LAST EDITED ON Dec-14-19 AT 07:12PM (MST)[p]
Thanks Bluehair!
And now you know why we named him the "cat in the hat "buck! LOL
He was a HOSS of a buck. Huge body. Lucky we were able to drive close to where he fell.
I also like his antlers even though they are unconventional. I call them unsymmetrically symmetrical!
As far as the story, I arrived in Colorado in Dec 4th and started hunting that afternoon. Hunted pretty hard until the morning of the 8th when I got a text from my buddy, who only had an antelope tag. "Found you a good buck" He was hunting a completely different area for antelope, but was glassing the sides of a mesa too.
Hiked back to my truck and drove about 7 miles to where he was. He had located him with his binocs from about a 1/2 mile away. But the height of his antlers told me all I needed to know, I wanted him! He was on the side of a small mesa and due to lack of cover and the wind, the only approach to him was by hiking about a 1/2 mile and climbing up the mesa on the opposite side, walking across and then relocating him from above. 99% of the time for me, that would not have worked out in the end, but this was the 1% where everything clicked. When I found him from above I had to wait him out as he was behind a tree, until he got up to stretch and rake a tree. Then one shot from my favorite rifle (Model 70 Winchester 270) and some federal premium 130gr all copper ammo put him down.
As a side note, I told myself all during the hour long stalk: "Aim low". I have seen guys overshoot an animal because of the severe down angle. As a result, from 130 yards, I put the crosshairs at the bottom of his foreleg and the shot was perfect!
One last sidenote. I have heard hunting stories many times where someone shoots and the animal goes down like a ton of bricks and when the hunters go to recover him, he gets up and runs off. That was NOT going to happen to me. When I shot, he stumbled and fell behind a tree and I couldn't see him, so I waited 15 minutes with my rifle at the ready before I began the climb down the mesa. As it turned out, he was dead when he hit the ground, but I would do the same thing again!
So a true "spot and stalk" western style hunt that worked out. The first one of that kind for me! It was also my first every rut hunt. We had seen 4 other deer bedded with him, but when I shot, 8 does got up. He had himself a harem!
Very satisfying hunt!
txhunter58
venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
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