Idaho adventure with Shawn comes to an end!!!

[Slopeshunter]

Interesting, I thought I saw a crack of a smile there too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Congrats on a very nice buck Kirby! That's some awesome country. Nice write up, once again!

 

[lovdasnow]

great story, thanks for taking the time for the detailed write up, love reading these stories!

congrats to you and shawn, sounds like you guys earned it, and the buck's not so bad either /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

can't wait to see some more pics

 

[Eaglet]

Kirby,
Great write up, great experience, just a beautiful buck!
My theory <font color="blue">on the buck flopping around like a fish is </font> your bullet just barely hit one side of the antler close to the head, at the base of the antler, and that big canon of yours had him acting up like that.
Growing up in Nicaragua I regularly would go deer hunting with an uncle (on my mother's side) at night, using spot light on one's head and many times my uncle would make head shots at 35 to 50 yards using iron sights. Well many times it happened that the deer would move the head at the shot and would get hit close to the base of an antler and the deer would just go down like a sack of potatoes, quickly get back up and take off running not leaving any signs of a hit.

 

[Mountainsheep]

Kirby,

You've done it again, what a great buck; mature animal, with heavy beams and long tines. The quality of your deer certainly gives credence to the quality of the hunter. As always your written account was most enjoyable reading.
Those swirling, canyon winds certainly create a formidable obstacle, heh? I know the pressure to make an accurate shot can play havoc with one's thoughts and confidence, but it's just another factor that separates hunting from target practice. At long range, the animal's sensory defenses are lessened, so Mother Nature seems to step in to even the odds. After putting three good shots into the buck, you're confidence should be fully restored and you can be proud of yourself for making that extra effort to insure a humane kill.
Congratulations on a great hunt,
Dave

 

[Jtomlinson]

Kirby

Thank you for such a comprehensive report, it must have taken as long to write up as the hunt itself took!

To end on a high after initial dissapointment is always satisfying and goes to show that you should never give up no matter how bad you think things are becmoming.

The first ever time I went pheasant shooting as a 15 year old I could barely hit the sky, lead was flying everywhere but at the pheasants, I could not fathom what I was doing wrong (I had shot plenty of clay birds without any great difficulty whatsoever), as is always the case, planty of people came forward with advice ranging from "you were a foot behind" you were to 50 feet behind!!, guess they were all trying to be helpful.

The thing I best remember from that day, almost 30 years ago now, was a dry comment from a fellow gun who simply muttered, " whats hit is history, what's missed is mysetery"!!! I think of that on the NUMEROUS occassion that a shot does not go where I wanted!!

Thanks for giving us a "warts and all account" and congrats on great Buck.

How did you find the Manners stock for the terrain shot over?


Jonathan Tomlinson
Yorks
England

 

[srhaggerty]

Kirby,

Amazing write up as always. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Obstacles are put in our way to be overcome. I am glad Shawn and Travis help you stick in there and overcome it all. What a fine buck too.

 

[lerch]

Congrats buddy, **** nice buck!!!!

Sounds like you had a hell of a time, sounds like a lot of fun. Looks like you had some good guys to help you there, Shawn sounds like a hell of a guy.

Good shootin and congrats on the massive buck
steve

 

[royinidaho]

Good hunt/write up/pics.

Your story got me thinkin'. I think I'm stuck in a rut. I've been the way I've been for a lot of years. I traipse over those kind of mountains an awful lot to get what few opportunities that I do.

I'm a bit out of the rut from hanging around here for a couple of years. Went up a notch when I got the AM. Now it must be time to go to the next level.

Orofino is only 516 miles from my place (8 hrs if clear roads). Allow 4 days for in the field and most probably come back with some meat and horns. Sounds win-win to me.

How can any one say that this board isn't an opportunity for growth, for even an old fart.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Fiftydriver]

Just to make sure this is clear, there was never a time I was ready to pack it in, there is really no "quite" in me as far as hunting. Physical stresses may slow me down but thats about it.

I was just dissapointed with my shooting performance. Shawn did his job perfectly to get me in front of several mature deer, two of which I muffed the shot on. Fortunately on the last and largest buck, I pulled my head out and did my job as well!!!

Eaglet,

That may have very well been what happened with the buck at 1200 yards. Hard to really say at that range. I have too seen this happen several times. Usually on does shot in the head with impacts less then through the brain box. THey hit the ground and come up flying!

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[Fiftydriver]

Mountainsheep,

It was certainly an education for me for sure!!!

Finally I pulled my head out of my rear and did my job with those three hits. Far more then needed but I was in the Make Sure mode by that time of the hunt! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[Fiftydriver]

600 Nitro,

The nice thing about hunting with Shawn and Travis is that they knew I could shoot but they also had been there done that with mysterious misses and never once did they show any frustration at the misses, ever!!

They were nothing but 100% supportive and upbeat. Never once did I get the impression they were getting tired of hunting with me and that made it much easier to keep rolling and looking foward to the next early morning or late evening.

Concerning the Manner stock, I really did like it on this hunt. Only thing I would change would be to drop the barrel weight I was using on this rifle by a lb or a bit more.

The barreled receiver sits slightly higher in this stock then in say a McMillan A-5 and the VERY heavy barrel I used made the rifle feel a bit more tippy then it should have and a lighter barrel would have suited this stock much better.

That said, when you get her settled into a rear bag and on a solid front bipod, she is **** stable. One critical thing though is having the rear bag as solid as possible. With the rifle being a bit muzzle heavy, if the rear bag is not completely solid you will see it down range. This may have been a factor on the misses on that buck at 750 yards because I had to stack some things up to get the rear back high enough to even touch the stock. Who knows but I think it may have been a factor with those misses. Not the rifles fault, jut another lesson learned about setting up for LR hunting shots!!

All in all I was very impressed with the stocks performance.

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[Fiftydriver]

Thanks for the replies guys and kind words. If you want to go on a great hunt get ahold of these guys, you will not be unhappy. We were hunting in some pretty bad condiditions. It was supposed to be in the middle of the rut but with the warm weather that was not happening in any way. We did not see one mature buck showing any real rut activity.

Still, I had four mature bucks in front of me in four days so if thats the bad I would really like to experience the good!!!

Get ahold of these guys, you will not be unhappy, they will do everything they can to get a big buck in the back of your truck, its just up to you to seal the deal!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[MT4XFore]

Kirby,
You sure do spin a great yarn young man! Congratulations on a fine animal and a great shot(s). I suspect you realize already that the real trophy on this hunt were the new friendships you developed with Shawn and Travis. They are, as the Mastercard commercial says, "Priceless"! You certainly are fortunate, but usually good fortune comes to those who work the hardest. Congratulations again, hope to see you soon.
God Bless
Jim

 

[Ernie]

Kirby,
Great story and a great buck. Swirling winds can be humbling and frustrating. Sounds like a great experience. Would have loved to been there with all of you.