This morning was a tough go for me. I awoke after a very short sleepless night. A Friday night road trip for high school football playoffs to watch my alma mater in the quarter finals resulted in a long drive to and from the game with a short sleepless night. I might have gotten an hour of sleep. Maybe.
The alarm went off rather rudely, awakening me from a fitful sleep at 3:15 AM. I quickly showered and gathered my things that I I had not already loaded and tossed them into my truck. I was on the road by about 3:50am. I was on track to meet my son at the boat ramp at 5:30am. We both arrived within minutes of each other ahead of schedule.
A short cold boat ride in the foggy predawn darkness soon had us at our destination. We gathered our gear and headed to our respective spots. After dropping my pack off my shoulders, I put on some more layers. The morning low would be a rather nippy 34 degrees F and I wanted to be comfortable. I was settled into my spot at 6:10am. Legal shooting light was 6:36am this morning.
I was concerned I would have a bit of trouble staying alert with my lack of sleep. However, as the morning began to unfold, I realized I wouldn't have to deal with fatigue.
At 6:53am I saw movement. Sure enough, it was a deer. At first I thought I was seeing a younger smaller antlered buck. Then it turned and headed east. As it did, I got a better view of the antlers. Better than I initially thought.
Quickly positioning the Remington XP-100 30 Nosler, I waiting for a shot opportunity. Within seconds, the buck stepped into a very narrow opening. I had just enough room to slip a bullet between some trees. As the buck stepped into a narrow v-shaped opening between two trees, I laid the hammer down. Well, not quite literally, but figuratively. I did squeeze the trigger. The shot was about 50-60 yards away.
At the shot the buck hunched up and ran eastward. I quickly lost sight of him through the thick brush. I hoped my shot was good. I listened for the sound of the buck crashing but heard nothing. I hoped that the ground being damp and still wet from previous rainfalls and the heavy overnight dew had dampened the sound of him fallling.
20 minutes later, I decided I needed to go look for the buck. Arriving at the spot where the buck was at the shot, I began searching the ground for signs of blood. As I started in the direction the buck ran I looked up to see the buck laying on the ground. I was ecstatic!
The 30 Nosler did its job, pushing a Berger 210 VLDH bullet out the muzzle at 2825 FPS or so. Bullet impact was a bit farther back than I would like, catching the liver and the lungs, exiting farther forward than the entrance as the deer was quartering away at the shot. The exit was a dime to nickel size exit. The insides, including the liver and lungs, were a total blooding soupy mess.
I was thrilled to finally put a deer down with this 30 Nosler. I've had it in my stable for a bit. It was time to blood it. Passed time. The 30 Nosler has been very accurate in my two XP-100's with stellar groupings from the Berger 210 VLDH bullet. Now, one of them has put dinner on the table. Memories I'll cherish for a lifetime.
Photos show the log I've now sat on to kill 6 deer the last two years, the tail end of the boat to get to our spot, and of course the buck itself.
I'm blessed more than I deserve to be able to share my hunting time with my son and enjoy the outdoors.
(Two 30 Nosler's, One 7mm RSAUM, one 6x47 Lapua, one 7mm-08 Rem).
