Shawn Carlock
Sponsor
Well it has been a pretty good year for Whitetails this year here in north Idaho. My hunting buddy Jr. and I headed out a little early from work on Friday as Saturday was the last day of general late buck season. While I was hoping to see a good whitetail buck for Jr. to shoot I was really intent on shooting some video footage on shooter / spotter communication for my how to LRH video. We drove to one of our deer & elk spots close to town 35-40 minutes and hiked from the truck about a mile or so when Jr. spotted a doe bedded down beside a tree across the canyon. Several seconds later Jr. spotted the back half of another deer above the doe. Through our binoculars neither one of us could see horns, but the body was stocky and had all of the signs of a mature buck. I broke out the Manfroto tripod, Leupold HD spotting scope and watched the deer until I saw a good flash of horn. Jr. started looking for a spot to get setup for a shot in case the deer was in fact a mature buck. I got a good look at the buck and gave it a mid 140's and 20" wide estimate, easily within shooting standards. Jr. was however having an impossible time getting anything that resembled a suitable shooting position. Several minutes later while Jr. kept eyes on the buck I moved further down the canyon in hopes of finding a good shooting location. I located a spot that was better but not great the distance was 556 yards. I set up the spotting scope camera and went eyes on while Jr. moved down to my location. Jr. was just getting setup beside me when the buck charges the doe and the two of them head up and to the right of their bedding area and out of our view. After a bunch of @#&@*@^
I moved again further down the canyon to locate a spot where we could get a shot. I locate a really good spot and setup. Jr. again relocates while I watch the buck. Our distance is now 618 yards 10 degrees downhill. Jr. gets settled in we confirm distance and dope and I tell him to send it. The 338 Edge booms from my left side and ½ a second later I watch the 300 gr SMK strike the buck about 4-5 inches up from the bottom of the chest right in the crease behind the front shoulder. It looks like a heart shot and I call it as such. The buck kicks and bolts up the hill about 50 feet then tumbles and staggers down into an old skid road piling up about 40 yards from the site of impact. We watch the buck for a minute and I congratulate Jr. on a fine shot. It has now been almost 40 minutes since Jr. spotted the doe and buck. By the time we get over to the buck it is almost an hour after dark and it is cold 13 degrees or so. We take some photos and a short video clip (after warming the camera up). The 300 SMK hit exactly where I had called it clipping the bottom of the heart. Penetration and exit wounds were substantial leaving no doubt of the great terminal performance. This was Jr's first long range buck and I was glad to witness it as well as get it on film. 
