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Super 91 + 496gn FirePlug + Praying Wife + the Kid = Biggest Bodied Buck I Have Ever Shot!!!
Names and location are withheld to protect the innocent?
It all started Thursday night, December 8. I was very excited to hunt the next day because my daughter would be with me for the afternoon hunt. I don?t know why I am even going out in the morning because I am not going to shoot anything without her with me? but it is a hunting day and I always go out in the morning and you never know... THE big one could walk by! So I continue to prepare; clothes, gun, food, drink, extra stuff that will be left in the truck but there incase it is needed. I settle all of my daughters clothing for the day, prepare her boots, gloves, and such, I don?t want her to get intolerably cold? the temps might make it up to the teens from single digits by the afternoon.
Morning comes much too early because of the late night preparing for the hunt? I get everything loaded and head out. I pre-loaded my Super 91 with a fouling shot, 50gn of 777 2f and a ballette? I stop off at my fouling area fire and head on to the property we will be hunting. I get settled into the ground blind I had set up Tuesday and reload the 91; it is about 20 minutes before shooting light.
I spend about 3 hours in the blind with nothing to see? I begin to wonder if the river (more like a big stream, now the Columbia is a river!) has frozen over; the deer hesitate to cross when the river is iced up. I decide to get out of the blind and walk some. I am about frozen myself.
While stalking I see a doe and two yearling, a coyote on the frozen river, and a button buck. I set up to bust the coyote and missed my opportunity; he winded me before he stepped into the clear and took off. The button buck was in a fight for his life and lost? after seeing the coyote I continued down the river bank and came across the button lying on top of the ice in the middle of the river. His back legs were in the water, there was blood all around him and what looked to be entrails. I didn?t bother sneaking up on him because I knew he was done, he tried getting up but could do nothing but look at me. I knew I couldn?t retrieve him but I wasn?t going to let him suffer either? I shot him through the boiler and his head went down about a minute later, I thought I missed a chip shot for a second there.
I get down to the waters edge and I see evidence of a fight for life going on, lot?s of coyote tracks? it looks like the button got caught on the ice and a coyote got a hold of him and started gutting him. I couldn?t reach him to confirm because the ice was cracking under my weight but the entrails poking out one side told the tale. I don?t think he was gut shot or hit by a car no blood was evident any where but where he ended up and about 10 yards from him? between him and a tore up area on top of the ice where I surmise he met up with the coyote.
Well, while I was stalking I decide to move my blind south of the river because the deer just won?t cross the ice unless forced to. I found a spot that will suit our needs and proceed with tearing down and setting up the blind? I cut some shooting lanes back into the field we are sitting over and head back into town to get my daughter.
We get out to the blind at about 2:30 pm, we get all settled in to wait. Nothing wonders by, I begin to second guess my choice of set up. No problem! I can?t move the brickhouse blind easily but I do have my really portable fence type blind. We decide to move from the west end of the field to the east end about 800 yards or so away. We don?t spook anything moving over that we can see? we set up on top of the river side of the river bank looking down into the field bottom. We get the little wall blind set up in the snow (oh yeah, drifting snow made for an interesting time getting her over here, I broke trail for her). Then we sit and wait? at 4 pm deer start pouring out of the woods into the east edge of the field. First two are bucks, a good shooter and a 6 point? then it was an avalanche of deer. I couldn?t get a bead on the big buck because he stayed in the standing corn near the field edge? I decided to wait because they typically move west into the field towards dark. From 4 to 4:15 pm it was a deer convention! They were all over the place in the field, my daughter never had so much fun identifying deer? that?s a buck, there?s another doe, that one there looks like a yearling. What a blast!!
