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A miss and a hit............
I was lucky enough to win a balloted hunting block this year. ( makes a change from patrolling the forest and watching other hunters enjoying the resource.)
So, after getting up at 3.30am to run a charter on sat, I finally got home at 9.45pm sat night, cleaned up my fishing gear, filleted the fish and gathered my hunting gear for a 4am start on sunday.( Managed to get 3 hrs sleep)
Picked up Gb and Bloodhound and headed up to the forest. We had divided the block into 3 areas and after dropping the other 2 off it was full light before I donned my pack and headed out with the 7mm08.
Having damaged my right ankle during the previous week I was in some discomfort and pain so took my time heading to an area where I knew there was a good chance of scoring.
An hour later while stalking slowly through some tall pines I got the feeling I was being watched.......so I stopped and had a good look around. It took me a couple of minutes to spot a doe standing between 2 trees about 150-160m away. Unfortunately there was no handy tree to use as a rest so I waited patiently for about 2 minutes without moving waiting to see what she would do. She was standing facing me with her head held high and with her ears pricked up and obviously knew that something was up but as I was in a shadowy area I dont think she could make me out properly. I was confident of making a chest shot but knew that the 120gr sierra would probably pass straight through with the likelihood of considerable damage to the back legs. With that in mind I weighed up my chances and decided to take a head shot............so I slowly raised the Tikka and holding on the centre of her forehead, sent the shot away.
Immediately after the shot I saw her shake her head a couple of times and as I acquired her in the scope again I could see daylight through a nice neat hole in her left ear 1" to the right of her head.............. She flicked her ear a couple more times before hightailing it out of there.
I marked where she had been standing and walked over to find a few hairs on the ground and looking in the direction she had taken saw her standing on the top of a rise about 200m away, still flicking her ear. She then ran off.
Feeling disgusted with myself I walked a couple of hundred metres to the top of a ridge in thick pines and, as my ankle was giving me grief I decided to give it a rest. Picking a small pine tree I shed my pack, leaned the tikka up against the tree and sat down to have a drink and a muesli bar to reflect on my miss.
While munching away I could see down into a gully and while I figured that the shot would have spooked anything nearby, I kept scanning the area while I relaxed. My attention was caught by a flicker of white between 2 trees. At first I thought it was a bird but about 40 seconds later I saw the same 'flicker' and realised it was a deers tail with the rest of the animal obscured. I slowly reached over and picked up the rifle while keeping my eyes on the spot where I had seen the movement. 30 seconds later the deer walked out into a gap and I could see that it was a large doe followed by a yearling. She kept moving slowly from right to left ( at a right angle to my position) and I waited patiently for a shot to present itself. Every time she stopped most of her was obscured. Finally she stepped into a gap between 2 trees and put her head down to nibble/sniff something on the ground. I figured the distance was about 100m and because the 7mm08 was sighted in for 200 I knew I had to hold under the spot I chose to shoot. As I was shooting downhill I also knew the rifle would be shooting slightly higher so I aimed at the base of her head and sent the shot away.
She simply dropped on the spot like she was poleaxed, quivered for about 3 seconds and then went still.
Gathering up my gear I slowly made my way down to her....................
The entry point was midway between her ear and eye ( you can see the mark in the pic above)
I rolled her over and found this on the opposite side of her head...............
( the above pics were taken after I had field dressed her out btw)
I took this picture of where she dropped............ the bullet had completely emptied the brain cavity out through the exit hole and her skull was shattered.
Took this pic looking back up the hill from her position. The base of the tree I sitting against is marked by the red spot. ( Its the thin spindly one directly under the centre of the spot but with the crappy cellphone pic its hard to see) I ranged it at 94m.
She is now hanging in the chiller at Bloodhounds place and will be processed next sunday.
Talking of processing deer, Bloodhound managed to acquire a chiller a few months back and we have found that ageing the deer in the chiller for 7days with the skin on results in the most tender meat you could possibly imagine...........I am talking about being able to cut it with a fork.
I spent the rest of the day guiding GB through the block to try and put him onto a deer with no luck.
Bh managed to drop a doe about 30mins before dark so all three of us are looking towards some fine dining in the next few weeks.
So, after getting up at 3.30am to run a charter on sat, I finally got home at 9.45pm sat night, cleaned up my fishing gear, filleted the fish and gathered my hunting gear for a 4am start on sunday.( Managed to get 3 hrs sleep)
Picked up Gb and Bloodhound and headed up to the forest. We had divided the block into 3 areas and after dropping the other 2 off it was full light before I donned my pack and headed out with the 7mm08.
