K95 Single Shot - but a few more as well
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This is a Blaser K95 Black Edition in 6.5x55 with a Swarovski 1x6 Z6i on top. The stock was custom ordered and took over a year to arrive from Germany. It was a long wait.
The mule deer was one of a matching pair I was glassing at 500 yards when I first saw them. This hunt was on foot. About 45 minutes later I had maneuvered to under 300 yards (my memory is not so good anymore).
Dropped all my gear at the base of a rise and crawled on my belly for a few minutes and got into a prone position for the shot. I was out of breath and the cross hairs were bouncing all over the place.
I remember giggling trying to choose which buck to take. Never happened in my life before (or after). First shot hit him, but both bucks just stood there. The lucky one kept feeding. The other one just stood there not moving.
You always dream of taking that perfect shot with a single shot rifle (I've taken a few), but this one wasn't good. The buck disappeared into bush and then I got up, the other buck bolted, and I went in after the other.
After a few minutes I saw him standing in the bush having difficulty breathing (seem as I was...). Hit him again, and he started walking another 50 yds out into the open, but he just stood there.
Hit him again (WTF?) and he walked away behind another bush. I walked directly to him this time. No way he could go far now (I was hoping, not entirely convinced at this point, that I had been using blanks in the gun).
Found him a minute or two later, laying down and dead.