NoJacketRequired
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2004
- Messages
- 146
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Hi Folks,
After asking how to post pics here and getting lots of help, I hope I've finally got it all sorted out. Let's hope the pic appears as it should below.
For those who like to read as well as see the pic, I'll try to write down here what happened.
This past Saturday morning I left the house bright and early - conditions were perfect with a good frost and little to no wind. Between the garage and the end of the driveway I managed to pop the cap off the nipple of my Traditions Hawken, so I stopped to install a new one. Lesson learned - always check the cap! After entering the bush across the road from my house I hadn't gone 50 yards before I heard a deer blowing at me. Dang - to dark to shoot or even see it, so I backed out and took the long way around to my stand at the back of the 100 acres.
Fast forward two and a half hours. Time to get down from the stand that overlooks a small field of junipers and light scrub. Once on the ground I re-cap the rifle and head for home, directly through the cedar bush. Once inside the cedars I stop to check my cap and let my eyes grow accustomed to the low light under the dense cedar cover. As I'm doing this I hear a noise off to my left. Dang again! I must have spooked a deer and it's probably moving away from me now. But this was not the case.
Within a few seconds of hearing the first twigs snapping I see movement through the heavy brush of many blow-downs and low branches. I've got one clear lane to shoot, but a nice doe flashes through that lane before I've even had time to know it was a doe. She's now walking a path across in front of me at 50 yards. Now she's turned and is walking directly toward me. At 20 yards she threads her way through the branches of a blown-down cedar and continues to walk toward me. But there's more movement.
Behind the doe, perhaps 20 yards back, is a buck with a noteworth rack. And behind him is another sizeable buck, 8+ points! Wow, can this be happening?!?!?
The doe continues to walk directly toward me because I'm standing on the path she wants to use to get out into the little field. The buck follows her to the blowdown but after two attempts he simply can't get his rack through the branches. As he turns to move away from the blowdown I'm given a split-second opportunity for a shot into the ribcage. The mighty .50 barked, sending a .490" patched roundball on its way and the big buck took off like lightning. At the sound of gunfire the doe ran right past me close enough I could have touched her. And the second buck just stood there! I reloaded as quickly as I could, but before the ball was rammed home the second buck skirted around me through heavy brush and continued on his way toward the path of the doe.
The ball took the big buck through the point of his right elbow (for lack of a more correct term), drove through the right ribcage and then through the heart. It exited through the left ribcage but because it was badly deformed, looking more like a flat flake of lead, it failed to penetrate the skin. The buck ran 30 yards.
Vital stats for those who like 'em...
Spread of the rack = 25"
Diameter of each beam = 6 1/4"L, 6 1/2"R
Length of each beam = 25 1/2"L, 26" R
Point count = don't know, could be up to 12, depending on how you define a point.
Weight - estimated live weight using a "hog tape" to measure around the chest is 340+ pounds. I don't know how accurate this technique is but I know it gets my weight to within 2 pounds!
Am I happy with this buck? You bet I am!
NJR.
web page
After asking how to post pics here and getting lots of help, I hope I've finally got it all sorted out. Let's hope the pic appears as it should below.
For those who like to read as well as see the pic, I'll try to write down here what happened.
This past Saturday morning I left the house bright and early - conditions were perfect with a good frost and little to no wind. Between the garage and the end of the driveway I managed to pop the cap off the nipple of my Traditions Hawken, so I stopped to install a new one. Lesson learned - always check the cap! After entering the bush across the road from my house I hadn't gone 50 yards before I heard a deer blowing at me. Dang - to dark to shoot or even see it, so I backed out and took the long way around to my stand at the back of the 100 acres.
Fast forward two and a half hours. Time to get down from the stand that overlooks a small field of junipers and light scrub. Once on the ground I re-cap the rifle and head for home, directly through the cedar bush. Once inside the cedars I stop to check my cap and let my eyes grow accustomed to the low light under the dense cedar cover. As I'm doing this I hear a noise off to my left. Dang again! I must have spooked a deer and it's probably moving away from me now. But this was not the case.
Within a few seconds of hearing the first twigs snapping I see movement through the heavy brush of many blow-downs and low branches. I've got one clear lane to shoot, but a nice doe flashes through that lane before I've even had time to know it was a doe. She's now walking a path across in front of me at 50 yards. Now she's turned and is walking directly toward me. At 20 yards she threads her way through the branches of a blown-down cedar and continues to walk toward me. But there's more movement.
Behind the doe, perhaps 20 yards back, is a buck with a noteworth rack. And behind him is another sizeable buck, 8+ points! Wow, can this be happening?!?!?
The doe continues to walk directly toward me because I'm standing on the path she wants to use to get out into the little field. The buck follows her to the blowdown but after two attempts he simply can't get his rack through the branches. As he turns to move away from the blowdown I'm given a split-second opportunity for a shot into the ribcage. The mighty .50 barked, sending a .490" patched roundball on its way and the big buck took off like lightning. At the sound of gunfire the doe ran right past me close enough I could have touched her. And the second buck just stood there! I reloaded as quickly as I could, but before the ball was rammed home the second buck skirted around me through heavy brush and continued on his way toward the path of the doe.
The ball took the big buck through the point of his right elbow (for lack of a more correct term), drove through the right ribcage and then through the heart. It exited through the left ribcage but because it was badly deformed, looking more like a flat flake of lead, it failed to penetrate the skin. The buck ran 30 yards.
Vital stats for those who like 'em...
Spread of the rack = 25"
Diameter of each beam = 6 1/4"L, 6 1/2"R
Length of each beam = 25 1/2"L, 26" R
Point count = don't know, could be up to 12, depending on how you define a point.
Weight - estimated live weight using a "hog tape" to measure around the chest is 340+ pounds. I don't know how accurate this technique is but I know it gets my weight to within 2 pounds!
Am I happy with this buck? You bet I am!
NJR.
web page
