156\" buck @ 609 yards.
Last friday I drove to the southern part of Wisconsin for some ongoing CWD hunting. My father passed in October, and his land is for sale, so I thought I would get one last hunt in on my childhood homeland. The area is rolling hills consisting of ag fields, with surrounding bluffs which are wooded. I walked to the back of the property, and was a little disapointed to see the snowmobilers out. I sat down in the spot where I have a good view of the opposing hillside, and readied my equipment. I made note of the wind direction and speed and started to set-up posible shooting senarios in my mind. This helps pass time and makes me more preparred for shots when they arise. I glassed the area, concentrating on the woods and crp fields that lay across the valley. The snowmobile trail runs in the bottom of the valley and 2 snowmobiles went by. I looked over to the opposing hillside, into an area of crp that is surounded on 3 sides by thick red cedar growth. I had seen bucks use this area in past years, and today was no exception.
I noticed a deer that was not their a minute ago. One look with glass confirmed I had a shooter buck. I grabbed the Leica 800's and took a reading of 609 as the buck faced straight away. Another reading was 613, which I think was the cedar thicket he was faceing. The third read was 609, and at that I moved to the chart on my gunstock. I needed 2.5 mils of elavation over my 300 yard zero on the Weaver Tactical scope. With the quartering wind, which was to my estimation near 18 to 20 mph, I would correct with 1.2 mils of hold into it. I got behind the 260AI and figured my best and only shot at this deer was straight up the rear. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif I figured being 4 yards from the cover and pointing in that direction the chance that he would turn broadside was very small. With the harris bipod firmly planted I sent a 140 grain Hornady A-max on It's way. When the rifle settled back down, I seen the bucks rear end drop to the ground with his front end following. He rolled about 2 times and disaperred from view in the long grass. From the time I seen the deer to fireing the round was less than 30 seconds.
I waited there behind the gun for about 5 minutes, looking for any movement. I was confident that he was down for good and started my march.
When I aproached the deer I relized how important the timing of my hunt was. I had not been their more than 5 minutes when the snowmobiles went by. this buck was bedded down 10 yards from the cedar trees. If not from the snowmachines, then by his own acord he decided to rise and seek the nearby cover. I was lucky enough to have spotted him before he meandered into obscuritty. The bullet performance was spectacular. His pelvis was broke into 3 large pieces, the bullet passed through his gut and stopped in his chest cavity. Not thinking I unknowingly disgarded it when field dressing.
The buck was a dandy, he carried a 10 pt main frame, which grossed 156" He also carried an additional 4 abnormal tines which totaled about 8". His inside spread was only 17.5", but his mass and tine length were exceptional.
As I walked back to my Dad's house, I couldn't help but think that my father was with me this day.
Last friday I drove to the southern part of Wisconsin for some ongoing CWD hunting. My father passed in October, and his land is for sale, so I thought I would get one last hunt in on my childhood homeland. The area is rolling hills consisting of ag fields, with surrounding bluffs which are wooded. I walked to the back of the property, and was a little disapointed to see the snowmobilers out. I sat down in the spot where I have a good view of the opposing hillside, and readied my equipment. I made note of the wind direction and speed and started to set-up posible shooting senarios in my mind. This helps pass time and makes me more preparred for shots when they arise. I glassed the area, concentrating on the woods and crp fields that lay across the valley. The snowmobile trail runs in the bottom of the valley and 2 snowmobiles went by. I looked over to the opposing hillside, into an area of crp that is surounded on 3 sides by thick red cedar growth. I had seen bucks use this area in past years, and today was no exception.
I noticed a deer that was not their a minute ago. One look with glass confirmed I had a shooter buck. I grabbed the Leica 800's and took a reading of 609 as the buck faced straight away. Another reading was 613, which I think was the cedar thicket he was faceing. The third read was 609, and at that I moved to the chart on my gunstock. I needed 2.5 mils of elavation over my 300 yard zero on the Weaver Tactical scope. With the quartering wind, which was to my estimation near 18 to 20 mph, I would correct with 1.2 mils of hold into it. I got behind the 260AI and figured my best and only shot at this deer was straight up the rear. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif I figured being 4 yards from the cover and pointing in that direction the chance that he would turn broadside was very small. With the harris bipod firmly planted I sent a 140 grain Hornady A-max on It's way. When the rifle settled back down, I seen the bucks rear end drop to the ground with his front end following. He rolled about 2 times and disaperred from view in the long grass. From the time I seen the deer to fireing the round was less than 30 seconds.
I waited there behind the gun for about 5 minutes, looking for any movement. I was confident that he was down for good and started my march.
When I aproached the deer I relized how important the timing of my hunt was. I had not been their more than 5 minutes when the snowmobiles went by. this buck was bedded down 10 yards from the cedar trees. If not from the snowmachines, then by his own acord he decided to rise and seek the nearby cover. I was lucky enough to have spotted him before he meandered into obscuritty. The bullet performance was spectacular. His pelvis was broke into 3 large pieces, the bullet passed through his gut and stopped in his chest cavity. Not thinking I unknowingly disgarded it when field dressing.
The buck was a dandy, he carried a 10 pt main frame, which grossed 156" He also carried an additional 4 abnormal tines which totaled about 8". His inside spread was only 17.5", but his mass and tine length were exceptional.
As I walked back to my Dad's house, I couldn't help but think that my father was with me this day.
