-2009, 01:57 AM
So, thanks to work and having life outside of hunting, I'm all-but out of days left I can possibly hunt before rifle season closes. Yesterday was one of the few I had left. So, The Wife(tm) and I head out about the crack of dawn (which was about an hour later than we originally meant to) and headed down into the far (far) south-country from Cranbrook in search of Whitetails. We don't usually range that far from home, but freezer needs filling ASAP, and farther from home is generally a better bet than in the immediate Cranbrook area, if you're in a hurry to cut a tag (and we were).
A storm was just blowing in, which was keeping everything hunkered down all morning. Saw fewer does in 4 hours than we'd usually see in 30 minutes on most other days in this exact same area. About noon, we've had enough of this, and are just pulling out of quad-trail country to make a long/slow drive home (long/slow on the off chance we see something on the way).
Oh look. A doe at about 70 yards in thick-ish timber. Glass glass glass. Hrmm... just a doe, apparently... drive forward 20 feet. Oh look. A deer bedded down behind the doe. Hrmm.... a buck. In fact, the very same buck my buddy Mike was gonna shoot a couple weeks ago not 200 yards from this very spot, but he bolted too fast/soon. He's got Little antlers, but looks like he's got enough meat on his bones to qualify for a shooting, given the late date, a mostly empty freezer, and my very limited hunting time left before bow season complicates the degree of difficulty.
Hop out of the truck with the rifle and shootin stix. He sits still plenty long enough to let me set up and make a perfect 80-ish yard neck shot on him; laid him down in his bed, and he never felt a thing. He's got the smallest antlers of any deer I've ever shot (by far), but he's only the 3rd smallest buck if you measure by body size/weight (which I do). Besides, who cares at this point in the season -- he's much needed meat in the freezer!
http://xjack.org/hunting/a2009wt01.jpg
After we got him field dressed, we took a long slow drive home, hoping to spot a second whitetail buck for The Wife(tm) to tag. No such luck. We get him home and skinned and hung by late afternoon.
Having a few hours of daylight left, we headed out looking for a fawn-less doe to fill my LEH (which was in a super-close-to-home area). We meandered around a bit, mostly just road hunting, without seeing anything (no surprise; all our favourite areas close to Cranbrook have been seriously short of deer this year). About 45 minutes before the end of legal shooting light, we decide that we've probably had all the luck we're going to get for one day, and turn around to head home.
On the way out, The Wife(tm) spots a lone doe meandering along in the middle of a clear-cut about 300-ish yards out. Hrmmm... we can see about 1/2 a kilometer in either direction, and there are no other deer to be seen, so it's a pretty safe bet this doe is fawn-less. She's only looks about 2 1/2 years old in the binos, but that's old enough to get a decent amount of meat out of her (for a doe), and again, we have time pressures and a not-yet-full freezer here.
I hop out of the truck, and sneek 30 yards or so to a good spot and get set up with the shooting stix. I've never shot an animal more than 80 yards out, so this is going to be a first for me. But, I've been practicing this shot at the local rifle range for about 4 years now, and I'm confident I can git er dun at long range here with my tack-driving Tikka in 308 Winchester and my trusty shootin stix. I dial the scope up to 9x because she looks like a little pin point at 3x, and start watching her meander along, waiting for just the right shot. I was having a hard time keeping as steady as I wanted while I was swiveling the rifle to track her as she moved, so I shifted my focus to about 10 yards ahead of her and did the "breathe in, breathe out, focus, focus, breathe in, breathe out, hold... tight..." so I could get good and solid -- there we go... crosshairs steady like a rock, holding em a bit high compared to where I want the bullet to land.
Step. Pause. Step. Step. Pause. Step.... one more... Step... Pause... puts her chest right into the crosshair placement during the pause, perfect broadside shot... a gentle squeeze... BOOM... recoil... lag time... rush to find deer in scope again... just in time for... SMACK... classic heart-shot-kick, 4 or 5 hops and .... DOE DOWN!!!! 2nd deer of the day! Right on!!!!
Not sure what actual yardage was, but less than 300 (I think), more than 200 (I think). Long enough for me to need 9x to get a good clear bead on her, and long enough for me to find her in the scope during the lag time between BOOM and SMACK. Regardless of actual yardage, it was far (far) longer than any other shot I've ever taken, and thanks to a lot (a whole lot) of practice over the years, I was ready and able to pull it off when the chips were down without even getting my feathers ruffled. To be honest, that felt better than nailing that buck this morning. Oh. Yeah. That felt REAL GOOD!!!!
http://xjack.org/hunting/a2009wt02.jpg
And just like that, my big game season is over; freezer could stand a few more pounds of meat, but it'll be enough if The Wife(tm) doesn't tag a buck in the last few days. On both animals, the good old 150 grain Nosler AccuBond's performed flawlessly for me, yet again -- animals more/less dead on arrival, just the way I like it (I hate long track jobs!).
