The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting American Big Game Hunting Late season Alabama buckGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Late season Alabama buck | Login/Join |
One of Us |
This nice 8 point buck showed up on my trailcam a couple of days before Christmas. I had never seen this buck before and had no photos of him earlier in the season. This camera is located in a narrow strip of woods between two half acre clover/chicory foodplots. The strip of woods serves as a funnel between a thick bedding area behind my place, the row crop fields next to me and a large block of timber across the road.   Notice the date/times on the pics... I got photos of him early morning and late afternoon on 12/23. I have a stand in this funnel and hunted it pretty hard between Christmas and New Year’s as I was off of work. The camera is about ten yards from my stand and I would swap out the SD card most every time I hunted. The buck would show up on camera about every 3-4 days, usually in the daylight, but not while I was on stand! I think he was cruising for does and only bedding on the property behind me on occasion. Of course I could be wrong and he was there the whole time doing what a big buck does best... avoid me! When I returned to work after New Year’s things at work got busy and I was working 7 days a week, at least 10 hours a day... pretty much dark to dark. It was killing me to not be able to hunt. I did check the camera a couple of times and had pics of the resident does and the buck was now showing up about once a week. The Alabama season closes Jan 31 and I was determined to get a final hunt for this buck The weather was right on Jan 29 and I was able to slip out of work early. I got settled in the funnel stand and was only there about 15 minutes when deer started coming out of the bedding area into one of the foodplots. Five does & yearlings fed in the foodplot for a while and then slipped back into the thicket. It was still early and I had that good feeling that today was going to be the day. At 4:15 a heard a deer walking in the strip of woods that forms the funnel and here come the big 8 point about 45 yards away and walking straight towards me. As he walks by I draw the Hoyt Maxxis 35 and when he stops at 12 yards the pin settles and I dump the string. He bolts into the thicket crashing through the sweet gums out of sight. The Easton FMJ tipped with a 125 grain three blade VPA broadhead is buried in the ground where the buck stood seconds earlier. A great blood trail led to the buck which had only gone about 60 yards.  He is a very heavy 8 point with lots of mass. Inside spread is 16.5 and the beams are only 20 & 21, but what he lacks here he make up in mass.  I scored him at 132 gross, 126 3/8 net... not bad for an 8 point Bama buck. I tried to score him as accurate as I could because I knew he would be close to the 125 P&Y minimum. Whether he makes the book with an official scorer after the drying period will have to be seen. Either way, it's a buck I am very proud of and I feel blessed to have had a crack at him. -------------------------------------------- National Rifle Association - Life Member National Wild Turkey Federation - Diamond Life Sponsor Pope & Young Club - Associate Member | ||
|
One of Us |
Well done Andy. Will J. Parks, III | |||
|
One of Us |
Very nice buck...well done. Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
|
One of Us |
Congratulation on a good looking deer. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Beauty of an 8......well-done. | |||
|
One of Us |
Excellent write up and pictures, I enjoyed it. That buck is a true trophy, Congratulations. "A Lone Hunter is the Best Hunter..." | |||
|
| one of us |
Nice buck thanks for the story and pictures. | |||
|
One of Us |
Ain't it grand when a plan works! Way to go!!!! JudgeG ... just counting time 'til I am again finding balm in Gilead chilled out somewhere in the Selous. | |||
|
one of us |
Awesome deer...and even more special that you have him on game cam as well. Thanks for sharing the details and photos! Bobby Μολὼν λαβέ The most important thing in life is not what we do but how and why we do it. - Nana Mouskouri | |||
|
| one of us |
Great buck and excellent report. Sure looks like a nice mature deer with that mass. | |||
|
One of Us |
Very nice. It's so rewarding when you finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together and tag a buck you know with archery equipment at close range. Congrats. | |||
|
one of us |
Nice buck - well done! What county? Antlers Double Rifle Shooters Society Heym 450/400 3" | |||
|
| One of Us |
Thanks guys, Madison County, north of Huntsville, just south of the Tennessee state line. -------------------------------------------- National Rifle Association - Life Member National Wild Turkey Federation - Diamond Life Sponsor Pope & Young Club - Associate Member | |||
|
One of Us |
Well done! Hope you make the book!! 30+ years experience tells me that perfection hit at .264. Others are adequate but anything before or after is wishful thinking. | |||
|
One of Us |
Good scouting and good Buck! Congratulations | |||
|
| one of us |
A Dandy indeed! | |||
|
| One of Us |
Great pics & story. Thanks for sharing. JCHB | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting American Big Game Hunting Late season Alabama buck
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia