HunterHarry
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 5,003
LAST EDITED ON Sep-16-09 AT 02:26PM (MST)[p]
After a long season near home we wrapped things up last week.
The full moon subsided and some welcome cooler weather finally arrived.
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3518/31722747.jpg[/IMG]
My best friend rolled into my place at dark:30 last Sunday.
We loaded up and went up to a friend's ranch across the lake from me.
The two best huntin buds I have...
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9414/img1663y.jpg[/img]
After getting through several cattle gates we ground our way up a dirt road to reach some higher ground.
About half way up we stop to glass some country as the sun crested over the the oaks.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3826/90954291.jpg[/img]
I spotted a single buck on a ridge 500 yards in the distance.
We paused, broke out the spotting scope and looked him over.
A tall rack and nice forks, but not quite what we were looking for.
We continue up the road and reach the base of a steep mountain.
We decide to scale the ridge to gain good glassing elevation.
Upon reaching the top,we set up & glass.
We look hard for about fifteen minutes and Thomas get a bit restless.
He picks up and moves to a point just to the north that presents a different view.
He is gone about five minutes and scurries back whispering to us to get over there.
With a stiff morning breeze in our face we can see the buck he has spotted bedded in a trail 350 yards below us.
We sat and watched the buck and tried to evaluate him.
Seconds before the shot.
(That little black dot on the trail is the buck)
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_1658.jpg[/IMG]
He looked to be a mature buck with a white face and antlers that spread about 18" wide.
A solid mature blacktail and well above average for the area.
The buck was completley unaware of our presence, so we kept looking him over.
Finally he turned his head and revealed four points on his right antler.
That was good enough for the kid.
He gets a solid rest, centers the crosshairs and smoothly squeezes the trigger.
BOOM!....WOP!
Game over.
The lil 7mm-08 barks and scores another one shot kill.
That little rifle just keeps impressing me!
The Kid's second four point blacktail this season!
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_1668.jpg[/IMG]
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_4305.jpg[/IMG]
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4986/63183492.jpg[/img]
We field dressed the buck and packed him back to the pick up.
S-T-E-E-P!
A very exciting morning!
The day prior I filled my local tag sort of by mistake.
While on a morning hunt I was busted by a big bodied deer that trotted through the oaks.
I mistook him for a bigger buck that we had seen on earlier scouting trips.
I had a split second to decide.
Boom!
My kid's rifle dumps another one!
Turned out to be a short forked 3x3 and not the 4 point that I thought he was.
Oh Well...
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_1614.jpg[/IMG]
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/6518/img1645f.jpg[/img]
This buck was so dark, & big bodied and had a huge swelled neck, he really fooled me.
Sometimes it just happens.
Chapter one of this fall hunting season is in the books.
Sunset on my Northern California stomping grounds brings the end of another deer season for us.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_1587.jpg[/IMG]
We are now done locally as Thomas filled his two tags and is done with Blacktails for the year.
Later in the week we will go north to B Zone as I have a deer tag there along with a bear tag for Thomas.
He is looking forward to guiding his mom for a buck on that trip as well.
HH
After a long season near home we wrapped things up last week.
The full moon subsided and some welcome cooler weather finally arrived.
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3518/31722747.jpg[/IMG]
My best friend rolled into my place at dark:30 last Sunday.
We loaded up and went up to a friend's ranch across the lake from me.
The two best huntin buds I have...
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9414/img1663y.jpg[/img]
After getting through several cattle gates we ground our way up a dirt road to reach some higher ground.
About half way up we stop to glass some country as the sun crested over the the oaks.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3826/90954291.jpg[/img]
I spotted a single buck on a ridge 500 yards in the distance.
We paused, broke out the spotting scope and looked him over.
A tall rack and nice forks, but not quite what we were looking for.
We continue up the road and reach the base of a steep mountain.
We decide to scale the ridge to gain good glassing elevation.
Upon reaching the top,we set up & glass.
We look hard for about fifteen minutes and Thomas get a bit restless.
He picks up and moves to a point just to the north that presents a different view.
He is gone about five minutes and scurries back whispering to us to get over there.
With a stiff morning breeze in our face we can see the buck he has spotted bedded in a trail 350 yards below us.
We sat and watched the buck and tried to evaluate him.
Seconds before the shot.
(That little black dot on the trail is the buck)
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_1658.jpg[/IMG]
He looked to be a mature buck with a white face and antlers that spread about 18" wide.
A solid mature blacktail and well above average for the area.
The buck was completley unaware of our presence, so we kept looking him over.
Finally he turned his head and revealed four points on his right antler.
That was good enough for the kid.
He gets a solid rest, centers the crosshairs and smoothly squeezes the trigger.
BOOM!....WOP!
Game over.
The lil 7mm-08 barks and scores another one shot kill.
That little rifle just keeps impressing me!
The Kid's second four point blacktail this season!
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_1668.jpg[/IMG]
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_4305.jpg[/IMG]
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4986/63183492.jpg[/img]
We field dressed the buck and packed him back to the pick up.
S-T-E-E-P!
A very exciting morning!
The day prior I filled my local tag sort of by mistake.
While on a morning hunt I was busted by a big bodied deer that trotted through the oaks.
I mistook him for a bigger buck that we had seen on earlier scouting trips.
I had a split second to decide.
Boom!
My kid's rifle dumps another one!
Turned out to be a short forked 3x3 and not the 4 point that I thought he was.
Oh Well...
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_1614.jpg[/IMG]
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/6518/img1645f.jpg[/img]
This buck was so dark, & big bodied and had a huge swelled neck, he really fooled me.
Sometimes it just happens.
Chapter one of this fall hunting season is in the books.
Sunset on my Northern California stomping grounds brings the end of another deer season for us.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/HunterHarry/IMG_1587.jpg[/IMG]
We are now done locally as Thomas filled his two tags and is done with Blacktails for the year.
Later in the week we will go north to B Zone as I have a deer tag there along with a bear tag for Thomas.
He is looking forward to guiding his mom for a buck on that trip as well.
HH
