Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A 'fire picture, of you challenge?

Thanks, JG.

Sandbilly tracked it down. I just stayed on the ready with the gun, which, BTW, was Sandbillys also.

BAR Short action 308 i had never fired before. We left my bolt rifle behind as we knew it was late in the AM and he was heading for a low area in the sandhills where the mesquite trees are very thick.
We jumped it from its bed in the thick stuff. Limbs and trunks were so thick and it had circled back
and we couldnt see the width as it was running from our left to the right. I didnt want to shoot anything less than 30 in wide and i was hesitant to shoot. I knew the rack was heavy as it looked like it was still in velvet and i thought i saw a couple of kickers. It was so dense in tnat thicket i couldnt judge it and had no time to try. Jesse was saying, "Shoot, shoot, shoot" so i decided to placate him and shoot, while planning to blame him if it wasnt 30 in wide. Hit a limb the first shot and as he was almost out of sight going through the last mesquite we would be able to see him, by the Grace of God i saw the crosshair hit him far back as he was then far enough he was going nearly straight away. I hit the trigger and we heard the hit. Trailed it a bit and found no blood and i told Jesse it sounded so loud i thought i had hit a branch shooting through the tree.

I was looking ahead for the deer as Jesse was tracking him and he said he could tell he was dragging a hind foot more and more the farther we went.

Then, Jesse spotted a freaking pinhead speck of blood on a weed stalk and we got serious. We stayed on his trail and i was looking ahead for him and Jesse was finding more blood in spots and more drag marks.

Getting out of the real thick stuff and it was opening up when i thought i saw a speck of light flicker like a mocking bird in a big, low limbed mesquite. I was staring at the spot when, as you hunters have all experienced, without it moving i started seeing it come together as a buck standing just beyond the tree.

As i started coming up with the gun he busted out and across about a 10 ft wide open spot just as i was getting the scope on him. I was pissed i didnt get the gun on him before he was behind that tree angling away from right to left. I could still see him through the tree and had him in the scope and i saw the crosshairs hit his neck just ahead of his shoulder and i hit the trigger.
Again, by the grace of God he fell in a heap.

He was getting out into the open and fell in high love grass. Jesse ran ahead and as he got closer and closer and seeing more and more rack he was hollering more and more. I was worn out and dragging ass but it was still kicking when i got there and put the tally wacker grabbers on him.

The bullet had hit the big right thigh bone, busting it and angled along the abdomen opening it. The guts coming out had plugged it from draining blood. Im still cant figure how it didnt bust the femoral AA.

Ive killed some big deer and turned down a lot of trophy W Tails and muleys i thought might make book in another year or two and usually never saw them again, but many of you guys know how that goes.

Sometimes i kick myself for a few of those big 4x5 28 inchers or 16 pointers ive passed because they had short tines.

Hunted through end of March many years driving 2 or more hours looking for a bruiser to hunt next fall.

I had hunted this ranch one AM with the rancher 4 years before when his brother passed and it was locked up in court. Some ranch hands nealy ruined it poaching until they were caught and the it was only hunted by a few grandkids. I lost rights to hunt another ranch and Mark said i could hunt this one. His 13 yo grandson had gotten hit in the eye that 4 years before and was doing ok untill a few days later when it got red and blurred vision with severe pain. I was going hunting that Sat
AM when his aunt i was seeing as a patient called the emergency no. I finally agreed to cancel my hunt and they headed to Odessa from an hour away.
He had developed a severe anterior uveitis and i started treating him. Got to know his grandad and we went that one Sat morning hunt.

So years later i went on the place again by myself i didnt know the area at all. Huge area with very few roads. I was driving one when i had to piss so i stopped and got out. As i was standing there i saw a huge buck track and doe track crossing the sand road right beside me. It had rained and they looked fresh so I took off on it that cloudy afternoon. After a few miles I guess they climed a sandune and spotted me on their trail and busted. When i got up on the dune it was getting dark and i saw where they busted out. There were two big sows with 5 or 6 piglets each about 150 ysrds out so i layed down and popped the two in the head and left them for the coyotes. As an afterthought i put a hull by the big track and took a pic.
Followed my tracks back to the truck by flashlight and headed 25 miles to Monahans. I was on I-20 headed for Odessa when i got the idea to call Jesse and sent him the pic. I had PM'd him on the Fire as we hunted the same country east of Carlsbad at times. We had met for lunch in Odessa one time when he was here for an oil company meeting. There he had told me that the only way they hunt deer in the desert is by tracking.
He was always busy but when i asked if he was free the coming weekend to track that buck he replied he was free. Another miracle.

We met north of Monahans Fri evening about dark and proceeded to the ranch where we camped that night. Had a big CAMPFIRE and great steaks Jesse brought. Had a few too many and crawled in the bag. Sleep was miserable with coyotes in camp and forgot my toboggan in the truck and it was cold. I knew i would be useless the coming dawn.

Saturday am we headed out and looked for the big track but couldnt find it fresh and headed north on the road. We hit a T and took the left and headed west, getting out climbing sand hills and glassing. Got to the end and hesded back east. We got to an area where we started seeing some tracks and took an old pipelline north. Got to some sandhills and found the bucks tracks with a doe.

I hadnt wanted to take this bucks track as i thought it wasnt very big but Jesse told me that he could tell by the outside bend of the dew claw that it was an old buck and that, "We need to track him up and have a look at him." Grudgingly, i said ok and we were on our way.

So, I call him the Buck of Many Miracles.

Thanks Rick Bin for the Campfire and chance to meet and converse with great hunters and Patriots.
Maybe i should call it The Canpfire Buck.

Most of all, thank you Farther in Heaven for the USA and Constitution and 2A anf for those whose sacrifice made this all possible. Amen.

how 'bout this one........?

taken 8/21/21

The one with tits?

lmao!

Ed, I play that game, too.....

I have one of those.

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