I still couldn?t get a bead on the big guy, but at 4:15 pm a huge bodied buck walks into the corn stalks? my daughter noticed him first, I was looking for the other one. When I got my binoculars on him I saw that he was looking directly at us? I caution her to not move. This is the first deer to look our way for any length of time. I dare not move to get my White up for fear that he will spook? so we wait? and wait? and wait!! He finally looks away and I get my 91 shouldered and he is too deep into the stalks to get a clear shot? FRUSTRATION!!! The Kid asks why I didn?t shoot the buck, so I explain why it is important to the animal and to the hunter to place a good shot.
It is now getting late, in IL you cannot shoot past dusk? 4:26 or 27 pm is sunset and it is not legal to shoot past that time. I leave the shallow protection of the blind to try to look down the row of stalks he went down. I can?t find him anywhere and more deer join the ones already in the field. Some does and yearlings start heading west, a steady stream of deer walking out in the middle of the field. There is still no sign of either shooter buck. A state plow truck rumbles by at that time, boom, bang, rattle, scrape? first one doe, than another and another spook!! Aahhhh!! NO! They all spook? Deer butt showing white all over? the good thing is they are headed west and not back into the woods east.
This being a field bottom the deer historical will check up or even stop running when they transition from the field bottom to a ridge that runs north to south in the field. I set up pointing in that general direction and begin looking for the big boys? there he is!! I don?t see the other on yet? I stay on the one I have spotted? waiting for the inevitable check in stride when he hits the ridge. I have my daughter looking as well. I am not sure if she is on him, but I can?t wait for her to be if I get a shot. I see the deer are checking up at the ridge and the he does? he doesn?t just check up, he stops! Broadside!! I settle the Sightron crosshair just above his back, I know the ridge is just about 190 yds from me the drop is about just over 12? at 180 for the 91 w/the FirePlugs and will be more at 190, so I make sure there is some daylight between the crosshair and the back line. BAAWHOOOM!!!
Smoke billows forth like the breath of death? and then is promptly scattered by the wind. I asked my daughter if she sees him, she asks me if she can move now? poor kid has been holding still the whole time!! I see him running with tail down? he?s hit!! She?s asks if she can stand to see better. I tell her where he is at and relay to her that I think I hit him farther back than I wanted to? I feared a gut shot. He stops about 50 to 75 yards from where I fired at him? I tell her to watch him as I reload. It is then I see the other big boy standing and watching us, the one I shot is definitely a bigger bodied deer? good, shot the right one for a change! As I am reloading I see him hunch his back up, higher and higher? he then drops to his front knees, back legs give out, and over he goes. My daughter confidently tells me he is down daddy! Can we go look at him now!
To end a very long story, we went to look at and pay our respects to that magnificent buck, who gave his life for an experience that neither my daughter nor I will ever forget. We back tracked where the buck came from but could not find where he was actually standing when I shot him because of the fading light. We took our time getting to the buck? packed up the portable blind and stuff. I made sure there was a good 15 minutes or so before we got to him after he went down. The closest I can figure is that the shot was 180-200 yds, 180 being conservative.
As part of the hunt she helped me dress out the deer at home in the garage, it was a very educational biology lesson. There was no hesitation on her part whatsoever. The post mortem on the buck showed that the shot was farther back then I wanted, but both lungs were hit (barely) and the liver was destroyed. The FirePlug was a complete pass through. No gut shot! Well, something got nicked either by knife or bullet? but not much. When I took him to the processor they weighed him? he weighed right at 230 lbs (field dressed)!! He was a beast to get loaded onto the hitch haul with only an 11 yr old for help!
The upshot is she loved being out there and now wants to get her own gun to hunt with. So we are looking forward to the youth hunt in IL this next season!
Thanks for reading this long report? I know I enjoyed writing about our day!
I almost forgot about my praying wife... at 4 pm she prayed that a big bodied buck would step out at 4:15 pm. As much as I can tell he stepped out at 4:15 pm and was on the ground by 4:27 pm!!
My hunting partner... me... and the buck...
Same... but with the Super 91...
Me and him...
