Just shot a nice buck at 6:00 AM. Heading over to the kill now. One shot, down with 95 Grain Monolithic Munitions copper out of the trusty .260 Sako! Appears to be a heart shot...
In the field - Mature Buck Down!
- Thread starter NBK
- Start date
If you have it in possession, and L.P. has seen it, then why has there not been a pic put up? To make everyone wait all day is so lame. ???
Sorry for the delay. The coverage on the mountain was not good. The walk back from the kill site was brutal in the heat and the weight of the packs were heavier than I care for.
We start up the mountain about 5:15 AM. It was chilly but not cold. After about 20 minutes of ascending it started to get very warm. Way and I made it about 3/4 of the way up the hill and he spots a doe off to our right (its about 5:55 AM). Then the the buck shows up right behind her. This is the same buck Way had tried to get on yesterday but apparently the buck gave him the slip.
Now a lot of you will look at this animal and think - oh, it a just a fork with a broken horn. I looked at this old fellow as a battle scared mature buck with a body that we estimated to be between 170-180 lbs. Ya know kidding! He had amazing antler mass and definitely was a big guy a few years ago. So with that, we did not hesitate to take a shot.
The old buck was busy chasing the doe at about 260 yards. We were across the canyon from him and he was heading straight toward us but would not offer a broadside shot. I tried to get comfortable when setting up but could not lock in. At that point the buck was about 250 and preoccupied so Way laid down our packs and made a prone shooting platform that I melted right into. Once in position, I told Way "as soon as this buck turns broadside he's done". And at that point the shot presented itself. So I squeezed the trigger on my .260 and boom. Way is on the binos and tells me "you missed"! I am like huh? Are you sure? Then he says wait, wait, he is stumbling, he gone! There is blood every where - "its heart shot". So I went from total confusion to relief knowing all along that there is no way I could have missed that shot. The buck took about 10 steps pumping fluid out like an oil derrick.
We worked our way over to the crime scene and the blood is pink not red. Turns out it was a lung shot which made sense. When I walked up I could not believe my eyes. The body on this old boy was huge. Way laid next to it and the buck was way bigger than him (no pun intended). Sliced and diced, loaded packs and headed back down the mountain.
Life is good, easy hunt, tough pack out and some good memories. One tag down and one more to go!
We start up the mountain about 5:15 AM. It was chilly but not cold. After about 20 minutes of ascending it started to get very warm. Way and I made it about 3/4 of the way up the hill and he spots a doe off to our right (its about 5:55 AM). Then the the buck shows up right behind her. This is the same buck Way had tried to get on yesterday but apparently the buck gave him the slip.
Now a lot of you will look at this animal and think - oh, it a just a fork with a broken horn. I looked at this old fellow as a battle scared mature buck with a body that we estimated to be between 170-180 lbs. Ya know kidding! He had amazing antler mass and definitely was a big guy a few years ago. So with that, we did not hesitate to take a shot.
The old buck was busy chasing the doe at about 260 yards. We were across the canyon from him and he was heading straight toward us but would not offer a broadside shot. I tried to get comfortable when setting up but could not lock in. At that point the buck was about 250 and preoccupied so Way laid down our packs and made a prone shooting platform that I melted right into. Once in position, I told Way "as soon as this buck turns broadside he's done". And at that point the shot presented itself. So I squeezed the trigger on my .260 and boom. Way is on the binos and tells me "you missed"! I am like huh? Are you sure? Then he says wait, wait, he is stumbling, he gone! There is blood every where - "its heart shot". So I went from total confusion to relief knowing all along that there is no way I could have missed that shot. The buck took about 10 steps pumping fluid out like an oil derrick.
We worked our way over to the crime scene and the blood is pink not red. Turns out it was a lung shot which made sense. When I walked up I could not believe my eyes. The body on this old boy was huge. Way laid next to it and the buck was way bigger than him (no pun intended). Sliced and diced, loaded packs and headed back down the mountain.
Life is good, easy hunt, tough pack out and some good memories. One tag down and one more to go!
