In a world of super fast and ultra long distance we, me included, get carried away with Ballistic Coefficients in the 0.5 to 0.7 range. The fact is when hunting east of the Mississippi it is often not necessary to use high BC bullets (bean fields excluded) and certainly not in New England. Yes it is fun to write about!
For mid-range hunting say out to 150 yards that your bullet need not have a BC above 0.3 or so for mid range hunting say out to 150 yards. Here in New Hampshire most shots are in the 40 yard range. Many deer over the years have been dropped in their tracks with 240 grain flat nose bullets as well as round nose with sufficient mass and sectional density and modest muzzle speeds of say 2300 fps. The advantage of shooting a round, semi-spitzer or even flat nose bullets is that upon contact the bullet is already formed into a pseudo mushroom shape on contact. Thus this shape provides a audible whack sound and radial energy on contact with the hide of the animal.
Just imagine getting hit with a 100 mile per hour brick verses a pencil point. Put a sheet upon a clothes line and throw a dart at it. What did the sheet do? Not much but punctured. Now throw a fast brick at the sheet. What did the sheet do? It likely was torn off the clothes line. If that were a game hide, it would have created a large radial tissue crushing dent and shock wave at the skin level before it passed through game.
I believe that the brick (round/flat nose) will shut out the lights of a game animal “instantly” more times than the sharp pencil which deforms and will kill in seconds but not often as instantaneously as the brick. Shotgun slugs do that trick all the time as do most 50 cal in-line muzzle loaders. Dangerous game calibers like the 416 Rigby, 458 Win Mag and 500 Nitro Express shoot round bullets for a reason. To provide instant bone crushing energy at the getgo. Odds are very high that this drops them where they stand provided you hit the vitals and the animal provides a vital shot angle.
I was very happy that I used a semi-spitzer round point 50 cal muzzleloader in Texas with 150 grains Pyrodex. I did not want to walk 20 yards into cactus to recover my deer. In fact, the guides don’t want to follow a blood trail in Texas if they don’t have to. I mentioned my .375 Ruger I left home and got lots of approval to bring it next time. My friend Larry Weishuhn calls the .375 Ruger a one gun for the world as I do.
I shot a large 6 point buck way up in Errol, NH years back with a .338 Win Mag 250 grain round nose. That buck never took a single step, he just crumpled right there. My nephew was very impressed as he was beside me when I shot. The bullet entered the lungs and missed the heart but the heart was not edible as it was flat and totally bruised purple. Lights out!!
So don’t forget ( I remind myself too) that round, semi-spitzer and flat point along with mass and Sectional Density are great game stoppers.
For all the years I shot bow and arrow for hunting deer and 3D, I have never used a crossbow because I loved the basic bow so much and could shoot it well in long bow, recurve and compound. After I crossed the 60 mark, my shoulders and arms and eyes had minds of their own. The rifle has always been my favorite for longer distances thus after 60 it became my hunting tool of choice. I thought that perhaps I could be satisfied to give up the bow, arrow and my favorite Muzzy broadheads.
Along comes the crossbow which is half rifle and half bow for me to test like this one from PSE.
I chose the PSE Thrive because the PSE name and quality have been around for many years and I am familiar with PSE Compound bows. Second, I wanted a bow that had a CNC machined barrel which launches consistently tight groups yet does not rob my wallet (MSRP $499-$599) . Sorry, I am not spending over $1000 on a Crossbow at this time. I need to hunt and practice with an affordable crossbow.
Why the 400 series? Well, I think the Thrive 365 and 400 are just the ticket to reach out to the farthest 40 yards with plenty of speed for a slight miscalculation in arrow drop and energy for penetration on all North American game. That is provide the hunter can string load the 175lb bow correctly and safely.
The Thrive came in a double cardboard box to protect the contents. As all crossbows do, they come un-assembled. It is important to verify the contents of the box before getting started in the crossbow assembly which is very straightforward.