By the way... I am getting her a White G Series Whitetail Hunter kit from Doc... or at least I hope to :wink:
Names and location are withheld to protect the innocent?
It all started Thursday night, December 8. I was very excited to hunt the next day because my daughter would be with me for the afternoon hunt. I don?t know why I am even going out in the morning because I am not going to shoot anything without her with me? but it is a hunting day and I always go out in the morning and you never know... THE big one could walk by! So I continue to prepare; clothes, gun, food, drink, extra stuff that will be left in the truck but there incase it is needed. I settle all of my daughters clothing for the day, prepare her boots, gloves, and such, I don?t want her to get intolerably cold? the temps might make it up to the teens from single digits by the afternoon.
Morning comes much too early because of the late night preparing for the hunt? I get everything loaded and head out. I pre-loaded my Super 91 with a fouling shot, 50gn of 777 2f and a ballette? I stop off at my fouling area fire and head on to the property we will be hunting. I get settled into the ground blind I had set up Tuesday and reload the 91; it is about 20 minutes before shooting light.
I spend about 3 hours in the blind with nothing to see? I begin to wonder if the river (more like a big stream, now the Columbia is a river!) has frozen over; the deer hesitate to cross when the river is iced up. I decide to get out of the blind and walk some. I am about frozen myself.
While stalking I see a doe and two yearling, a coyote on the frozen river, and a button buck. I set up to bust the coyote and missed my opportunity; he winded me before he stepped into the clear and took off. The button buck was in a fight for his life and lost? after seeing the coyote I continued down the river bank and came across the button lying on top of the ice in the middle of the river. His back legs were in the water, there was blood all around him and what looked to be entrails. I didn?t bother sneaking up on him because I knew he was done, he tried getting up but could do nothing but look at me. I knew I couldn?t retrieve him but I wasn?t going to let him suffer either? I shot him through the boiler and his head went down about a minute later, I thought I missed a chip shot for a second there.
I get down to the waters edge and I see evidence of a fight for life going on, lot?s of coyote tracks? it looks like the button got caught on the ice and a coyote got a hold of him and started gutting him. I couldn?t reach him to confirm because the ice was cracking under my weight but the entrails poking out one side told the tale. I don?t think he was gut shot or hit by a car no blood was evident any where but where he ended up and about 10 yards from him? between him and a tore up area on top of the ice where I surmise he met up with the coyote.
Well, while I was stalking I decide to move my blind south of the river because the deer just won?t cross the ice unless forced to. I found a spot that will suit our needs and proceed with tearing down and setting up the blind? I cut some shooting lanes back into the field we are sitting over and head back into town to get my daughter.
We get out to the blind at about 2:30 pm, we get all settled in to wait. Nothing wonders by, I begin to second guess my choice of set up. No problem! I can?t move the brickhouse blind easily but I do have my really portable fence type blind. We decide to move from the west end of the field to the east end about 800 yards or so away. We don?t spook anything moving over that we can see? we set up on top of the river side of the river bank looking down into the field bottom. We get the little wall blind set up in the snow (oh yeah, drifting snow made for an interesting time getting her over here, I broke trail for her). Then we sit and wait? at 4 pm deer start pouring out of the woods into the east edge of the field. First two are bucks, a good shooter and a 6 point? then it was an avalanche of deer. I couldn?t get a bead on the big buck because he stayed in the standing corn near the field edge? I decided to wait because they typically move west into the field towards dark. From 4 to 4:15 pm it was a deer convention! They were all over the place in the field, my daughter never had so much fun identifying deer? that?s a buck, there?s another doe, that one there looks like a yearling. What a blast!!
I still couldn?t get a bead on the big guy, but at 4:15 pm a huge bodied buck walks into the corn stalks? my daughter noticed him first, I was looking for the other one. When I got my binoculars on him I saw that he was looking directly at us? I caution her to not move. This is the first deer to look our way for any length of time. I dare not move to get my White up for fear that he will spook? so we wait? and wait? and wait!! He finally looks away and I get my 91 shouldered and he is too deep into the stalks to get a clear shot? FRUSTRATION!!! The Kid asks why I didn?t shoot the buck, so I explain why it is important to the animal and to the hunter to place a good shot.
