LAST EDITED ON Oct-30-02 AT 11:56PM (MST)[p]Well as some of you might remember, I was hunting the area by Fort Huachuca, just Southeast of it. In unit 35A, Thanks again to those of you that helped me along the way to success, you know who you are.
Six of us eagerly headed down with deer and mountain lion tags in our hands. We decided to try our luck at the cats too. During the first scouting only day of our hunt, we came across two hunters on horseback (and muleback) with hounds looking for lion as well. They looked like ranchers that were doing their part in reducing their cattle losses to lion. Guess it has gotten to be a problem around the area.
Well, Az. has a buck only hunt and we saw plenty of does. I spooked at least one weary doe everyday of the hunt with a reasonable shot at every one. Too bad they had no antlers. My Father, Father in Law, Brothers, and a friend didn't have as much luck in seeing deer as I did but they did spook a few, all does. Of course I glassed a lot more than they did, and had a lot of fun seeing the deer in their daily routines.
To much uneeded news from work, my Brother encountered problems and had to go back to his business. My Father noticed it was serious and decided to go with him. So they left two days into the hunt. It turned out to be okay for them both as it worked out but missed the hunt. It worked out marvelously for me since I was now able to hunt with my brothers Marlin .444P!
The following morning we headed out to an area that held more sign. We were spooking more deer than ever. Several hours later, while hunting alongside my youngest Brother, I heard a shot from his 1894 .44 mag. (we were all still hunting with levers) Then another shot followed. I hung quietly still, waiting for a buck to come crashing through the brush rushing down the ravine to my waiting bore. Nothing came. I later found my brother and he was shaking like a leaf! He said he missed a trophy animal and with the look of disgust on his face, I believe him! We looked for sign everywhere. We saw the tree at 75 yards that he hit with the first shot that was directly in front of the buck by his lower heart area. He had shot low. The second shot, he was certain, was a complete miss. We still hunted in the direction that the buck trotted toward. No sign and no buck as we hit a private property fence. Recollecting the situation, my Brother jokingly said the buck must have been the "chosen one" from The Matrix since he bent over backwards to miss the bullets! We were having fun.
We continued our initialy planned path around the area. We saw something gray to our right and saw six of the biggest darn Gould's turkey I have ever seen. I took out my turkey call and got their attention. They came to within 20 yards from where we were before they lost interest and headed their merry way. It was great.
We continued on our brushy path, as merrily as could be as well.
Later we jump a small buck at 44 yards! He looks at us, we look at him. I raise my rifle as I anticipate my Brother to shoot first. My .444P fires and the buck bolts to the direction away and to my right. All this happening in what appears to be slow motion as the gross feeling of missing a buck grows bigger in my stomach. Not a second later, I instinctively chamber another round, take quick aim, and fire again. Buck Down!
We walk to the buck and replay the actions that just took place. We review the scene to find that my first shot had actually hit him! Right behind the leading shoulder exiting in front of his opposing shoulder towards the chest. The area behind the buck looked like someone has spray painted red paint all over! The exit wound was the size of a quarter! Why didn't the buck go down immediately? I was very suprised to say the least. 240 grains should have done it, especially on this size deer. I figured out later I had hit no major bone with the first shot. My second shot hit the neck and snapped the spinal column. I was happy with my shooting now, knowing I hit him both times. My first shot aimed while the second I had shotgunned him.
The .444P pointed well to my satisfaction. It has no pad other than the factory installed and it felt as though I fired a BB gun! I later asked my Brother why he hadn't shot and he said he didn't have a clear view until after the deer bolted after my first shot. Then the ringing in his ears was so intense after my ported barrel rang, he didn't know what the heck was going on!
The hunting party spooked a few more bucks during the trip with no shots presenting themselves. No lion tags filled either, but if we had turkey or javalina tags, they would have been filled for sure. We later saw a band of 14 turkey and six pigs, good size.
I was the only one with a buck while we all had fun. Can't wait until my next hunt. Thanks to all of you, I knew what to expect. The lil' buck will be tender as all else!
I'm sorry to say my Father had taken his digital camera with him back home. I had planned to post a few pictures but none were taken. Next time I guess.
Good luck to the rest of you and be safe out there.
Anyone else hunting unit 35A? Saw two 90 to 100 class bucks!
Chef