The assembly comes with Allen wrenches but was lucky enough to have my own set of fold out Allen wrenches making it easier to tighten screws. Basically you take the bow portion and intuitively place it on the square and round barrel assembly. It took some finagling to get the barrel inserted but once that was done you added the foot stirrup over the front of the bow and aligned it with the large bolt hole that holds the bow to the barrel. Now it is a crossbow! Time to assemble this far is in minutes. Next to assemble the quiver on the picatinny rail underside but had to move the fore-stock back a few notches so the quiver mount would sit flat. Next the scope came with scope rings attached. Nice! And easily.mounted on the pre-installed scope rail. I had to adjust the verticle of the crosshairs just slightly and tighten the scope rings.
The string rope that came with it, I discovered was too long and I could not load the bow as I pulled it toward my chest. Bobby Vargas at PSE sent me a YouTube to shorten the rope and then I could pull and load it. See below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unOIeBn0tgE
There is an automatic safety that when the bow is cocked, it engaged the safety. Like a rifle, you must push the safety off to FIRE.
I made my own target out of shrink wrap, cardboard and a large zippered vinyl cold food insulated bag . My first arrow bolt struck and the shrink wrap did the job of absorbing the impact with my “block” as a backstop.
I created this target so I can easily pull the arrow/bolts. It works! I have shot 1 bolt at 20 yards and 6 bolts at 30 yards with the crosshair markings and adjusted the scope easily up and left/right. And it didn’t even bother my neighbors. I can hit a baseball size target at 30 yards so far on day 1. I will test this crossbow and write several articles so you can read my evaluation.
Well that is it for the Out-of-the-Box! So far I give it a solid “A”
Next is to shoot it at longer distances with a rest such as a monopod, bipod, tripod and bench rest. Then to shoot broadheads.
On April 17, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, one of the newest members of the bipartisan Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC), signed HB 428 into law, which expands opportunities for crossbow hunters throughout the state.
“With the passage of HB 428 in 2017, Granite State hunters aged 68 and older will now be able to use crossbows during the regular archery season for deer, without obtaining an additional permit.”
Previously crossbow use during archery season was relegated to disabled hunters with a special permit, though crossbow use was allowed during the regular firearms season (with additional permit) and the muzzleloading season (with muzzleloading permit). The bill has an effective date of June 16, 2017.”
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As a senior in this category I am heartened by the signing of this bill. We want to keep seniors in the field and forest hunting as long as they are able. Today’s Crossbow’s are used to harvest all North American Big Game.
Has the Crossbow as a hunting tool made a deer population control conservation impact above and beyond the long bow, recurve and compound bows. The answer is a resounding yes, in many states that recognize it as a state of the art archery hunting tool. In fact, there are more deer taken in Ohio by crossbow than by other archery means. The crossbow is particularly useful in urban residential areas with high deer densities. This is because the crossbow like today’s compound bows make little noise and does not bother the neighbors.
NEW HAMPSHIRE IS NOW GREEN. CROSSBOWS ARE LEGAL as specified in new Regs.
“The QDMA is dedicated to ensuring
the future of white-tailed deer, wildlife
habitat and our hunting heritage. As such,
we are more interested in managing deer
and habitat appropriately and protecting
our hunting heritage than debating use of
specific weapons. If the use of crossbows
positively impacts a deer management program
and helps recruit and retain more
hunters, then we fully support it.”
I was a traditional recurve archer most of my young life till the compound bow came into vogue in the 1970’s but archery took a back seat when I had a shoulder issue in 2012 and could no longer get my bow to full draw. Note the Compound bow was seen as a usurper of traditional archery too. It was disappointing as all get-out to not be able to shoot my bow.
If I can shoot a rifle then I can shoot a crossbow. In addition, the same hunting guidelines and distances (40 yards in open terrain only) that apply to archery are the same for the crossbow.
The same similarity exists as the traditional muzzleloader of the revolutionary war began a muzzleloader season and is now supplanted nearly 100 % by in-line muzzle loaders with a 209 shotgun primers and used for hunting most big game on the planet like elk, moose and brown bear. The crossbow is no less the same.
