shootinfool
Well-Known Member
Well my dad, brother, and I had a pretty good hunt out in the Vernon west desert unit in Utah. We hunted hard and had some great success. I wound up killing a 32 inch typical 4 point with 3 1/2 inch eye guards. It was not long range, only 330 yards, but I did intend for it to be. I set up on this deer at 1080 first thing in the morning when we located it (Tuesday) but before I could bet a shot the thick fog rolled in. We inched our way closer and closer over the next two hours until we were right underneath this monster muley. It was about 9:00am when we got to the closest point we felt comfortable getting without spooking this guy. At this point the temp dropped and my brother Jason and I started to freeze. It was still foggy with a visibility of only about 50-60 ft. We sat there freezing, waiting till the fog would clear. It started to sprinkle on us and then it started to snow on us and finally it started dropping hail on us. This lasted for about 45 minutes; all the while my brother and I were hiding out underneath two juniper trees and trying to stay warm. We laid there all the while hoping for any sign of the fog to lift. We had several rays of hope when the fog cleared just enough for us to locate the buck above us before the fog filled in even thicker than before. Although we never got a shot in these brief moments of hope, they did provide us the reassurance that our sacrifice was not yet in vein. Finally the fog started to lift just enough for us to get a shot off. It was only lifted for about a two minute window of time and we knew the window was closing fast. Previously I had guessed the deer to be about 450yds and had corrected the scope on my 7mm mag to zero on 450. We could not get a reading on where the deer was due to the thick dense fog and during the brief lightening of fog where we were assured that the big guy was still there, all we could make out was the big white muzzle and the thick white patch on his neck. When the fog cleared for the shot he was bedded and I knew that the shot would have to be good, after all a big deer doesn't get big by standing around and letting people shoot at it. I settled the crosshairs on its vitals and squeezed the trigger. BANG, Jason called a miss high! Immediately the buck jumped out of its bed and took three or four steps up the hill away from us. I jacked another shell in and found the deer in the scope again. It had stopped to look back. I suspect that the deer still could not see very well due to the fog, and he was higher up in it than we were. I took aim half way between its knee and the bottom of the chest and squeezed the trigger again. BANG......, HIT, Jason called a hit! The deer reared up and fell strait backwards down the steep hill. He kicked three or four times and then was done right where he fell. As we started to celebrate, the fog rolled back in and we could no longer see. I never saw the deer again till we got up the hill to him. As you can imagine I was super excited to see just how big this guy really was. It was an awesome hunt for me that lasted four days and ended with this incredible hunt with four of my brothers and my father there to share in the hunt.
My dads buck is a 28 inch double cheater buck that has tons of character! He shot it at 740 yards, up hill. My brother's buck is a 24 inch typical four point and he put the hurt on it at 610 yards with a .300 ultra mag. Dropped right in his tracks, not even one step.
Here are some pics from the hunt.
Hope you enjoy
Mike
My dads buck is a 28 inch double cheater buck that has tons of character! He shot it at 740 yards, up hill. My brother's buck is a 24 inch typical four point and he put the hurt on it at 610 yards with a .300 ultra mag. Dropped right in his tracks, not even one step.
Here are some pics from the hunt.
Hope you enjoy
Mike