Now then, deer season may be done, but I have seen far (far) more coyote and wolf (both tracks, and living/breathing) this year than in any other year (by far), so I'm planning to go put a pound on a few (more) dogs before I call it a year. I just wish I could figure out how to get my 308 to go a little easier on the pelts. Anyone know the answer to that? 110 grain V-Max'es maybe?
Thanks for reading,
A storm was just blowing in, which was keeping everything hunkered down all morning. Saw fewer does in 4 hours than we'd usually see in 30 minutes on most other days in this exact same area. About noon, we've had enough of this, and are just pulling out of quad-trail country to make a long/slow drive home (long/slow on the off chance we see something on the way).
Oh look. A doe at about 70 yards in thick-ish timber. Glass glass glass. Hrmm... just a doe, apparently... drive forward 20 feet. Oh look. A deer bedded down behind the doe. Hrmm.... a buck. In fact, the very same buck my buddy Mike was gonna shoot a couple weeks ago not 200 yards from this very spot, but he bolted too fast/soon. He's got Little antlers, but looks like he's got enough meat on his bones to qualify for a shooting, given the late date, a mostly empty freezer, and my very limited hunting time left before bow season complicates the degree of difficulty.
Hop out of the truck with the rifle and shootin stix. He sits still plenty long enough to let me set up and make a perfect 80-ish yard neck shot on him; laid him down in his bed, and he never felt a thing. He's got the smallest antlers of any deer I've ever shot (by far), but he's only the 3rd smallest buck if you measure by body size/weight (which I do). Besides, who cares at this point in the season -- he's much needed meat in the freezer!
http://xjack.org/hunting/a2009wt01.jpg
After we got him field dressed, we took a long slow drive home, hoping to spot a second whitetail buck for The Wife(tm) to tag. No such luck. We get him home and skinned and hung by late afternoon.
Having a few hours of daylight left, we headed out looking for a fawn-less doe to fill my LEH (which was in a super-close-to-home area). We meandered around a bit, mostly just road hunting, without seeing anything (no surprise; all our favourite areas close to Cranbrook have been seriously short of deer this year). About 45 minutes before the end of legal shooting light, we decide that we've probably had all the luck we're going to get for one day, and turn around to head home.
On the way out, The Wife(tm) spots a lone doe meandering along in the middle of a clear-cut about 300-ish yards out. Hrmmm... we can see about 1/2 a kilometer in either direction, and there are no other deer to be seen, so it's a pretty safe bet this doe is fawn-less. She's only looks about 2 1/2 years old in the binos, but that's old enough to get a decent amount of meat out of her (for a doe), and again, we have time pressures and a not-yet-full freezer here.
I hop out of the truck, and sneek 30 yards or so to a good spot and get set up with the shooting stix. I've never shot an animal more than 80 yards out, so this is going to be a first for me. But, I've been practicing this shot at the local rifle range for about 4 years now, and I'm confident I can git er dun at long range here with my tack-driving Tikka in 308 Winchester and my trusty shootin stix. I dial the scope up to 9x because she looks like a little pin point at 3x, and start watching her meander along, waiting for just the right shot. I was having a hard time keeping as steady as I wanted while I was swiveling the rifle to track her as she moved, so I shifted my focus to about 10 yards ahead of her and did the "breathe in, breathe out, focus, focus, breathe in, breathe out, hold... tight..." so I could get good and solid -- there we go... crosshairs steady like a rock, holding em a bit high compared to where I want the bullet to land.
Step. Pause. Step. Step. Pause. Step.... one more... Step... Pause... puts her chest right into the crosshair placement during the pause, perfect broadside shot... a gentle squeeze... BOOM... recoil... lag time... rush to find deer in scope again... just in time for... SMACK... classic heart-shot-kick, 4 or 5 hops and .... DOE DOWN!!!! 2nd deer of the day! Right on!!!!
Not sure what actual yardage was, but less than 300 (I think), more than 200 (I think). Long enough for me to need 9x to get a good clear bead on her, and long enough for me to find her in the scope during the lag time between BOOM and SMACK. Regardless of actual yardage, it was far (far) longer than any other shot I've ever taken, and thanks to a lot (a whole lot) of practice over the years, I was ready and able to pull it off when the chips were down without even getting my feathers ruffled. To be honest, that felt better than nailing that buck this morning. Oh. Yeah. That felt REAL GOOD!!!!
http://xjack.org/hunting/a2009wt02.jpg
And just like that, my big game season is over; freezer could stand a few more pounds of meat, but it'll be enough if The Wife(tm) doesn't tag a buck in the last few days. On both animals, the good old 150 grain Nosler AccuBond's performed flawlessly for me, yet again -- animals more/less dead on arrival, just the way I like it (I hate long track jobs!).
Now then, deer season may be done, but I have seen far (far) more coyote and wolf (both tracks, and living/breathing) this year than in any other year (by far), so I'm planning to go put a pound on a few (more) dogs before I call it a year. I just wish I could figure out how to get my 308 to go a little easier on the pelts. Anyone know the answer to that? 110 grain V-Max'es maybe?
Thanks for reading,