Having damaged my right ankle during the previous week I was in some discomfort and pain so took my time heading to an area where I knew there was a good chance of scoring.
An hour later while stalking slowly through some tall pines I got the feeling I was being watched.......so I stopped and had a good look around. It took me a couple of minutes to spot a doe standing between 2 trees about 150-160m away. Unfortunately there was no handy tree to use as a rest so I waited patiently for about 2 minutes without moving waiting to see what she would do. She was standing facing me with her head held high and with her ears pricked up and obviously knew that something was up but as I was in a shadowy area I dont think she could make me out properly. I was confident of making a chest shot but knew that the 120gr sierra would probably pass straight through with the likelihood of considerable damage to the back legs. With that in mind I weighed up my chances and decided to take a head shot............so I slowly raised the Tikka and holding on the centre of her forehead, sent the shot away.
Immediately after the shot I saw her shake her head a couple of times and as I acquired her in the scope again I could see daylight through a nice neat hole in her left ear 1" to the right of her head.............. She flicked her ear a couple more times before hightailing it out of there.
I marked where she had been standing and walked over to find a few hairs on the ground and looking in the direction she had taken saw her standing on the top of a rise about 200m away, still flicking her ear. She then ran off.
Feeling disgusted with myself I walked a couple of hundred metres to the top of a ridge in thick pines and, as my ankle was giving me grief I decided to give it a rest. Picking a small pine tree I shed my pack, leaned the tikka up against the tree and sat down to have a drink and a muesli bar to reflect on my miss.
While munching away I could see down into a gully and while I figured that the shot would have spooked anything nearby, I kept scanning the area while I relaxed. My attention was caught by a flicker of white between 2 trees. At first I thought it was a bird but about 40 seconds later I saw the same 'flicker' and realised it was a deers tail with the rest of the animal obscured. I slowly reached over and picked up the rifle while keeping my eyes on the spot where I had seen the movement. 30 seconds later the deer walked out into a gap and I could see that it was a large doe followed by a yearling. She kept moving slowly from right to left ( at a right angle to my position) and I waited patiently for a shot to present itself. Every time she stopped most of her was obscured. Finally she stepped into a gap between 2 trees and put her head down to nibble/sniff something on the ground. I figured the distance was about 100m and because the 7mm08 was sighted in for 200 I knew I had to hold under the spot I chose to shoot. As I was shooting downhill I also knew the rifle would be shooting slightly higher so I aimed at the base of her head and sent the shot away.
She simply dropped on the spot like she was poleaxed, quivered for about 3 seconds and then went still.
Gathering up my gear I slowly made my way down to her....................
The entry point was midway between her ear and eye ( you can see the mark in the pic above)
I rolled her over and found this on the opposite side of her head...............
( the above pics were taken after I had field dressed her out btw)
I took this picture of where she dropped............ the bullet had completely emptied the brain cavity out through the exit hole and her skull was shattered.
Took this pic looking back up the hill from her position. The base of the tree I sitting against is marked by the red spot. ( Its the thin spindly one directly under the centre of the spot but with the crappy cellphone pic its hard to see) I ranged it at 94m.
She is now hanging in the chiller at Bloodhounds place and will be processed next sunday.
Talking of processing deer, Bloodhound managed to acquire a chiller a few months back and we have found that ageing the deer in the chiller for 7days with the skin on results in the most tender meat you could possibly imagine...........I am talking about being able to cut it with a fork.
I spent the rest of the day guiding GB through the block to try and put him onto a deer with no luck.
Bh managed to drop a doe about 30mins before dark so all three of us are looking towards some fine dining in the next few weeks.
Still enjoying the trip of a lifetime and making the best of what I have.....
Replies
I wish I had a cooler to hang game in.
I was hoping to have the new Tx3 all set up for this hunt but as it only arrived last friday it will have to wait a few more weeks before I have it ready to blood.
Now that we have a chiller, it makes hunting even more satisfying because it gives you a chance to relax after a days hunting without having to deal with the results straight away.
Hope the ankle gets better. Being on a boat or in the field with a bum ankle is a downer.
― Douglas Adams
Zee, small refrigerated truck boxes are sometimes available at salvage yards, and something sized for a 1-ton truck can be cooled with a window air conditioner down to temps ideal for hanging meat.
Jerry
The biggest problem with using a window unit is keeping it from freezing up. A never ending supply of cold moist air, hard to keep it running.
Dad 5-31-13