marksjeep
Well-known member
Great stories and photos. Awesome to see the kids getting into it. Thanks for posting it all up.
Deer hunting with Randy....
- Thread starter JohnCushman
- Start date
dcopas78
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Very nice first buck! Congrats to Gareth and you!
mdunc8
Well-known member
That's great, Gerald. Congrats to the both of you.
Duck-Slayer
Well-known member
Great story so far Gerald, congrats! Cushy You need to work on your storytelling skills lol :W:
Matt
Matt
Gerald Martin
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He had to be at least 300 lbs hog dressed.
JK. I don't know honestly. Maybe between 150-170 lbs? He was a good 4 1/2 year old. We broke him down and packed him out between three of us so its just a guess.
SFC B
Well-known member
Ya'll were just plain slain it!!
Duck-Slayer
Well-known member
Everyone that hunt's with Cush needs these in there arsenal..... https://www.amazon.com/Breathe-Right-Nasal-Strips-30-Count/dp/B001G7QPX2?th=1
Matt
Matt
mdunc8
Well-known member
After reading this, I'm starting to regret not getting into the annual HT bear hunt before the hunter quota was met...
Gerald Martin
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With all the success we had on Saturday, we made the decision to head right back into the same spot on Sunday. John and Timothy had whitetail doe tags to fill, Timothy, Michael and myself had buck tags.
This time my boys stayed in the truck and slept for a couple of hours while the rest of us went up on top. Unlike the previous morning, there were very few deer moving in the open. After seeing just a few scattered deer in a couple of hours, Randy offered to circle around the draw in front of us and hopefully nudge some deer our way.
The nudge worked, with both whitetail and mule deer does escaping out in front of Randy. Unfortunately, the whitetails came through out of range for most normal human beings. John was pretty sure he could pick one off with a running head shot at 500 yards but Michael constrained him, explaining that it wouldn't work well for TV. Alas, the sacrifices one must make for the sake of getting good footage.
The mule deer does cooperated nicely and came through the draw within 250 yards. However, the doe tags were for whitetail only so there was nothing to do but let them walk.
Randy made it back to the glassing point and we sat down to look for more deer. After another hour had passed, we noticed that the four whitetail does he had bumped past us were up on their feet and slowly feeding our way. They were still over 600 yards out when they bedded down again. John wasn't interested in dropping off the steep knob to get closer and I was trying to decide if I should get Timothy and put that much time in trying to shoot a doe.
A couple minutes later, I noticed a buck standing in the sun in the same area we had seen the does. We set up the spotter and checked him out. He wasn't a monster, but he was a decent 4x4 and I was pretty sure Timothy would be happy to try and kill him.
I went back and got Timothy and Gareth. When Timothy saw the buck he agreed he would be happy with him. By now the buck was bedded in the sun. He was completely relaxed,
even dozing at times.
Timothy and I dropped off the knob to get closer with Michael behind us videoing the action. We were able to use terrain to walk within 300 yards but then we were down to using burned trees between us and the buck and belly crawling. Over the next 15 minutes we were able to close the gap to 198 yards. I didn't see the need to get any closer and our shooting lanes would have actually gotten worse if we had.
Timothy set up with the shooting sticks and a backpack to support the back of the rifle stock. Just like Gareth's buck, the buck was bedded with his rump facing us. Nothing to do but wait for him to stand. Timothy took advantage of the next ten minutes to practice dry firing at the buck. He felt really confident about his rest and was steady. After half a dozen dry fires, he chambered a round and we waited. We knew it was just a matter of time before the buck stood to stretch.
A few minutes later, the buck started to rise. By the time he made it to his feet, Timothy was back on him and the camera was rolling. The buck turned broadside, Timothy squeezed and another Montana whitetail dropped in his tracks. I think recovery distance might have been about 5 feet.
