Guy M
Well-Known Member
Okay - it wasn't long range - only about 230 yards - but the buck is pretty nice and was very big bodied. I was hunting alone in the Cascades, walked in nice and quiet for two hours, then sat down and glassed. Found two bucks feeding quietly and watched the biggest for a shot opportunity. He was well below me, feeding uphill and facing away, only his back was avail for a shot. He was gradually approaching the top of his ridge, and I was afraid he'd get away - so I hammered him in the spine, dropping him.
He fell and rolled down the mountain into a nasty, deep, choked ravine. Ugh. I put a finishing shot into his chest from closer range. After a couple of hours of hard work I got him down to an abandoned logging road. My strong 22 year old son and a good tough friend arrive and helped me skin and quarter him then we packed him out. I shot him at 10:30 in the morning, and we were back at the truck at 8:00 PM. We estimated his weight at 250 pounds live. The 4x4 antlers measure a bit over 26" in width. I'm quite happy with such a buck, during general season, on public land. Delighted perhaps! I'd put in quite a bit of time scouting prior to the season and knew there were good size deer in the area, but I hadn't seen this one.
Used my .25-06, with 115 grain Bergers loaded to 3200 fps. There's a 6x Leupold on the rifle that works fine for my "normal" deer, coyote and rockchuck shooting. The Berger bullets performed as advertised. Massive internal damage in the chest cavity. I recovered a tiny bit of bullet jacket, the base of the bullet. Haven't weighed it, but I'd guess less than 20 grains. The bullet that hit the spine wasn't recovered. There wasn't much spine left where it hit either.
This is the third mule deer buck in four years for this rifle. We're doing well together.
Regards, Guy