New Hampshire is suffering loss of revenue in hunter volume and license sales. Think out of the Box!!
Further that David Risley is an avid deer hunter in Ohio along with over 140,000 buckeyes take to the woods with a Crossbow. Note that as of 2009 David Risley is Ohio’s Wildlife Management Chief. Ohio hunters and non resident hunters are keeping the financial coffers full with the embrace of the crossbow AND serving the conservation effort of whitetails and human/auto collisions alike.
I personally know of 5 female deer that live between houses in southern NH. Next year there will be 15 deer between houses. Who is going to harvest and consume this surplus deer that live among houses and where the deer aids as a tick borne vector which places humans and our children on the brink of an epidemic. Note that the Coyotes live with the deer too. Hey what happened to my pooch? He just disappeared or was pulled from a leash and eaten.
I give local seminars in Lyme Disease prevention. Most of us today have been or know someone that had a bullseye rash and associated flu symptoms later if not caught to manifest into brain dysfunction, paralysis and joint pain and death.
The state of New Hampshire does an otherwise great job in managing the central and northern herds but there are growing pockets of deer in Southern NH that could use the Crossbow especially in Rockingham County to keep the deer in check and provide added recreation in the archery season and meat for the freezer.
As QDMA states: “If the use of crossbows positively impacts a deer management program and helps to recruit and retain more hunters, then we fully support it. And I support it as a QDMA member.
I have contacted Bobby Vargas at Precision Shooting Equipment -PSE to test a cost effective (around $599 MSRP) crossbow such as the PSE Thrive 400 in Kryptek Highlander Camo. I am hopeful to get one before Christmas and write about it. There is a lot of information out there on the web so you can check too.
Another great tool in the belt of deer hunters who hunt several states that allow hunting with one in archery season and for reasons of preference or physical ability desire to use it.
The facts are that today many long time bowhunters like me are getting older and have stiff joints, shoulder or arm or pinched nerve issues where traditional archery is no longer viable but still love the bow and broadhead and getting close to game.
Oliver and Mary Ford have hunted together since he gave her a double-barreled Bernardelli as a wedding present in 1976. Mary soon decided she preferred deer and elk hunting to bird hunting, so the shotgun was traded for a Winchester 7x57mm Featherweight, ideally suited for her five foot frame.
Below Oliver and Mary on an early elk hunt on horseback, lots of riding and no shots at elk on that hunt…
When Mary decided to go for elk again in 2017, she opted for a Browning A-Bolt in .308 and loaded it with 150 grain Federal Trophy Copper ammunition, mainly for their reputation for through and through penetration but also because that ammo eliminated any concerns about leaving lead fragments in the venison younger members of the family would consume.
It was not until the fifth and final day of her hunt, just as legal shooting time was slipping away, that she had a chance to fill her tag with a large bull with a battle-broken antler that appeared on the edge of a mountain meadow in southern Colorado.
The bull stopped dead in his tracks at the first shot, but he managed a step forward, so she shot him again, not taking any chances. Over many hunts she had learned the necessity of well-placed shots.
Across the mountain top, her son Ross smiled when he heard her shots, knowing what probably had happened while he and his guide, Grant Hottman, played hopscotch with an elusive bull they never caught up with. Sure enough, the cell phone buzzed, calling them to bring the trailer and help Mary’s guide, Doug Doster, Ronald and me with loading the bull.
Only Ross and his uncle Ronald drew tags in 2018, and Mary’s job as a dean required her to stay home, so I just went along for the hunt. Ross’ job required him to fly out and meet us in Colorado, so he arrived the day before the hunt began. The next morning Ross and Grant were off to the far side of the mountain again while Ronald hunted an area where he had taken a good bull previously. Noon found us all back at camp for the usual, great lunch. Ross reported he liked the feel of the pre-64 Mod 70 Featherweight in 308 and was confident that the same Federal load his mother had used would do the job when needed.
