08 November 2005, 21:01
Toomany ToolsA terrific deer hunt
Just got back from this year's deer hunt and what a great trip it was. Here's how it went:I've been hunting this public land area for 4 years and had a good idea where I might find a decent buck. I started into the field before sun-up and was a little over a mile from the road when the sun started to break the horizon. I was headed East, climbing a ridge through moderate PJ (Pinon-Juniper) trying to move quickly but not too loudly. This area gets hunted pretty hard by hoards of road-hunters so I wasn't too concerned about spooking deer on slopes in view of the road.
When I got close to the crest I eased up slowly, glassing the hillsides in front of me carefully. I found a comfortable place to sit at the base of a fair-sized Juniper and began taking a close look at the canyons below me. After about 10 minutes of glassing the flash of antlers in the low-angle early morning sunshine caught my eye. There below me were five bucks feeding on a saddle between two small finger ridges coming off the main ridge I was on. I upgraded my optics this year to a set of Geovid 10x42 binoculars which told me the deer were a little over 425 yards away. Two of the five were pretty nice 10 and 8-points, and two of the other three were legal (minimum of 3 points on at least one side) and the last one was a fork-horn.
I wasn’t going to shoot from that far so I sat and watched the deer for nearly 20 minutes as they slowly fed North-to-South over the saddle and down into the small canyon and out of my line-of-sight. Since the deer hadn’t been spooked and would most likely continue to feed, I dropped down the slope a ways so the crest of the ridge would be between me and the deer. Side-hilling along the ridge on the tater-sized rocks was not exactly quite but I did the best I could to cover the half-mile distance without making too much noise and get to the point where I figured I’d be able to sneak up over the top and spot the deer within range.
Slowly crawling up to the crest using PJ to mask my approach, I stopped every couple of feet to glass the opposite side of the canyon. When I got to a position where I could see almost all the way to the bottom of the canyon I spotted the deer feeding on Juniper berries. I was now facing Southeast, just about directly towards the rising sun. The deer were a little difficult to see but their dark grey coats contrasted well enough with the dark green Junipers for me to make out the biggest deer. Their horns were more difficult to see but I did find the big one, now less than 300 yards away. There was no wind and my position was well hidden so I set up my shooting sticks and got them adjusted for a comfortable sitting position. I watched the deer for about 15 minutes, waiting for the big boy to present a good broadside shot and also hoping to get my heart-rate to slow a bit—I’ve been hunting for over 30-years and get just as excited today as I did when I was a kid which is probably why I doubt I’ll ever give up hunting.
The buck finally turned sideways to me and I took one last measurement which put him 279 yards across from me. I’d practiced quite a bit with my .308 BLR so was confident in making the shot. The deer definitely looked smaller through the 2x7 Leupold compact scope set on 7, but the image was clear and sharp. Now, BLR’s are not known for crisp, clean trigger pulls and mine’s no different but I honestly don’t remember even pulling the trigger, but the rifle did go off and I heard the loud “thwump’ of the bullet striking the deer. When I recovered the sight-picture following recoil I saw the deer’s right front shoulder was broken as he jumped/ran down slope and piled up about 10 yards from where he’d been standing. It was obvious a follow-up shot wasn’t needed, but I did wait ten minutes before moving from my position, watching him closely all the time. Three of the bucks who’d been with him trotted off slowly up and over the ridge while his fourth companion slowly moved down slope to where he lay to check see what happened to his running mate.
After the ten-minute wait, I made my way around the head of the small canyon and over to the deer. I was amazed at his size; easily the biggest bodied deer I’d ever been close to. Field dressed I estimate he weighed close to 250 pounds and by far the best set of antlers of any deer I’ve harvested. Just a terrific deer hunt!
terrific as you said...
