Thanks everyone for all the positive strokes. The country is seemingly very open but in reality is cut up with many draws and brushy ridges that offer concealment if you use terrain, rather than objects to obscure your approach. This is certainly "Spot & Stalk" country. We could set up in one place and regularly see 5-10 bucks in a 360 degree perimeter, from several hundred yards out to several miles.
The Buck was about 90-100 yards when I shot and slightly quartering, almost straight away. The ball entered at the last rib on the right side and went through the diaphram and into the left lung. The ball was lodged under the hide, forward of the left shoulder and was flat on one side, looked almost as if you had cut it in half with a saw. I found it while skinning. I didn't weigh it so I dont know about weight retention and I think I hosed it out in the driveway when I washed my truck.
The weight of the deer is totally speculative as we didn't have a means to weigh it. I would say 250lbs. plus though.
To let you know the quality of Bucks we saw on our week long hunt, I actually passed this Buck up broadside at 75 yards, several days prior to shooting him and blew a stalk on a larger one just several hours before killing him.I generally don't make a habit of passing large deer but this hunt may never come around again for me in that unit so I was picky. I hope I have answered all your questions, if not, let me know. I wish I was better at typing, the whole story is really pretty exciting.
Idaho PRB
[/img]
