S
Shadows
Guest
I took this buck last week in a general unit, it was a sweet ending to a saga that has lasted the past 4 years. I missed this buck, hitting a small sapling in front of him, 4 years ago. We have pics of him about every year. This year I finally made it happen. I had a solid 10 days in the field before finding him. Lots of young bucks but not what I was looking for. When I first spotted him he was about 200 yds away, I closed in to 80, but the wind wasnt right to get any closer. So I backed out and circled around him. When I found him again I was moving in when I saw him spook and move out of sight. I didnt think it was me, then I noticed about 15 head of elk moving down coming at me. I also had an elk tag and I am not one to pass up a good opportunity. I quickly switched gears, moved into position and got ready to make a move on one of those freezer fillers. After just a few minutes and about 100 yds of position change I had a good candidate step with in my effective range (which will remain anonymous) I dialed in and put my blackgold ascent behind her shoulder and let a FMJ tipped with a rage broad head go right through her. She ran about 40 yds before taking a digger. I stood still and remained quite knowing the buck I had been after was still in the area. I was glassing while I let her expire completely when I found him again. He had only gone about 150 yds and was once again feeding. I got down wind and slipped through the wet tall grass till I was again within striking distance. He was feeding away and quartering hard but the shot was one I was comfortable with. Again I got a solid reading on his range, adjusted my sight, drew made sure there were no sapling quakies to save him this time, and let him have it. Just like before He put his head down and made it about 80 yds before hitting the trees where I lost sight of him. I was confident in the shot so I decided to give him time while I went to recover the elk. My brother-in-law was with me and he ran on the the elk first and reassured me she was down. We decided to go get on blood from the buck and see what we had. Blood was scant at first with their being no exit hole. I followed the difficult blood trail in the wet grass for about 50 yes before my worries were settled by seeing those velvet antlers sticking out of the grass. We had a lot of work to do, thanks to my bros for helping me get all that meet out before 9 am the next morning. It was a hunt I wont soon forget.
Good luck everyone!
Good luck everyone!