First, on Sat. the opener of our gun season, I was hunting with the family on the property that we also bow hunt. Since I have been doing some bowhunting already, I wanted everyone else to have pick of the stands, and I would take what was left over.
Well, I had an idea about sitting in this valley we never go in, and covering a hillside from across the vally. It didn't work out. No shooting lanes, and didn't see any good looking places to sit.
I left the ravine, and walked up to the top of the hill to sit by a small pond. I didn't like my chances not being in a stand, and it just didn't feel like a good spot, so I walked to a clump of trees in the middle of a crp field, and sat on a rock.
I was carrying my 15 inch 7mm 08, so I thought I could cover a good portion of the field if something came out. About and hour before dark, 2 bucks and a doe came out of the woods and started across the field.
I leaned back with my shooting stick locked between my knees, and using my Simmons scope on 6x squeezed the trigger. The buck humped his back, and I new he was hit.
The other deer ran off, but the buck turned around and started moving downhill toward the woods. I fired a couple more shots while he was on the move, and missed. Then he stopped, and I shot one more time, and he dropped in his tracks.
The first shot was just over 300 yrds, and turned out I didn't need to fire any shots after the first one. He was probly about to expire when I hit him with the last shot, but I didn't know at the time. The last shot was 220 yrds.
I was shooting 140 grn speer soft points over 45 gns of H 380. Don't know what the velocity was, but the hold over at 300 is 9 inches with that load. This was my first ever kill at over 100 yrds, as my previous hunting has been with slugs or a revolver or bow.
I like it.
The next day, my I took my 2 young cousins along for a stand. Isaac is 8, and Stina is 11.
We sat on a log in the woods, and I did not expect to see a deer. Isaac was whittling a stick, and Stina was munching M&Ms. I could smell Isaac's watermelon bubble yum he was chomping.
We were just there to enjoy the woods, besides I already had a deer. Isaac asked if he could try the grunt tube I had, and I said sure. Sure enough, a couple minutes later, I notice a nice big doe making it's way towards us.
I whispered to the kids to stay quiet, and plug their ears. The doe came by at 40yrds, and I hit her with a 240 grn xtp from my 5.5 inch Super Blackhawk 44mag. She went 20 yrds and piled up. They were sooo exited about getting a deer their first time out.
So I got a pretty nice buck, blooded both guns, and got to share a first time hunting experience with a couple of future hunters.
It was a good weekend.
MN
