singleshot Report post Posted December 30, 2011 Funny how it happens, the hunts I had been on earlier this year involved glassing up bucks at long distances, working into shooting range, waiting for a bedded buck to stand up, or frantically trying to re-locate a buck after the distance had been cut. This buck wasn't anything like that. My son Dane, had a couple days off from school and work and we were anxious to get out and try and kill a buck in the one day we had available. We left the truck at first light and I was a little intimidated by how thick the scrub oak and mountain mahogany was on the nearby ridges. Great deer country but a little difficult to glass. When in doubt climb high and glass, so we headed straight up to the lowest saddle on the ridgline about an hour and a half hard walk away. We stopped and set up to glass a couple of times, and picked up a few deer moving off of the cat claw covered south slopes onto the thicker shadier north sides. One was a small buck that covered a lot of country with his nose to the ground out on the prowl. Eventually we topped out through the saddle and found a place to set up and glass. The view was awesome, the country looked fantastic, but after several hours we only located 2 does. The hill we were glassing from was steep and the oak brush several feet tall and we were unable to see directly below us until we stood up to leave. I spotted a doe feeding about 120 yards away and told Dane "lets watch her for a couple of minutes to be sure she's alone" Dane took a couple of steps to the side and immediately hit the ground. He mouthed "buck" to me and shouldered his rifle but the brush was too high so he had to stand back up. I took a couple of steps to the side just as Dane shot and it looked to me that he had shot high. The second shot confirmed he was shooting high. The doe started moving off and the third shot was high again. Understandably the buck started getting pretty nervous and I told Dane to hold low. This one made him jump straight up. Dane started to panic as he put two more shells in the magazine and chambered one. The buck was on the way out but his fifth shot connected and down he went. We tend to plan for the long shot ( for most people ) 300 - 400 yards and his 300 short mag was sighted in for dead on at 300. The steep downhill angle, along with some buck fever and shooting off hand all were factors that came into play. Dane's 300 short mag is a Remington model 700 that wears a triple A fancy piece of walnut stocked by his grandpa. Case over all length is really important in this rifle. I load 68 grains of Reloader 19, CCi 250 primers, 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips at 2.83 inches C.O.L.. Groups average less than .750 at 100 yards. The same load at 2.72 C.O.L. group size increases by almost .075. Nice healthy 4x3 at 93 inches. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cohntr6 Report post Posted December 30, 2011 great story! Sounds a lot like my hunt with familiar country.LOL Congrats! Jeff Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
papa Report post Posted December 30, 2011 Real nice buck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loco4coues Report post Posted December 30, 2011 great buck! Thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Couzer Report post Posted December 30, 2011 Great buck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted December 30, 2011 Nice buck and great pictures. Congratulations! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff Welker Report post Posted December 30, 2011 Congratulation on your son's classic buck and that you were able to share that experience with him. You both definitely made the most of a short hunt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SO I HUNT Report post Posted December 30, 2011 Great buck and story to boot! Good job guys! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
308Nut Report post Posted December 30, 2011 Sweet buck. I know that background. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cramerhunts Report post Posted December 31, 2011 Congratulations on a very nice buck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buckmaster21 Report post Posted December 31, 2011 very nice buck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues 'n' Sheep Report post Posted December 31, 2011 Congrats on the success! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted January 1, 2012 Very nice buck, Congrats Dane. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soccerstar2013 Report post Posted January 2, 2012 What an awesome Buck! Congrats!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azcouesfanatic Report post Posted January 2, 2012 Great buck and great story. Brian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
