This is my 3rd season hunting. I got a beautiful buck with a rifle my first season, a tasty doe with a bow my second season, but so far this year I haven't bagged one. I was very close but my "buddy" decided he wanted it more than I did I suppose.
The story goes.... my "buddy" (known him for 20+ years) was supposed to have permission on some great private land to hunt whitetail. A day or two prior to opening, he called and said he wasn't able to get a hold of the landowner, and asked if I had any other options. I told him I had been eyeballing a spot of Crown land not to far away, and we could both go there and try our luck.
So anyways, his Browning Bar 270 has gained some notoriety for going click rather than bang (it's done it once while hunting and 2 or 3 more times while target shooting. Not wanting to spend money on repairs or a new rifle, I offered him the use of my Stevens .243 for the hunt, which he happily accepted. I made him aware that as we were hunting my spot, I drove, and he was using my rifle, I had dibs on any decent bucks. He was good with that as he is strictly a meat hunter and cares nothing about antlers.
I am not a trophy hunter by any means, but really appreciate a good "rack soup" to go along with my chops, if you catch my meaning. In case you didn't I would sooner shoot a large buck than a doe, for 2 reasons...more meat and I like the antlers.
So opening morning comes and we are in the spot I chose, sure enough deer are moving. I waved him off of one doe as I knew there was a vehicle parked in that direction he hadn't seen. A few minutes later I told him not to shoot the little fawn that happened to cross our path, as a larger deer would likely follow.
Sure enough not 5 minutes later a decent little 4x4 walks out at about 50 yards, I whisper to my buddy who is 3 feet away, "this guy is mine". Now I like to be precise when I shoot so I took my time aimed carefully, place my finger on the first stage of my accu-trigger, and BANG.... my buddy shot the damn buck.
I watch him hobble into the woods 10 yards away, and could tell it was a decent hit. Once he was away from us I turn and said "what the hell?"
He says "sorry I didn't hear you..."
I says " If you didn't hear me... how do you know I said anything at all?"
Well no matter, he wasn't a great buck anyways, likely to score less than 100", but still I would have proudly taken him home.
My friend is about to get up and go after the buck right way, but I manage to talk him into waiting 15 minutes before pursuing the buck, explaining he may not be dead yet. He says, "well then we should go shoot him again before he gets away". I smile (on the inside) and say "no, it was a good hit, just give it a few minutes to expire, he will just lay down if you don't chase him".
So we waited, then my friend gets up to go look for a blood trail and almost immediately panics because he doesn't see any blood. While he is searching around the area he shot the buck, I stroll over to the bush, walk in and look around. Within 30 seconds I see blood and then 30 more seconds of trailing it, I find a crashed out buck, some 40 yards or so from the spot he was shot.
Now we drag this big bodied young buck out of the woods... 30 yards worth of thick bush, uphill (I nearly had a stoke) and get him to flat ground where he can be cleaned and loaded on the truck.
"You got a knife?" I asked
"no, I have never actually cleaned a deer" he replies. Having taken about 15 deer in his life, he was always with his Father or Uncle or a friend who looked after that stuff for him.
"no problem" I said... "I need the practice".
So I pull out my trusty knife and start at him. Within 15 minutes he is field dressed (and an excellent job if I might add). My friend says "Wow you have done that a few times"
I reply "actually that was my first one"
he says "What??? how can that be?"
I told him how the first buck I shot was cleaned by a friend of mine as he was very experienced, and I made the first cut on my second deer but again that same friend finished as it had been a year since I had seen it done, and I was so pumped the first time (that buck scored 133 5/8") I could hardly recall what happened.
"So how did you manage to do this one, and make it look so easy... it looked like you had done 100 of them?" he asked
"I paid attention the 2nd time" I said.
So we hunt the remainder of the day, and see nothing at all. Then head for my place to hang the deer for a week in my barn. He had to travel the following week for work, so I got to skin the buck alone and deliver it to the butcher for him, thinking all the while, "shall I cook him you too?"
Anyways the important thing is we bagged one, but I have now sat on 8 or 9 occasions this season and have yet to see another deer to shoot. They are here, but nocturnal and never present a shot to me. I am getting a little bummed out and stressed that my tags may go unfilled, as my rifle tag did last year.