It is now getting late, in IL you cannot shoot past dusk? 4:26 or 27 pm is sunset and it is not legal to shoot past that time. I leave the shallow protection of the blind to try to look down the row of stalks he went down. I can?t find him anywhere and more deer join the ones already in the field. Some does and yearlings start heading west, a steady stream of deer walking out in the middle of the field. There is still no sign of either shooter buck. A state plow truck rumbles by at that time, boom, bang, rattle, scrape? first one doe, than another and another spook!! Aahhhh!! NO! They all spook? Deer butt showing white all over? the good thing is they are headed west and not back into the woods east.
This being a field bottom the deer historical will check up or even stop running when they transition from the field bottom to a ridge that runs north to south in the field. I set up pointing in that general direction and begin looking for the big boys? there he is!! I don?t see the other on yet? I stay on the one I have spotted? waiting for the inevitable check in stride when he hits the ridge. I have my daughter looking as well. I am not sure if she is on him, but I can?t wait for her to be if I get a shot. I see the deer are checking up at the ridge and the he does? he doesn?t just check up, he stops! Broadside!! I settle the Sightron crosshair just above his back, I know the ridge is just about 190 yds from me the drop is about just over 12? at 180 for the 91 w/the FirePlugs and will be more at 190, so I make sure there is some daylight between the crosshair and the back line. BAAWHOOOM!!!
Smoke billows forth like the breath of death? and then is promptly scattered by the wind. I asked my daughter if she sees him, she asks me if she can move now? poor kid has been holding still the whole time!! I see him running with tail down? he?s hit!! She?s asks if she can stand to see better. I tell her where he is at and relay to her that I think I hit him farther back than I wanted to? I feared a gut shot. He stops about 50 to 75 yards from where I fired at him? I tell her to watch him as I reload. It is then I see the other big boy standing and watching us, the one I shot is definitely a bigger bodied deer? good, shot the right one for a change! As I am reloading I see him hunch his back up, higher and higher? he then drops to his front knees, back legs give out, and over he goes. My daughter confidently tells me he is down daddy! Can we go look at him now!
To end a very long story, we went to look at and pay our respects to that magnificent buck, who gave his life for an experience that neither my daughter nor I will ever forget. We back tracked where the buck came from but could not find where he was actually standing when I shot him because of the fading light. We took our time getting to the buck? packed up the portable blind and stuff. I made sure there was a good 15 minutes or so before we got to him after he went down. The closest I can figure is that the shot was 180-200 yds, 180 being conservative.
As part of the hunt she helped me dress out the deer at home in the garage, it was a very educational biology lesson. There was no hesitation on her part whatsoever. The post mortem on the buck showed that the shot was farther back then I wanted, but both lungs were hit (barely) and the liver was destroyed. The FirePlug was a complete pass through. No gut shot! Well, something got nicked either by knife or bullet? but not much. When I took him to the processor they weighed him? he weighed right at 230 lbs (field dressed)!! He was a beast to get loaded onto the hitch haul with only an 11 yr old for help!
The upshot is she loved being out there and now wants to get her own gun to hunt with. So we are looking forward to the youth hunt in IL this next season!
Thanks for reading this long report? I know I enjoyed writing about our day!
I almost forgot about my praying wife... at 4 pm she prayed that a big bodied buck would step out at 4:15 pm. As much as I can tell he stepped out at 4:15 pm and was on the ground by 4:27 pm!!
My hunting partner... me... and the buck...
Same... but with the Super 91...
Me and him...
By the way... I am getting her a White G Series Whitetail Hunter kit from Doc... or at least I hope to :wink:
