Friday night found my sidekick and I out at the cabin on the ranch in anticipation for the opener Saturday morning. He HAD to have a fire in the stove, never mind that it was 58deg.
I kept the door propped open so we didn’t turn into raisins and we played a few hands of dominoes to pass the time. Little fellow is getting pretty good at counting the spots and knowing that only 5,10,15 scores as he puts it. My dad came out and played a hand with us but went on home as he had a funeral to attend in the morning.
After much protest following a long fitful night of trying to keep a 5 year old in his sleeping bag, on the bunk, not too warm, not too cold, not too scary, and not too thirsty. I rousted him up and talked him into eating some chocolate donuts and having some orange juice. By shooting light we were out the door and on our way to our sitting spot for the morning.

We saw bucks chasing does all over the place on our 1/2 mile hike to our morning post, a good sign but no keepers. We watched a big bunch of does feeding for a while and got to see 3 raghorn bull elk doing their thing for half an hour or so. We decided to make a loop and head for the cabin at about 9:30 or so. As I peeked over a rise down to the bottom below I saw a doe come cautiously out of a big thicket. We quickly sat down and got the glasses on her and where she’d come from. Sure enough here come an old gray buck hot on her trail. Following close behind him was the next generation, an obviously young 8 pointer with heavy palmated antlers, he will be a hammer next year if he makes it.

The doe went into a briar patch and laid down as old Wilfred made a line of 4 scrapes along the edge of a hackberry grove. The younger buck stood watching from a safe distance. After tending his scrapes the bigger buck disappeared into the briars with the doe.

Me and young son used this opportunity to get behind the hill and close the distance by about 100 yards. When we crept back over the top there were no deer in sight and I was a little bit scared they’d glimpsed us or heard us and shagged out. We didn’t have to wait long to find out. I guess the smaller buck had tried to make a move and when he entered the bramble the doe came squirting out quickly followed by the bigger buck.

I’d decided after passing several nice bucks last year on the opener and never catching back up with them that I would shoot one on the first day this year if I had the opportunity on an old heavy buck. Seeing him head toward an opening I assumed the prone position and switched the safety off on my 257Wby. When he stepped into the opening at about 250 yards I pasted the crosshair on his armpit and squeezed one off. I didn’t hear it hit but it felt good. As we hung tight I assured the boy that I was pretty certain we had him. Pretty soon here came the doe up the hill towards us to pass through a saddle about 40 yards away. The young buck made a cautious circle all the way around the briar patch looking and stomping as he went, satisfied he came at a lope following the doe like he was on a string.

We made our way down to find one very dead old gray buck lying about 30 feet from where I shot him. Another victim of the 85gr Ballistic Tip at warp speed. It’s been a while since I’ve killed one bigger than this, though he’s not a monster. I’m pretty proud of him though especially since I got to share it with my 5 year old partner.
We still have a bunch of doe tags plus trying to get Momma on a buck, and if we get lucky we might find a cow elk to put up for the winter.

Good luck to the rest of the Okies out there.

Just a great story.. Thanks..

One of the best so far. Thank you for letting us enjoy it.

What a great experience for your son. Hopefully the first of many more. I miss those days. Congratulations on a great buck too!

Sounds like a memory that'll last a lifetime. Dang nice buck.

Man, I enjoyed the story and the pic of your kid & your ugly mug !

Don't get any better than that. Good looking buck IMO.

Congrats

Jerry

Wonderful!

Good Deal -----Take a kid hunting & you'll never have to hunt for the kid. !

Hell ya, great pics, write up and buck!! Grats

Thanks for sharing
Nice buck

Great hunt with your boy. Congrats!

Good memories and great story and buck. Congrats

Nice story and buck, Kid!

Congratulations on a fun hunt.

Nice buck and story to go with it. I bet your son will remember this hunt for a long time.

orange pop and dominoes just may be a new tradition....

Great write-up, TK.

What’re the specs on your rifle?

Good write up, congrats on a nice buck

Very nice buck!

So glad you take your son!

Yes sir,having the little guy along is what it's all about.
Congrats.

Sounds like a good time, thanks for the story I enjoyed reading it. Congrats on a nice buck also.

Well done dad, before you know it you will be trying to get your tag-along on a nice deer.

Little guy loves to go hunt and fish. I think he’s been in on the shooting of 3 or 4 bucks, a big gobbler, and at least 40 pigs in his short life. I’m pretty sure he’s the only kid in his preK class who’s caught a 9lb bass and a 30lb catfish too. He got a Savage Rascal for his 5th Birthday this fall so I have a feeling stuffs going to need to look out! I think getting to take him hunting and fishing is the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.

I had Momma on a good buck this evening, big heavy 10 with a rooster spur kicker off his G2 on his left side. Unfortunately his girlfriend led him over the hill out of her range. He was a dandy so maybe we’ll catch up with him in a day or two. If not he’ll really be a toad next year.

Great write up Kid, like that you got the little guy into the hunting and fishing! Bet he will remember this hunt and tell his kids about it! Happy Hunting.

Kid

Second response. YE HAW !!

Jerry

Can't imaging a better opening day.....nice buck and great post!!!

Darn cool!

Well done!

Great write-up!

Great write up and sounds like a blast for you two. I wonder why more guys dont shoot the 257wby , excellent cartridge.

I gotta admit, I didnt get that OK was Oklahoma until I clicked so I was wondering what kind of Okay rifle someone wanted in 2020.

Nice buck interesting combo cartridge/bullet-wise.

Very awesome hunting pard there too man enjoy it while you can that’s awesome.

We ran to the hills when I got home this evening and went up to our perch overlooking a saddle between two canyons where the deer cross. Didn’t see much so I decided to try the rattling horns. Within a minute we had a big eight pointer come in like he was on a string. 25 yards and the Mrs never could get a clear shot. He finally lost interest and went back into the big thicket he’d come charging out of. Hopefully he’ll be close by since he didn’t spook. Exciting evening hunt anyway.

Insofar as the 257 and 85gr BTips. I had a bunch loaded up one year for some reason or another, wasn’t really planning on hunting anything with them just working up loads for fun. Got out to caribou camp up by the Arctic Ocean and discovered that I had a box of 85gr BTips at 3800fps instead of a box of 100gr X bullets. Having no other choice at that juncture I went ahead and shot a nice bull, right square in the shoulder broadside. He melted like you’d stripped the rug out from under him and upon inspection I found that it had broke both scapulas and exited. The next morning I decided it had to be a fluke when a much bigger bull showed up a half mile from camp as we made breakfast. A quick stalk ended in a broadside shot and a repeat performance of the bull seemingly being electrocuted. I recovered the bullet under the offside hide that time and it retained about 35 percent of it’s weight. I decided that maybe they weren’t a bad bullet for deer or so sized game and have used them ever since. Nothing seems to make it very far if you stick one in the wheelhouse, the buck I shot Saturday had a hole about the size of a can of soup through the lungs.

Very nicely done!! You hunting partner will be talking about that for a long time.

We’re still getting after them. Haven’t found any more shooter bucks but we’ve been having fun trying to get Momma on a good one.

We went to the farm when I got home a couple days ago and watched a herd of does frolicking in the pond to some reason. I could smell pigs and heard splashing and crept up to peek over the dam expecting a sounder of rooters. I was surprised to see 6 does splashing and running around in water up to their knees. Strange.

About sundown we decided to try the horns since we didn’t have anything to lose and Bigboy was dying to rattle. I took him and eased down into a ditch and left Mom up on the pond dam where she could see anything approaching. I showed him how to clack them together and pause and then thrash some grass and brush. I let him take over and work the horns for a little bit. Low and behold he rattled up a little button buck! Little deer came in to less than 20 yards and made a half circle around us giving us plenty of time to look him over. Needless to say my pardner thinks he’s a master deer guide now!

ha ha ha That's GREAT !

Tell him Jerry said, Get After It!

Jerry

Sounds like you are raising him right to me! Congrats on a good Oklahoma buck and I have a feeling there are many more in your family’s future

Great write ups....well done....congrats!!!!

Great story, thanks for sharing!

Great story, and I love the smile on your son’s face.
He’s a lucky young man!
Good job, Dad 👍

Momma sealed the deal this afternoon in the rain.

We were busy sitting in the rain not seeing anything when she shot her finger out and said “there’s a deer”! I whispered for her to be still and quiet. As I cut my eyes over I saw a set of antlers coming up over the rise about 60 yards. I instantly recognized it as a funky looking buck my dad and I had both seen earlier this year and dubbed him “the Pronghorn”. I told her not to move and to let him walk on out if he would and she wanted him. After a brief staring contest he decided to feed on up the hill and when he put his head down she was able to get her gun up. As soon as he stepped into the open “BOOM” and he ran over the crest of the hill where I heard him pile up and slide down the face on the rocks.

We moseyed over and there he was, shot perfectly and dead as free lunch about 20 yards from where she shot him. He’s an odd character, heavy bases and pretty good brow tines but like his antlers are stunted above the brows. He’s bigger bodied than the buck I shot last Saturday, certainly not a yearling basket rack. She thinks he’s pretty neat and we’ll euro him to go on the corner shelf in the living room.





She used my Pre64 FWT 30/06 tonight because for some reason it is the only thing I have anymore that has scope caps. Ammo was some 1980’s vintage S&B factory stuff with 150gr SPCE bullets. They lived up to their name as the entry hole was a perfectly round .30 caliber hole, just like a wadcutter through a paper target. Lungs were centered with a 2” hole through them and the exit hole was about 1” diameter. I’m not much of a factory ammo guy or a 150gr 30/06 fan but these seem to work pretty well on this buck and a giant pig I shot a couple years ago.

We’ll get these two worked up and in the freezer before we shoot any does. I’ll probably go hunt when I can with my dad but our rifle season is pretty well concluded in this house. It’s been a good one, we’ve hunted every day of the season so far, made some great memories and seen some great bucks.

Well....ALLLRIGHT !

Yea ! for her and y'all. I like 'odd' racks.

Jerry

ps: Looks like you married up !!!

Good for Momma!

Great post, damn fine day

We ended the season by sitting the last day looking for a doe. Saw 5 8 point bucks inside of 75 yards but no does. Good problem to have I say. Most importantly I got to spend another awesome evening with my sidekick. He got in the Halloween candy before we left and he must have eaten 20 Tootsie Rolls while we watched .



Pretty good deer season and we made it out all but 4 of the 16 days. Can’t wait for next year.

Great story and some fantastic memories for you and your son 👍......Hb

Great stories and awesome pictures, thank you so much for sharing.

Just right . 👍

Smiles !

Smiles !

Smiles !


Jerry

Nice story!

Yeah, this is too cool. Great looking family you've got there - thanks for sharing.

Great story. Thank you for sharing it.

Great story. You have been well blessed!

Great story , way to go dad and husband. Mb

Good times right there!