When I started big game hunting at age 57 in 2008, I shot 5 mule does that year. They sold me the tags and I shot the deer.
I learned that I could hit anything at 400 yards, but the 500 yard shots were sketchy.
I was hunting with a guy who had been shooting deer, elk, and antelope for 40 years. He did some yelling at me for missing elk at 620 yards that were walking toward me.
I had a chart, a Leica rangefinder and Kestrel wind meter.
I got 400 yards from a doe late in the day and missed. Then I remembered the wind. The wind was so noisy, the herd did not move. 13 mph. I looked at the chart for 270 230 gr BT 2875 fps.... I needed 13.8" of aiming into the wind.
I aimed at the middle of the animal instead of the front 1/3. The doe took off like a rocket and dropped dead 50 yards away. I had hit the heart instead of the lungs. I had to gut and drag that animal in the dark.
My new strategy was to shoot deer in the morning, when there is little wind, and gutting and dragging is done in daylight.
On days where there is wind in the morning, stay in the cabin and watch TV. The wind makes them herd up and get spooky at distance.
I can get about one mule doe per day on low wind mornings.
I can get a 3x3 mule buck in 3 or 4 days.
I can get a 4x4 mule buck in 5 to 7 days.
I think the big bucks are still nocturnal when I am there. The guys I know that are hunting later in the season getting bigger bucks with thick necks and dragging them out in the snow.
Have you noticed long range hunting posts filled with insults, bragging, and derision? Does this remind you of some guys in high school leaning on the radiator before school starts?
