Little Wattsy
69 Cal.
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2008
- Messages
- 3,631
- Reaction score
- 9
So there I was; Froze like last years left overs. It was 4:30Pm and getting to that level of dark where I would not be able to see the sights on my hand embellished T/C Renegade Muzzle loader. And then he jumped out.....
Actually "In the beginning" I got to the hunting grounds Monday evening and drove around scouting.. Saw SEVERAL deer, Lots of does and a half dozen smallish forkies and three points. The next day was spent still hunting through fairly new quiet snow. Pushed some deer but no shooters. That Tuesday night I took a stand in a opening near where a "BIG 6x6" was reported to live. At about 4:30 he steeped out with a doe and started scraping and pawing. Now actually he was a 5x5 but hes was DANG BIG! Sadly I had set up my stand too far away from where he was, about 160 yards away. My range with my open sight muzzle loader shooting round balls is max 100 yards for me. Watching him through the bionocs was AWESOME. Literally the biggest deer I had ever encountered in a hunting situation (I'm guessing a solid 160 class buck). As fading light grew darker I started to grunt at him to see if he would come closer. On the third set of grunts, here he came. Right up to about 30 yards. Watching him come through the binoculars he was HUGE, Awesome, Impressive, Regal, WOW! As he passed behind a bush I brought up my Cap lock and ...... manure! Black on Black. Although a few minutes of legal hunting time was left it was simply too dark in the trees to see my sights. He got away.. Devastation!
The next three days were not very fruitful. the deer weren't getting up and deer sightings went way down. Wednesday night at 4:45 PM, right at DARK, I did see a LARGE bodied deer at 300-ish yards through the glasses but a brushy fence row prevented me from identifying antlers yet I had my suspicions.....Thursday night I got in closer and notta yet a "big bodied deer" was reported slipping out into a field not to far from where I had set up... more suspicions. (Point of note: multiple reports, by ranch hands in the area, rumored a whitetail with a 24" spread in that area.)
On Friday afternoon the deer started to move again... Lots of does some small bucks (spikes and a small fork). And then a 120 class buck bedded on a ridge, some 600 to 700 yards away and NO WAY to get to him. Huh. I'm running out of time, my week is slipping by way to quickly. At about 3PM and still no deer in the cooler I decided to take a stand near where the "big bodied" deer had reportedly slipped out the night before. At 4:05 a Wide 5x4 popped over the fence and stood looking about bigger then stink; RIGHT where he was guessed to do so. It was his last mistake.
The shot took him through the spine right behind the front shoulders, he drooped where he stood. As I walked up I knew that he was a "nice buck" but I wasn't in awe as I still sorta had the HUGE 5x5 from a few days ago on my brain. When we got him to the barn and started skinning we taped him and he had a 21 1/2 inch spread and the more I looked at him the bigger he seemed to get. Bottom line he is the biggest Whitetail I have harvested to date. And I am thinking there is a place on my wall with his name on it!!
Actually "In the beginning" I got to the hunting grounds Monday evening and drove around scouting.. Saw SEVERAL deer, Lots of does and a half dozen smallish forkies and three points. The next day was spent still hunting through fairly new quiet snow. Pushed some deer but no shooters. That Tuesday night I took a stand in a opening near where a "BIG 6x6" was reported to live. At about 4:30 he steeped out with a doe and started scraping and pawing. Now actually he was a 5x5 but hes was DANG BIG! Sadly I had set up my stand too far away from where he was, about 160 yards away. My range with my open sight muzzle loader shooting round balls is max 100 yards for me. Watching him through the bionocs was AWESOME. Literally the biggest deer I had ever encountered in a hunting situation (I'm guessing a solid 160 class buck). As fading light grew darker I started to grunt at him to see if he would come closer. On the third set of grunts, here he came. Right up to about 30 yards. Watching him come through the binoculars he was HUGE, Awesome, Impressive, Regal, WOW! As he passed behind a bush I brought up my Cap lock and ...... manure! Black on Black. Although a few minutes of legal hunting time was left it was simply too dark in the trees to see my sights. He got away.. Devastation!
The next three days were not very fruitful. the deer weren't getting up and deer sightings went way down. Wednesday night at 4:45 PM, right at DARK, I did see a LARGE bodied deer at 300-ish yards through the glasses but a brushy fence row prevented me from identifying antlers yet I had my suspicions.....Thursday night I got in closer and notta yet a "big bodied deer" was reported slipping out into a field not to far from where I had set up... more suspicions. (Point of note: multiple reports, by ranch hands in the area, rumored a whitetail with a 24" spread in that area.)
On Friday afternoon the deer started to move again... Lots of does some small bucks (spikes and a small fork). And then a 120 class buck bedded on a ridge, some 600 to 700 yards away and NO WAY to get to him. Huh. I'm running out of time, my week is slipping by way to quickly. At about 3PM and still no deer in the cooler I decided to take a stand near where the "big bodied" deer had reportedly slipped out the night before. At 4:05 a Wide 5x4 popped over the fence and stood looking about bigger then stink; RIGHT where he was guessed to do so. It was his last mistake.
The shot took him through the spine right behind the front shoulders, he drooped where he stood. As I walked up I knew that he was a "nice buck" but I wasn't in awe as I still sorta had the HUGE 5x5 from a few days ago on my brain. When we got him to the barn and started skinning we taped him and he had a 21 1/2 inch spread and the more I looked at him the bigger he seemed to get. Bottom line he is the biggest Whitetail I have harvested to date. And I am thinking there is a place on my wall with his name on it!!
