Hey Guys;
So I have successfully taken a deer for the freezer with my new Cooper Model 54 in 308. It's a nice 6 point whitetail. Here's the story...
I snuck into my treestand, a 2 man 15 foot ladder stand & had just started to settle into the seat when the buck took off through the swamp in front of my stand. He didn't go far, maybe 100 meters & then he stopped & stayed silent without moving for about 15 minutes. When I heard him next, I thought he was walking away from me & my heart dropped a bit, damn it I thought, he's leaving...
BUT NO, he was actually walking back towards me! I guess he was curious as to what the sound was that spooked him? The wind was in my favor luckily! After a couple minutes of listening to him walk towards me, I could see branches & long grasses moving & caught glimpses of him & his rack. I quietly said, keep coming, keep coming...
At ~ 75 meters he stopped and looked hard towards my stand to see what he had heard. It seemed like forever, but was probably only a minute & he decided that he didn't like the situation & he turned to leave... I immediately put the crosshair on my Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 behind his shoulder & touched the trigger. The buck disappeared & I chambered another round, silence...
I stood there in my stand, and heard the buck take three long deep breaths, which I thought might be him trying to scent me. I kept 'at the ready' for about 15 minutes & then started to relax, feeling that he must be down & I made myself stay in the stand for a full 30 minutes as I could not see the buck on the ground in the swamp...
As I got out of the stand, I marked a couple trees nearby where the deer was when I shot & started into the swamp. At first, I was careful & tried not to get wet. I soon realised that I was going to get soaked & just accepted it, chuckle! Making my way slowly towards the trees I had marked, I could not find the buck! I thought NO WAY could he sneak away from me throught the water after the shot & I began to doubt my shot... I slowed down, re-played the shot in my mind & slowly began looking around. I HAD WALKED PAST HIM laying on a small dry island in the swamp!!! He was down.
I must say, taking a big game animal is very humbling, I do struggle with it but consider it 'honest work' because I eat meat & accept the responsibility in harvesting it... I placed my rifle on the deer, felt thankful for my luck & snapped a pic. The buck in the pic is as I found him. Out of respect, I placed a small piece of food in his mouth & began moving him back to my treestand.
Once there, I field dressed him, keeping the liver & heart seperate (I eat them) and began moving my gear & the deer towards the trail where I could get my atv close. With the amount of rain we have had this year, I was very thankful to have my atv. My two friends & I loaded the deer onto the back of the atv & moved him back to the vehicles.
So there you have it, a successful hunt & some fine eating!
Cheers
Jay
So I have successfully taken a deer for the freezer with my new Cooper Model 54 in 308. It's a nice 6 point whitetail. Here's the story...
I snuck into my treestand, a 2 man 15 foot ladder stand & had just started to settle into the seat when the buck took off through the swamp in front of my stand. He didn't go far, maybe 100 meters & then he stopped & stayed silent without moving for about 15 minutes. When I heard him next, I thought he was walking away from me & my heart dropped a bit, damn it I thought, he's leaving...
BUT NO, he was actually walking back towards me! I guess he was curious as to what the sound was that spooked him? The wind was in my favor luckily! After a couple minutes of listening to him walk towards me, I could see branches & long grasses moving & caught glimpses of him & his rack. I quietly said, keep coming, keep coming...
At ~ 75 meters he stopped and looked hard towards my stand to see what he had heard. It seemed like forever, but was probably only a minute & he decided that he didn't like the situation & he turned to leave... I immediately put the crosshair on my Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 behind his shoulder & touched the trigger. The buck disappeared & I chambered another round, silence...
I stood there in my stand, and heard the buck take three long deep breaths, which I thought might be him trying to scent me. I kept 'at the ready' for about 15 minutes & then started to relax, feeling that he must be down & I made myself stay in the stand for a full 30 minutes as I could not see the buck on the ground in the swamp...
As I got out of the stand, I marked a couple trees nearby where the deer was when I shot & started into the swamp. At first, I was careful & tried not to get wet. I soon realised that I was going to get soaked & just accepted it, chuckle! Making my way slowly towards the trees I had marked, I could not find the buck! I thought NO WAY could he sneak away from me throught the water after the shot & I began to doubt my shot... I slowed down, re-played the shot in my mind & slowly began looking around. I HAD WALKED PAST HIM laying on a small dry island in the swamp!!! He was down.
I must say, taking a big game animal is very humbling, I do struggle with it but consider it 'honest work' because I eat meat & accept the responsibility in harvesting it... I placed my rifle on the deer, felt thankful for my luck & snapped a pic. The buck in the pic is as I found him. Out of respect, I placed a small piece of food in his mouth & began moving him back to my treestand.
Once there, I field dressed him, keeping the liver & heart seperate (I eat them) and began moving my gear & the deer towards the trail where I could get my atv close. With the amount of rain we have had this year, I was very thankful to have my atv. My two friends & I loaded the deer onto the back of the atv & moved him back to the vehicles.
So there you have it, a successful hunt & some fine eating!
Cheers
Jay
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