Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 2015 Hunting Season

I'm slow posting this, it's just been that kind of year. As always... way too wordy.

My oldest brother went hunting with me this year, first year he's deer hunted in a looong time. He's a one rifle kind of guy, and that rifle is a early 70's Winchester 70 in 7mm Mag. Tried to talk him into using my backup 1940 99R in 300 Savage, but he wouldn't budge. Admittedly his Winchester has killed probably 50 or 60 or more deer over the years, but somehow I still feel soiled having the Winchester in my blind.

I got up to my land on Friday before the season opened, it was far too warm with temps near 70. Pulled the trailcam pictures (spooking a big bodied deer nearby behind some cedars, but never saw whether it was a buck or not), put the heater and a cooler with water/pop/snacks in the blind and just sat back and enjoyed the evening and checked the trailcam pictures. It was beautiful out and very relaxing.

I had a target this year.. probably the biggest buck I've ever gotten pictures of. But realistically, I've been skunked the last 2 years and I want meat in the freezer. I was perfectly willing to take a couple of does starting on Sunday if that was all I could get a shot at. Small bucks weren't out of the question either if things got desperate, the trailcam pics showed more small bucks running around my land than does!

My brother wasn't able to make it up until later Saturday, so I got to the blind about 15min before legal hunting. Within 30 minutes I had my first sighting, a young buck with antlers wider than his ears but only bumps for tines except his G2's - I figure he's probably a 1.5 year old with huge potential. Not sure how to count him.. probably 3x3? He came out of the trees to the north and scooted away across the fence to the east. Too small to shoot unless truly desperate, because I want to see him back in a couple of years.

30 minutes later.. target acquired! Must have come down from the east through the trees, he just magically showed up in front of me. But, the big guy was on the wrong side of the fence. He sauntered across probably 100 yards in front of me, slowly walked up the hillside and along the skyline before disappearing north. I swear he was taunting me..

Biggest wild whitetail buck I've ever seen. Not a monster by many people's standards, but would have looked REAL good up on my wall.

Crud. Here's a trailcam pic of him, nice wide and high 5x5 walking just about the same place he did on Saturday, just going the other way:


Couple of hours later I watched a small 3x3 wander up from the south, but he was both too small (probably 1.5 yr old) and was also on the wrong side of the fence.

Noontime.. grab a pop and some cheese and crackers and enjoy the day. Probably temps around 60 at that point. Had to kill a freaking wasp that flew into my blind.. in NOVEMBER! Cripes.

As I was finishing my lunch, I spot movement in the trees to the north where the forkhorn popped out. Get the rifle on and it's a nice buck, tall tines... but is it the big one? It ducks behind a tree and is obviously going for the fence, crap! As it crouches down to jump I can see a big rack.. but not enough time to pull the trigger and an iffy shot through a gap in the trees. The big buck is across the fence again. As it saunters across the field I note it looks like it's only a 4x4.. but every bit as big as the 5x5. Cool, 2 targets now!

And I've got a bit of buck fever with this guy.. thought I was past that, but my hands are definitely shaking a bit.

A little later a small forkhorn crosses by, but far too small to take since he's not attacking me.

Picture of what I think is the same buck from the next weekend.


Couple hours later my brother joins me, but the only thing we see the rest of the day is a doe and fawn that walk about 15 yards in front of the blind about an hour before sunset. She's safe since I don't shoot does on opening day, and I don't like to shoot does that still have fawns following them,and I'm hoping a big buck will pop out and chase her. No luck on that one.

We pop on down to a diner by DiamondJim's place for dinner and have a prime rib sandwich (roughing it, ya know), then head back up to crash in our trucks. Beautiful cloudless night, always amazes me how clear it is up there with the Milky Way shining and no light pollution. Back home even on the best of nights you can't really make out the Milky Way due to Lincoln and Omaha lights.

Second morning flies by pretty quiet. Nothing moving at all, until about 9am when my brother whispers "buck behind you!". Ah, that moment of frustration when you don't know if it's a tiny forkhorn or a huge monster and you don't dare move to find out! He says "I'm going to take it", and I finally get to turn my head since it's walked past the blind. I see it's a medium sized 4x4 just as he whistles it to a stop, and then boom! Ya know, a 7mm Mag's muzzle blast about 18 inches from your head makes quite a boom even if you do cover your ears. Anyway, the buck drops straight in it's tracks and we walk out. The ol' 99 is used to finish it off right behind the ear, so technically I guess that counts for a 1 shot kill for it?
Lasered distance shows a shot of 60 yards. Told him beforehand not to sight it in for 300 yards.. but when do older brothers ever listen to younger brothers?

We load it up and pack it with ice due to the temps, and he heads off to check it in. Just as he gets back to my land, I see movement to the north again, same place as the forkhorn and the big 4x4 had come out of. This one definitely isn't one of the big ones... but he's no forkhorn or tiny 3x3 either. As he walks up to the fence, I decide what the heck.. I have 2 permits for whitetails, I'm NOT getting skunked this year!

So as he pauses to jump.. gently squeeze the trigger on that 1935 99T in 300 Savage.. BOOM! The buck backs behind the trunk of the tree as I jack another shell in, then steps out from behind it facing me. Stands there.. wobbles a bit left to right.. then he's down! Same shot as I didn't take on the big buck, was just a bit more prepared this time. Distance was about 80 yards.

The shot I took was through the gap in these cedars. The gap is a result of some chainsaw work I did in September, without it I'd have had no shot at all. Lot more chainsaw work to do next spring.




