Three times take it as a sign, it was meant to be.
Yeah that's pretty much what I was thinking. With a bull elk and 2 deer in the freezer already I was trying my hand a "trophy hunting", but who was I trying to kid. I've got 4 more tags, including another buck tag for the late muzzle loader, but I think I better just be team pusher/dragger for the rest of the year.
They say everything happens for a reason. For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
Colorado. Ruger M77 7x57mm, Hornady 154 gr InterLock.
There have been some inquiries from some members about this hunt. I hunted out of a ranch that bordered public land that a good college buddy's family owns and I have been invited there every year for about 20 years, but due to work and other hunting activities hunted there 1/2 dozen times.
Typically, I have shot some respectable bucks on the ranch or just into the foothills. The last couple of hunts there my buddy got some great bucks on trail cams at night, not during the day. Bucks that we never seen during the day, so this year I took my backpack equipment to hunt and camp up in a drainage at a higher elevation. My buddy does not backpack so I went solo. Hiked up into the drainage, setup camp and glassed until dark. Saw a couple decent bucks, but too late to stalk. Next day at daybreak hiked back to where I saw the bucks, but nowhere to be found so thinking they moved into the next drainage I moved there and glassed until 1:00pm, nothing.
Headed back to the drainage where my camp was and as I dropped down into it I stopped to glass. Spent an hour glassing and spotted a shooter and lo and behold he was laying on a switchback in the direction of camp. Rangefinder read 625 yards. Wind direction necessitated a longer approach rather than straight on him. After peaking at him from time to time, my best Indian sneak got me to within 320 yards, then luck would have it he got up and started meandering towards me in and out of trees. Got my pack on a boulder with the rifle settled in and he disappears momentarily and when he emerges he is broadside and I sent a 154 gr Hornady Interlock. Down and thought I saw his feet up in the air and then out of sight. I hold my position and the dang deer bursts out the trees off to the right and I pull up on it....wait it is not the same buck, nice one, though. WTF.
I went to investigate and found where the buck went down and rolled, followed the blood trail and came up on a flat spot where he lay. Double lung shot. I went back to where he went down and ranged the boulder I used for a rest - 245 yards. Night was upon me and I quickly quartered him, hung two in a tree, stuffed two in my pack and headed for camp. The next morning capped the buck and packed it, the quarters and rack to camp, ate breakfast, broke camp and spent the rest of the day packing everything down to the truck.
Colorado. Ruger M77 7x57mm, Hornady 154 gr InterLock.
There have been some inquiries from some members about this hunt. I hunted out of a ranch that bordered public land that a good college buddy's family owns and I have been invited there every year for about 20 years, but due to work and other hunting activities hunted there 1/2 dozen times.
Typically, I have shot some respectable bucks on the ranch or just into the foothills. The last couple of hunts there my buddy got some great bucks on trail cams at night, not during the day. Bucks that we never seen during the day, so this year I took my backpack equipment to hunt and camp up in a drainage at a higher elevation. My buddy does not backpack so I went solo. Hiked up into the drainage, setup camp and glassed until dark. Saw a couple decent bucks, but too late to stalk. Next day at daybreak hiked back to where I saw the bucks, but nowhere to be found so thinking they moved into the next drainage I moved there and glassed until 1:00pm, nothing.
Headed back to the drainage where my camp was and as I dropped down into it I stopped to glass. Spent an hour glassing and spotted a shooter and lo and behold he was laying on a switchback in the direction of camp. Rangefinder read 625 yards. Wind direction necessitated a longer approach rather than straight on him. After peaking at him from time to time, my best Indian sneak got me to within 320 yards, then luck would have it he got up and started meandering towards me in and out of trees. Got my pack on a boulder with the rifle settled in and he disappears momentarily and when he emerges he is broadside and I sent a 154 gr Hornady Interlock. Down and thought I saw his feet up in the air and then out of sight. I hold my position and the dang deer bursts out the trees off to the right and I pull up on it....wait it is not the same buck, nice one, though. WTF.
I went to investigate and found where the buck went down and rolled, followed the blood trail and came up on a flat spot where he lay. Double lung shot. I went back to where he went down and ranged the boulder I used for a rest - 245 yards. Night was upon me and I quickly quartered him, hung two in a tree, stuffed two in my pack and headed for camp. The next morning capped the buck and packed it, the quarters and rack to camp, ate breakfast, broke camp and spent the rest of the day packing everything down to the truck.
After spending several hours hauling off limbs and chunks of the main trunk of a large walnut I had felled in the yard during a break in the rain and wind, I debated on sitting in a stand this evening. At near 68 years of age, that kind of hard work wears me out. Finally decided to give it a try, grabbed a rifle and headed out. Wasn't long before a doe and a medium sized 8 point were in the wheat, no-tilled into corn stubble. Pretty soon there were 8 does in the field. I was thinking it was kind of funny the 8 point was ignoring the does when a nice 10 point jumped the fence and joined them. No aggression toward the buck or the does, just filling his belly. One shot at roughly 150 yards, slight quarter away, centered the far shoulder and dropped him in his tracks. South Carolina made M70 Fwt, 7-08, VxIII 2.5-8, 139 Hornady Interlock sp over Ramshot Big Game and a CCI450. By the time I got him quartered and in the cooler with ice I was beat. Time for bed!
After spending several hours hauling off limbs and chunks of the main trunk of a large walnut I had felled in the yard during a break in the rain and wind, I debated on sitting in a stand this evening. At near 68 years of age, that kind of hard work wears me out. Finally decided to give it a try, grabbed a rifle and headed out. Wasn't long before a doe and a medium sized 8 point were in the wheat, no-tilled into corn stubble. Pretty soon there were 8 does in the field. I was thinking it was kind of funny the 8 point was ignoring the does when a nice 10 point jumped the fence and joined them. No aggression toward the buck or the does, just filling his belly. One shot at roughly 150 yards, slight quarter away, centered the far shoulder and dropped him in his tracks. South Carolina made M70 Fwt, 7-08, VxIII 2.5-8, 139 Hornady Interlock sp over Ramshot Big Game and a CCI450. By the time I got him quartered and in the cooler with ice I was beat. Time for bed!
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