A soon as the buck dropped, there was an abundance of loud whoops and hollering. Randy gets pretty excited when he watches other people shoot deer! We could hear him from 600 yards! Timothy was pretty excited too. Thankfully, there was no drama on the recovery of his buck. He was DRT with his belly in the air. Michael got some great pics and video
us with the deer and of Randy and I breaking the buck down.
This time my boys stayed in the truck and slept for a couple of hours while the rest of us went up on top. Unlike the previous morning, there were very few deer moving in the open. After seeing just a few scattered deer in a couple of hours, Randy offered to circle around the draw in front of us and hopefully nudge some deer our way.
The nudge worked, with both whitetail and mule deer does escaping out in front of Randy. Unfortunately, the whitetails came through out of range for most normal human beings. John was pretty sure he could pick one off with a running head shot at 500 yards but Michael constrained him, explaining that it wouldn't work well for TV. Alas, the sacrifices one must make for the sake of getting good footage.
The mule deer does cooperated nicely and came through the draw within 250 yards. However, the doe tags were for whitetail only so there was nothing to do but let them walk.
Randy made it back to the glassing point and we sat down to look for more deer. After another hour had passed, we noticed that the four whitetail does he had bumped past us were up on their feet and slowly feeding our way. They were still over 600 yards out when they bedded down again. John wasn't interested in dropping off the steep knob to get closer and I was trying to decide if I should get Timothy and put that much time in trying to shoot a doe.
A couple minutes later, I noticed a buck standing in the sun in the same area we had seen the does. We set up the spotter and checked him out. He wasn't a monster, but he was a decent 4x4 and I was pretty sure Timothy would be happy to try and kill him.
I went back and got Timothy and Gareth. When Timothy saw the buck he agreed he would be happy with him. By now the buck was bedded in the sun. He was completely relaxed,
even dozing at times.
Timothy and I dropped off the knob to get closer with Michael behind us videoing the action. We were able to use terrain to walk within 300 yards but then we were down to using burned trees between us and the buck and belly crawling. Over the next 15 minutes we were able to close the gap to 198 yards. I didn't see the need to get any closer and our shooting lanes would have actually gotten worse if we had.
Timothy set up with the shooting sticks and a backpack to support the back of the rifle stock. Just like Gareth's buck, the buck was bedded with his rump facing us. Nothing to do but wait for him to stand. Timothy took advantage of the next ten minutes to practice dry firing at the buck. He felt really confident about his rest and was steady. After half a dozen dry fires, he chambered a round and we waited. We knew it was just a matter of time before the buck stood to stretch.
A few minutes later, the buck started to rise. By the time he made it to his feet, Timothy was back on him and the camera was rolling. The buck turned broadside, Timothy squeezed and another Montana whitetail dropped in his tracks. I think recovery distance might have been about 5 feet.
A soon as the buck dropped, there was an abundance of loud whoops and hollering. Randy gets pretty excited when he watches other people shoot deer! We could hear him from 600 yards!
Timothy was pretty excited too. Thankfully, there was no drama on the recovery of his buck. He was DRT with his belly in the air. Michael got some great pics and video us with the deer and of Randy and I breaking the buck down.
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Gerald Martin
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Gerald Martin
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Brittany Chukarman
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I hope this thread goes for weeks. What a good time with a great cast of characters. I'm jealous of those dandy whitetails, that's my next goal.
rmyoung1
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Great thread! And the photography is awesome. Congrats to all of you! I bet the Martin boys still have a smile on their faces.
LCH
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Congrats to both of your boys Gerald! And good on you for getting your kids involved. I enjoy seeing your family hunting posts.
dcopas78
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Very nice! Congrats to Timothy!
d-bone20917
Member
Awesome guys, I can't wait to watch.
idnative1948
Well-known member
Damn, you guys did some damage. Still want to get John to Idaho though before we are too old.
JohnCushman
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Once I have my knee and shoulder surgeries and am all functional again, I'm going to hit Idaho. Their disabled veteran pricing can't be beat!
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