Took a road trip out from Spokane to meet my buddies Jim, Shawn, and Steve in Nebraska for a rifle rut whitetail hunt. No bait, no high fences, just hard hunting in the right place at the right time.
So here's the story.
The first day started with heavy snow and a full day in a ground blind. I saw a big buck about 375 yards across a canyon just as he slipped away into the brush. Just got a glimpse but I'm sure he was a good one. Saw a couple other bucks but nothing I wanted to shoot. The wind came up around noon blowing the snow horizontal and visibility dropped and the deer movement ceased. That night back at the farm house the news said wind chill advisory for the next morn.
Day two and it was very windy with wind chill of -20. Deer hardly moved that day. Sat the same blind in the morning and a different ground blind in the afternoon. I about froze
Day three I chose to spend the first half of the day hunting from the warm truck cab. Saw a nice 140 class 8 point but passed him hoping to get something bigger than I have ever shot. My biggest was a mid 150s buck. That eve I sat in a ground blind and passed another nice heavy 8 point.
Day 4 the weather got nicer and temps soared into the teens. Almost fealt like summer.lol that morning I sat a ground blind where three canyons came together and passed a nice 8 point. Since the weather had gotten warm I sat a ladder stand that afternoon. The ladder was about 100 yards from the edge of a wood lot with crop fields around it. About 2:30 or so I saw a big buck about 350 yards down to my right. He came out behind a doe but only for a second. I knew he was bigger than anything I have shot so I was excited. I only saw a big bodied buck with a lot of mass but didn't realize how big he was. An hour passed and I finally saw some movement along the edge of the trees. A couple does we're moving along acting like a buck was bugging them. I started picking apart the brush abd spotted deer legs moving back in the thick brush. I got my rifle up and tracked the buck thru the brush. I would see a leg, then maybe a shoulder, then a bit of an antler... Finally he came to a small gap and I could see part of an antler, his entire head neck and torso. I put the crosshairs behind his front shoulder and the shot was good. He stumbled and fell over. He was right at 200 yards. I climbed down and found him piled up dead. My eyes bugged out, my jaw dropped, and if it wasn't so cold I'm sure I would have messed my pants
He has 16 score able points and gross scored 191 2/8. He is way bigger than I ever expected or dreamed of.
If someone will post the pics I will email them to you.
Mike
So here's the story.
The first day started with heavy snow and a full day in a ground blind. I saw a big buck about 375 yards across a canyon just as he slipped away into the brush. Just got a glimpse but I'm sure he was a good one. Saw a couple other bucks but nothing I wanted to shoot. The wind came up around noon blowing the snow horizontal and visibility dropped and the deer movement ceased. That night back at the farm house the news said wind chill advisory for the next morn.
Day two and it was very windy with wind chill of -20. Deer hardly moved that day. Sat the same blind in the morning and a different ground blind in the afternoon. I about froze
Day three I chose to spend the first half of the day hunting from the warm truck cab. Saw a nice 140 class 8 point but passed him hoping to get something bigger than I have ever shot. My biggest was a mid 150s buck. That eve I sat in a ground blind and passed another nice heavy 8 point.
Day 4 the weather got nicer and temps soared into the teens. Almost fealt like summer.lol that morning I sat a ground blind where three canyons came together and passed a nice 8 point. Since the weather had gotten warm I sat a ladder stand that afternoon. The ladder was about 100 yards from the edge of a wood lot with crop fields around it. About 2:30 or so I saw a big buck about 350 yards down to my right. He came out behind a doe but only for a second. I knew he was bigger than anything I have shot so I was excited. I only saw a big bodied buck with a lot of mass but didn't realize how big he was. An hour passed and I finally saw some movement along the edge of the trees. A couple does we're moving along acting like a buck was bugging them. I started picking apart the brush abd spotted deer legs moving back in the thick brush. I got my rifle up and tracked the buck thru the brush. I would see a leg, then maybe a shoulder, then a bit of an antler... Finally he came to a small gap and I could see part of an antler, his entire head neck and torso. I put the crosshairs behind his front shoulder and the shot was good. He stumbled and fell over. He was right at 200 yards. I climbed down and found him piled up dead. My eyes bugged out, my jaw dropped, and if it wasn't so cold I'm sure I would have messed my pants
He has 16 score able points and gross scored 191 2/8. He is way bigger than I ever expected or dreamed of.
If someone will post the pics I will email them to you.
Mike
