Big Sky
Well-known member
If one hunts enough, one has magic days in the field now and then. Saturday was such a day. My 13 year old son and I got off to a late start around 10:00am. I was a bit aggitated at the late departure and my hopes were not high. About 15 minutes out of town a 5x5 bull elk ran right up to us and crossed the hwy less than 50 yards away. While we both had elk tags and the season is open we had no idea who owned the land the bull was on so we just enjoyed the thrill of watching a wild bull elk. I turned to my son and mentioned, "hey maybe my luck's changing." He just said something about being my good luck charm. Finally we get to the ranch we had permission to hunt. Right off the bat we see a dozen muley does and a 2x3 buck. My son passed and we continued. I wanted to check out a draw that had been very good to me over the years and earlier this summer I had seen a very nice buck. We hadn't traveled very far up the draw when I spotted some deer. Bingo it was the very buck I had seen this summer. He was with 7 or 8 does and another fairly large 4x4 buck. I told Aaron I found his buck and we planned a stalk. We executed it perfectly and popped over the last hill after about a 1/2 mile hike. There were the does and a buck right in the middle. The sun was in our eyes and there was terrible glare off the snow. It was time to shoot or get off the pot. The deer had us spotted and were getting nervous. I told Aaron to shoot as soon as the buck stopped walking. I couldn't see his antler's clearly but thought it must be the buck we had seen because it was right where it was supposed to be. The range was a little over 200 yards. The buck stopped and Aaron hit him perfectly right through the heart. Upon impact of the bullet the I got a good look at the antlers and my heart sank. I realised he had shot the wrong buck. This was a fork horn with deep forks not the either of the larger 4x4's I had spotted earlier. He was very excited about his fine shooting and only slightly bummed about the smaller antlers. I was sick over making such a bad call, but excited for my son just the same and hid my own disappointment as to not take away from his momment. He was shooting a Remington Mt.Rifle LSS 7mm08 stoked with Hornady Light Magnum 139gr SST's. One shot and the buck only stumbled/fell downhill about 12 to 15 feet and it was lights out. It was a very good shot with about a 15 mph wind and wet snow drenching us as we lay prone for the shot. The little bugger did really well.
Here's a graphic photo of the heart and damage. I was impressed.
As we approached his buck my curiousity got to me and I had to know where those bigger bucks went. I peeked up over the hill behind my son's buck and witnessed one of the coolest sights I've ever seen while deer hunting. In front of me were all kinds of deer. I imagine there were close to 70 deer, and many of them bucks of all sizes. The big buck we were originally after was in a herd of about 40 deer now. There were two other bucks that were his equal, one was wider and heavier, but lacked tine length. The other was thinner but had good tines. There were also about 9 or 10 other smaller bucks with the herd. I initially passed on all of them and took care of the chore of getting my son's buck field dressed and drug out of the hills. After we got his buck loaded we drove to the top of the draw (actually it's more of a canyon.) On top I could see the three big bucks and decided to have a better look through my spotting scope. I mentioned to my son that one was a little better than I first thought. He said something about how cool it would be for both of us to kill bucks on the same day. The more I thought about it the more I agreed. I told him if the buck let me get close enough I might just be too tempted. Long story short. He let me get 60 yards away and.....well, let's just say I'm done :grin: The Remington AWR 300 WinMag did the job. No he's no record book buck, but he's a little too nice for me to walk away from at such a close distance and waaaaaaaaaay too good to pass up the memory of a great day with my son when we pulled a double.
My buck, that I had should of been my son's if I were a better guide. Oh well next year he'll know to trust his own eye's instead of the old man's.
It just doesn't get any better than this last photo. May many of you be so lucky to have such a great day afield with your children. I just hope your eyes are a little sharper than mine.
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 11-03-2003 06:59: Message edited by: Big Sky ]</font>
Here's a graphic photo of the heart and damage. I was impressed.
As we approached his buck my curiousity got to me and I had to know where those bigger bucks went. I peeked up over the hill behind my son's buck and witnessed one of the coolest sights I've ever seen while deer hunting. In front of me were all kinds of deer. I imagine there were close to 70 deer, and many of them bucks of all sizes. The big buck we were originally after was in a herd of about 40 deer now. There were two other bucks that were his equal, one was wider and heavier, but lacked tine length. The other was thinner but had good tines. There were also about 9 or 10 other smaller bucks with the herd. I initially passed on all of them and took care of the chore of getting my son's buck field dressed and drug out of the hills. After we got his buck loaded we drove to the top of the draw (actually it's more of a canyon.) On top I could see the three big bucks and decided to have a better look through my spotting scope. I mentioned to my son that one was a little better than I first thought. He said something about how cool it would be for both of us to kill bucks on the same day. The more I thought about it the more I agreed. I told him if the buck let me get close enough I might just be too tempted. Long story short. He let me get 60 yards away and.....well, let's just say I'm done :grin: The Remington AWR 300 WinMag did the job. No he's no record book buck, but he's a little too nice for me to walk away from at such a close distance and waaaaaaaaaay too good to pass up the memory of a great day with my son when we pulled a double.
My buck, that I had should of been my son's if I were a better guide. Oh well next year he'll know to trust his own eye's instead of the old man's.
It just doesn't get any better than this last photo. May many of you be so lucky to have such a great day afield with your children. I just hope your eyes are a little sharper than mine.
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 11-03-2003 06:59: Message edited by: Big Sky ]</font>