Here is a pic with my friend and "his" prize... a nice little 4x4
The story goes.... my "buddy" (known him for 20+ years) was supposed to have permission on some great private land to hunt whitetail. A day or two prior to opening, he called and said he wasn't able to get a hold of the landowner, and asked if I had any other options. I told him I had been eyeballing a spot of Crown land not to far away, and we could both go there and try our luck.
So anyways, his Browning Bar 270 has gained some notoriety for going click rather than bang (it's done it once while hunting and 2 or 3 more times while target shooting. Not wanting to spend money on repairs or a new rifle, I offered him the use of my Stevens .243 for the hunt, which he happily accepted. I made him aware that as we were hunting my spot, I drove, and he was using my rifle, I had dibs on any decent bucks. He was good with that as he is strictly a meat hunter and cares nothing about antlers.
I am not a trophy hunter by any means, but really appreciate a good "rack soup" to go along with my chops, if you catch my meaning. In case you didn't I would sooner shoot a large buck than a doe, for 2 reasons...more meat and I like the antlers.
So opening morning comes and we are in the spot I chose, sure enough deer are moving. I waved him off of one doe as I knew there was a vehicle parked in that direction he hadn't seen. A few minutes later I told him not to shoot the little fawn that happened to cross our path, as a larger deer would likely follow.
Sure enough not 5 minutes later a decent little 4x4 walks out at about 50 yards, I whisper to my buddy who is 3 feet away, "this guy is mine". Now I like to be precise when I shoot so I took my time aimed carefully, place my finger on the first stage of my accu-trigger, and BANG.... my buddy shot the damn buck.
I watch him hobble into the woods 10 yards away, and could tell it was a decent hit. Once he was away from us I turn and said "what the hell?"
He says "sorry I didn't hear you..."
I says " If you didn't hear me... how do you know I said anything at all?"
Well no matter, he wasn't a great buck anyways, likely to score less than 100", but still I would have proudly taken him home.
My friend is about to get up and go after the buck right way, but I manage to talk him into waiting 15 minutes before pursuing the buck, explaining he may not be dead yet. He says, "well then we should go shoot him again before he gets away". I smile (on the inside) and say "no, it was a good hit, just give it a few minutes to expire, he will just lay down if you don't chase him".
So we waited, then my friend gets up to go look for a blood trail and almost immediately panics because he doesn't see any blood. While he is searching around the area he shot the buck, I stroll over to the bush, walk in and look around. Within 30 seconds I see blood and then 30 more seconds of trailing it, I find a crashed out buck, some 40 yards or so from the spot he was shot.
Now we drag this big bodied young buck out of the woods... 30 yards worth of thick bush, uphill (I nearly had a stoke) and get him to flat ground where he can be cleaned and loaded on the truck.
"You got a knife?" I asked
"no, I have never actually cleaned a deer" he replies. Having taken about 15 deer in his life, he was always with his Father or Uncle or a friend who looked after that stuff for him.
"no problem" I said... "I need the practice".
So I pull out my trusty knife and start at him. Within 15 minutes he is field dressed (and an excellent job if I might add). My friend says "Wow you have done that a few times"
I reply "actually that was my first one"
he says "What??? how can that be?"
I told him how the first buck I shot was cleaned by a friend of mine as he was very experienced, and I made the first cut on my second deer but again that same friend finished as it had been a year since I had seen it done, and I was so pumped the first time (that buck scored 133 5/8") I could hardly recall what happened.
"So how did you manage to do this one, and make it look so easy... it looked like you had done 100 of them?" he asked
"I paid attention the 2nd time" I said.
So we hunt the remainder of the day, and see nothing at all. Then head for my place to hang the deer for a week in my barn. He had to travel the following week for work, so I got to skin the buck alone and deliver it to the butcher for him, thinking all the while, "shall I cook him you too?"
Anyways the important thing is we bagged one, but I have now sat on 8 or 9 occasions this season and have yet to see another deer to shoot. They are here, but nocturnal and never present a shot to me. I am getting a little bummed out and stressed that my tags may go unfilled, as my rifle tag did last year.
Here is a pic with my friend and "his" prize... a nice little 4x4
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