- Location
- Miramichi, NB
Out deer hunting last week with my M70 in 30-06 with factory Win Supreme BST 168 gr. I'm on a friends property sitting in a tree stand overlooking a field that measures about 200 yards wide by about 150 yards deep. The field is almost completely bare except for a small bit of scrub at one end and this huge pile of rocks sitting right smack-dab in the middle of the field. The rocks look completely out of place measuring about 20 feet around and maybe 8 feet high. The tree stand is on the outer edge overlooking the field and is almost in perfect line with the pile of rocks (basically right in the middle of the 200 yard width). It is unseasonally warm for this time of year (15 oC) and it has been raining / misting for over a week. Got the picture?
I'm in the stand at 7:00 am and do a fair bit of calling with a Quaker Boy Bleat 'N Heat. But after about 6 hours there is no movement so I get a little restless. I climb down and walk around for about 3-1/2 hours taking a look at a few more fields and some chop-downs. I make my way back to the original tree stand at about 4:30 pm.
I don't feel like climbing back up as there is only 45 more minutes of legal light, so I decide to go over to the pile of rocks in the middle of the field and see what they are all about. The rocks are a mix of shale rock, some boulders and some slabs that look like granite - and they'v definitely been placed there by someone. They are out in the wide open and there is not a tree within 60 yards.
So anyway, I find a nice wide, flat slab to rest my big ole butt onto and I immediately start calling. I'm not there 90 seconds (I just had time to call twice) when I hear a loud snap behind me to my right. I look over my right shoulder but see nothing. As I'm turning back to the left, this deer is slowly walking past me out in the wide open -- he came from behind me, likely making the snapping noise just to the right of me, and I swear he's not more than 20 feet away. And I have nothing to conceal me as I'm sitting perfectly out in the open on these rocks.
It has it's head down to the ground and starts to trot away from me. It is gettng dark and its misting so I couldn't get a good look to check for horns. I give a sharp whistle and the thing stops and turns around and stares straight at me no more than 30 yards away. Neither oine of us has any thing to hide behind. I can barely make out 2 spikes that don't stand straight up like most, they're laying down a bit and follow the ears. So now that I'm sure it has horns, I put the scope on him and release the safety. The bugger starts to run to my left so I lead him a bit and let him have it. On the angle he was moving, the shot hits the base of the neck ahead of the front shoulder. It takes out the opposite shoulder and exits. He cartwheels and scrambles up to start running to my right but I hit him with another shot to the neck and he's down for good. I paced the shot off at 27 yards.
This is not a great picture of him, but I got 95 lbs of meat -- I estimate I lost about 10 lbs or so from the shoulder/ neck damage. He probably went about 150 lbs so he was a decent spike. The sausages are going to be tasty.
I've never seen an animal not care at all that a hunter was so close. He just stared at me. I guess he had other things on his mind. Anyone else have one react (or not react) in the same fashion?
I'm in the stand at 7:00 am and do a fair bit of calling with a Quaker Boy Bleat 'N Heat. But after about 6 hours there is no movement so I get a little restless. I climb down and walk around for about 3-1/2 hours taking a look at a few more fields and some chop-downs. I make my way back to the original tree stand at about 4:30 pm.
I don't feel like climbing back up as there is only 45 more minutes of legal light, so I decide to go over to the pile of rocks in the middle of the field and see what they are all about. The rocks are a mix of shale rock, some boulders and some slabs that look like granite - and they'v definitely been placed there by someone. They are out in the wide open and there is not a tree within 60 yards.
So anyway, I find a nice wide, flat slab to rest my big ole butt onto and I immediately start calling. I'm not there 90 seconds (I just had time to call twice) when I hear a loud snap behind me to my right. I look over my right shoulder but see nothing. As I'm turning back to the left, this deer is slowly walking past me out in the wide open -- he came from behind me, likely making the snapping noise just to the right of me, and I swear he's not more than 20 feet away. And I have nothing to conceal me as I'm sitting perfectly out in the open on these rocks.
It has it's head down to the ground and starts to trot away from me. It is gettng dark and its misting so I couldn't get a good look to check for horns. I give a sharp whistle and the thing stops and turns around and stares straight at me no more than 30 yards away. Neither oine of us has any thing to hide behind. I can barely make out 2 spikes that don't stand straight up like most, they're laying down a bit and follow the ears. So now that I'm sure it has horns, I put the scope on him and release the safety. The bugger starts to run to my left so I lead him a bit and let him have it. On the angle he was moving, the shot hits the base of the neck ahead of the front shoulder. It takes out the opposite shoulder and exits. He cartwheels and scrambles up to start running to my right but I hit him with another shot to the neck and he's down for good. I paced the shot off at 27 yards.
This is not a great picture of him, but I got 95 lbs of meat -- I estimate I lost about 10 lbs or so from the shoulder/ neck damage. He probably went about 150 lbs so he was a decent spike. The sausages are going to be tasty.
I've never seen an animal not care at all that a hunter was so close. He just stared at me. I guess he had other things on his mind. Anyone else have one react (or not react) in the same fashion?
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