RangerPark
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Near Edmonton, AB
This deer season has been better to me than last year. So far, I've filled a supplemental antlerless whitetail in 515 and yesterday I was fortunate enough to fill my antlerless mule deer draw in 202. November has just started, now that the freezer is half full I can work on finding a nice whitetail buck.
I have to say that I'm quite proud of how that hunt went. I do most of my hunting by myself. I hunt on foot, walk distances and use a drag harness to bring back my quarry. Yesterday, 202 was beautiful with one foot of bright powdery snow in places and a bright sun, at a crisp -15C. I hunted all morning on a hilly permission I have, saw some tracks but nothing in the open. After lunch, I set out on a different piece of land and began my hike to the tallest hill I could see.
About half way up the hill, I heard gunshots. I looked back and saw some idiot parked on the road using his open truck door as a shooting rest. He fired 3 shots but I couldn't see what he was shooting at. I made my way up the hill and found a large rock to stand behind while waiting for this idiot to be done. He fired 3 more shots but didn't seem to hit anything.
Then I saw them. 5 mule deer does, well antlerless anyways, came out of the woods that now separated them from the road and that yahoo. In typical mule deer fashion, they stopped to look behind them if they were being pursued. This was my chance, I estimated my shot at 300 yards and took aim at the biggest doe, using the large rock as a rest for stability.
I fired one shot, double lung hit, she went down and stayed put. I was shooting .308 handloaded with Berger 185 grains hunting VLDs. The VLD performed as it was intended to, it created an exit wound about the size of an apple and pulverized both lungs. No meat damage to any of the quarters, no ruptured stomach or digestive tract, I was quite happy about that. In typical Berger fashion, the bullet disintegrated and I only observed shredded fragments. The truck hunting idiot departed after he heard my shot and realized I was in the field he was shooting at. Thankfully, I was well out of the way of his shots as him and I were about 90 degrees to the deers.
Interestingly enough, the herd came back for their fallen one just as I was getting ready to gut it open. They just stood about 20 yards in front of me. I had to chase them away by moving towards them and they were gone for good.
There it is, nice and healthy specimen. It's actually bigger than it appears as you'll see below.
Next 2 pictures show the deer vs my shooting position. I estimated the shot at 300-350 yards, could have been a bit more or less. It was a lot of work to drag out in all that fresh snow.
When I got home I hung it up in the garage. Problem is it was -20 overnight and it froze almost solid. I moved it to the basement and will cut it up as soon as it thaws. I guess I won't be able to age this one properly. My wife is very happy to have a deer hanging in the laundry room...
I have to say that I'm quite proud of how that hunt went. I do most of my hunting by myself. I hunt on foot, walk distances and use a drag harness to bring back my quarry. Yesterday, 202 was beautiful with one foot of bright powdery snow in places and a bright sun, at a crisp -15C. I hunted all morning on a hilly permission I have, saw some tracks but nothing in the open. After lunch, I set out on a different piece of land and began my hike to the tallest hill I could see.
About half way up the hill, I heard gunshots. I looked back and saw some idiot parked on the road using his open truck door as a shooting rest. He fired 3 shots but I couldn't see what he was shooting at. I made my way up the hill and found a large rock to stand behind while waiting for this idiot to be done. He fired 3 more shots but didn't seem to hit anything.
Then I saw them. 5 mule deer does, well antlerless anyways, came out of the woods that now separated them from the road and that yahoo. In typical mule deer fashion, they stopped to look behind them if they were being pursued. This was my chance, I estimated my shot at 300 yards and took aim at the biggest doe, using the large rock as a rest for stability.
I fired one shot, double lung hit, she went down and stayed put. I was shooting .308 handloaded with Berger 185 grains hunting VLDs. The VLD performed as it was intended to, it created an exit wound about the size of an apple and pulverized both lungs. No meat damage to any of the quarters, no ruptured stomach or digestive tract, I was quite happy about that. In typical Berger fashion, the bullet disintegrated and I only observed shredded fragments. The truck hunting idiot departed after he heard my shot and realized I was in the field he was shooting at. Thankfully, I was well out of the way of his shots as him and I were about 90 degrees to the deers.
Interestingly enough, the herd came back for their fallen one just as I was getting ready to gut it open. They just stood about 20 yards in front of me. I had to chase them away by moving towards them and they were gone for good.
There it is, nice and healthy specimen. It's actually bigger than it appears as you'll see below.
Next 2 pictures show the deer vs my shooting position. I estimated the shot at 300-350 yards, could have been a bit more or less. It was a lot of work to drag out in all that fresh snow.
When I got home I hung it up in the garage. Problem is it was -20 overnight and it froze almost solid. I moved it to the basement and will cut it up as soon as it thaws. I guess I won't be able to age this one properly. My wife is very happy to have a deer hanging in the laundry room...
