Was a pretty short season for me this year, as I got er wrapped up on the 3rd evening. A little driving around, a little walk the bush and tree lines, but no serious all out effort at that point. The better half was going out for the afternoon/evening, so of course away I go hunting. I did a bit of still hunting, then went to a different spot where I know the deer travel frequently. I arrived about 90 minutes before last light, and belly crawled to a good vantage point near the top of a hill. The reason I wanted to be there, is the random standing grass is great cover and I had an excellent view. If you don't move, you're basically invisible up there. So I sat for about 45 minutes, and hadn't seen anything so I crawled away out of sight and had a smoke. Crawled back, and sat like a statue for about 30 minutes. Suddenly a doe comes out of the bush, and I see a buck following. I didn't even count the points, as he looked pretty stout and I knew as soon as I had a shot he was getting it. They walked out of the grass into some stubble and started up the hill. The buck gave me a quartering away broadside so I took it. I had guessed the range to be about 150 meters so no worries let the shot go. The 257 Weatherby mag barked (honorable mention to the bright halo muzzle flash!), and the best fwook sound I ever heard. He took six slow motion steps and lights out. Holy moly, when I got close I realized he was a stout fella. His rack wasn't the best, but lots of character. I hunt for fun and the meat, so the rack is secondary. Getting him loaded was something else. Here on the hill, he was hard to drag downhill even, no joke. I field dressed him, and just couldn't get him in the truck, it was not happening. I peeled off for home a short distance away, and grabbed a sheet of plywood. Even then it was a chore to rope drag/pull/push him up there. Sorry for the book, but I thought some of you might be amused with my tale. I'll grab some pics.
Beautiful buck. I'd have taken him too. At least it is cold enough for snow there. Hard to believe but we are well into the 50's today and sunny.
Thanks guys, I didn't even have time to get keyed up until after the shot. Once I confirmed he was staying put I walked back to the truck and then my heart started beating out of my chest! Ran into the neighbor a few days later, I saw his truck on a nearby field and went to help him load a nice buck he shot. He says he saw my deer on a hunting group page, and asked how the **** did I manage to load it myself lol. He had a laugh over the plywood story.
I always like reading hunting tales, so I'm glad you guys enjoyed mine. Added bonus to all of this (besides a ton of meat), is the dogs are super happy too! I didn't leave much for the birds and coyotes on the carcass. Trimmed out the ribs and random scraps real good and made up about 6-8 lbs of pretty decent slop.
A few more fun facts all said and done. We've since been back to the spot where I shot, and it's a closer bet to 180 meters. Managed just over 100 lbs of lean clean super trimmed meat for ourselves, not including the rib scratch out Scooby snacks. The better half got skunked this year, no deer for her. We burned more furnace oil during 9 days of deer season (due to not bothering with fire, or keeping it cold while butchering) than the previous 52 days. My deer tags were a birthday present (mom/dad/brother/sister) which allowed me to get tags and $30 gas! Which lasted me until after I tagged out. Of course, I almost ran out of gas that night and had to dump in a gallon of 40:1 premium mix to get to town the next day.
Yup. I've had to run on that type of gas a couple times. Should work okay but not for long term use. I also have put some in lawn mowers and such. Does just fine.