Upon field dressing, I found where the bullet went through the very center of the heart. Considering it was a Nosler Ballistic Tip (I usually use Partitions), I was suprised at the small size of the hole. No large exit wound either, and no significant damage inside the chest. I'm really not sure whether that bullet expanded much at all, though it obviously killed the deer just fine. Sample of 1 obviously isn't enough to tell how a bullet works - and goodness knows I've had Partitions that didn't look as though they expanded much, but it was curious since I expected much more damage from a BT.





Loaded up that buck and sat the remaining 2 hours of Sunday, but nothing else wandered by. Due to the unseasonable warmth and the fact we both had deer, I decided to cut my Monday hunting short and take the deer home to the meat locker and come back up Wednesday/Thursday (rain/ice mix expected Tuesday, so decided to skip that).

Got home, got up the next morning.. and crap! Pulled muscle in my back. Dropped the deer off at the meatlocker, hit a few gunstores in the area, then limped home. Had shooting pains going down my right arm and a lot of pain between the shoulder blades. So.. Missed out on Wed/Thur hunting trying to recover from that, then missed out Friday/Saturday due to 3"-5" of snow that came through (love hunting with snow, but hate driving hundreds of miles on poorly plowed roads with snow/ice mix coming down).

Ended up getting back up for the last day on Sunday, leaving home before 3am. From the previous weekend where morning temps were around 40, this day's temp started out at 16. No wasps today!

Was a beautiful day! Wet, heavy snow laying over everything (ever walk through a lot of cedars with that kind of snow? Would need a spacesuit to keep buckets of snow from falling down your collar!), making everything nice and bright. Nothing moving all morning though. Just about noon a doe ran down the hill from the east up to the fence, stopped, then walked south - on the wrong side of the fence. Darn it.. nice doe, if she'd jumped it I probably would have taken her. Maybe. As I'm watching her through the scope, she looks back and then takes off like a shot! Raising my head.. it's the big guy coming right down the same path she came in on! Chases her... away from my land. Crud. Crud. Crud. In the next hour a forkhorn and tiny, tiny 3x3 follow the doe's scent along the same path, obviously the rut was seriously on. I did manage to get the 3x3 to stop and think about coming over the fence - I was hoping the big guy might wander back and try to chase the little one off. But he never crossed the fence and the big guy never crossed in front of me again. Did get some poor cellphone video of him at the fence.




Recap: We had 6 deer seen on my land in 3 days of hunting. 2 medium 4x4 bucks which we shot, a BIG buck which didn't give me a reasonable shot, a doe/fawn, and a young buck. I think I'm going to have to spend some time on a food plot next year to get more on my side, the last 3 years they've just not been crossing onto my side. Maybe a plum thicket in the field.. hmm..

At least the biggest bucks stayed safe through the season, and if I don't manage to get back up after him during archery for the rest of the year then he'll surely be around and bigger next year. Big rack, but his body doesn't look old. So I'd guess he's probably 4.5 years old at most, and has more growth to go. There's the late season in January to try and get a couple of does - though I'm not seeing hardly any does on my land so might need to try something different.

Interesting read. I can tell you love that hunt. Good for you on tagging and enjoying yourself. Sounds like a slight adjustment or two and you'll be tagging some dandies.

Great story! Well worth the read Rory. I'm not sure I would have had your patience with the fence boundary.

Congrads on the bucks! I did good durning bow but rifle has been real slow, should be out now, but been sanding and tapeing the bathroon, paint tommorow! hope to make the evening hunt!

The bane of all things hunting season, the BATHROOM REMODEL! Sorry for your luck John. Get well soon!

Another nice hunting story! And chapters yet to write - next year.

Rory, try a grunt tube. Are you allowed a decoy in Neb? Nothing to lose if they don't cross the fence.

Mike

Searched for my grunt tube the night before I headed up the 2nd time, couldn't find the darn thing. Probably would have scored the first weekend with the big 4x4 with one, but never thought of it. Doubt it would have pulled him off the doe the 2nd weekend, that boy was seriously on the doe when he flashed past. Decoys are allowed, a nice doe decoy would probably be a useful thing.

I love any hunting story and this one gets me really pumped...thanks Calhoun. The weather has been so warm in my area of west Texas, that the rut just hasn't kicked in around my place. I've see very few bucks, (all small), but lots of does on the food plots, (10+ almost every evening). Heading for Sonora Texas this weekend with high hopes. Temps forecasted in the upper 20's and low 30's which is cold around here and hopefully will swell their necks

Calhoun, are the stocks on that gun original. That is one nice hunting rifle. powdr

Glad you got one in the freezer Rory. I'm surprised those big bucks don't jump the fence and stand in line to get shot by a rifle that pretty.

good hunting Rory ,and patience,that big guy acrossthe fence read THE BOOK saw the gun mussel sticking out of the blind and just taunted you ..

norm

Great story, Rory!

Always wait for your Nebraska stories, Rory…you may be on to something with food plots if you can pull it off. Thanks for the recap! Bruce

Forearm is correct, I'm sure the buttstock is a replacement. Fit and finish is as good as factory and checkering looks factory, but it has a cheek pad and the walnut doesn't match the forearm. Somebody did a good job on it. I was going to look for a replacement buttstock, but it shoots so well I decided not to touch it.

Really like 99T's in a blind.

Great story and good lucking one for next year.....and yes, you should have had your grunt tube....

Worked great this year for me.......

Darn. I like that T. That's a rifle! powdr