At 4 pm Ronald and Doug were situated in a high blind with a commanding view of that same meadow where Mary had been successful the year before. Ross and I were in an open blind closer to the lower end, where a small stream cut across the end of the meadow. Over the years elk had been known to move out into the meadow from almost every quarter. The previous year a herd of more than 20 elk had come out of the creek bed right at dark, following the lead cow almost all the way to the top before she spooked and they all thundered back where they had come from. There was a good bull in the middle but it was too late to shoot.
From our blind we studied the small clearing near the creek but saw nothing. We scoured the side of the mountain across from us but saw nothing but birds, We tried to determine what the wind was doing, but it kept changing directions, first in our face and then on the back of our necks and then down the length of the meadow. As the light faded and the trees were shrouded in shadows, we strained to see into the woods line, but details were slowly being erased as the end of legal shooting approached.
Suddenly I sensed that Ross had stiffened and was staring into the shadows along the creek. He had seen something move, but then… nothing.
Far away but higher, Ronald and Doug had seen the bull come up out of the creek bed, seeing his dark head, chest and antlers and a bit of his rump, all of which was lost in the shadows from our lower perspective. Then he stopped. All Ross had seen was movement in the shadows. The bull then began to walk forward, slowly revealing the antlers that confirmed he was legal, even though an accurate count of points was impossible. As he emerged from the creek bed, he turned slightly uphill and stopped, presenting a clear broadside view, just as the elk had done that Mary took the year before.
Ross responded by leaning into his shooting sticks, slipping the safety off, aiming just behind the shoulder and firing, all in less time than it takes to write this. The bull stopped moving immediately, transfixed. When the bull did not fall, Ross shot again, just to be sure.
At first the bull did not respond, but then swayed back and forth, causing Ross to worry that he might lunge over a nearby precipice and tumble 70 feet into a mass of vines and sticker bushes in the dark, so he shot him in the shoulder, whereupon the bull fell over, kicked a few times and was done.
Then we could walk the 200 yards to where he lay, no more than 20 yards from where Mary’s elk had fallen the year before.
A later green scoring rated his 6×6 rack at a satisfying 309 and 7/8 points, and when he was skinned, we could see that both chest shots had left 3 inch wound channels through both lungs only a few inches apart. The bull had been dead on its feet from the first shot.
As before, Doug called Grant to bring the trailer for us all to load the bull for the trip down the mountain to camp, where we marked a successful beginning to the 2018 hunt with a long, slow sip of Knob Creek bourbon. It had been a truly auspicious beginning and sudden end to Ross’ elk hunting season, but Grant and fellow hunter John Finch from Detroit, had taken photos that proved to be a preview of John’s hunt a day or so later.
After a side trip to Major Wildlife Taxidermy, the bull will assume a dominant position in the family trophy room filled with reminders of past hunts and fishing trips.
Hunt Info: Tim Barraclough, Kiowa Hunting Services, Raton, NM Tim@kiowahunting.com
This Trophy Buck is down, meat is in the freezer. Lets talk about this Whitetail mount and its taxidermy. Most of us don’t shoot deer like this often so get the taxidermy right!
This deer will be an upright shoulder mount with head turned slightly right from the deer’s perspective. Neck is full mature and muscular in rut. There is a company in Texas that is creating my mount. After I receive my mount next year, I will share who did the work!
Manikins available for a shoulder wall mount are from the above website:
Upright
Semi-Upright
Semi-Sneak
Full Sneak
I chose Upright and right turn because I like that pose of alertness. I had to qualify how I wanted the ears too. Straight forward where the deer is looking. If you don’t do that you give licence to the taxidermist to do what they want i.e. one ear forward and the other listening backwards for example. or ears flat back as another example. I don’t want that pose so “be specific”!!!
I do not desire a wooden wall plaque either just the deer shoulder mount. If you want more like a habitat that surrounds your deer you can see them on the above website. Like below. I could do prickly pear cactus and cedar with sagebrush if I desire. Of course I can order and create that later if I wanted. But now you know the basic shoulder mounts. I did not cover other attributes as I wanted the reader to see what basics are out there for a Whitetail shoulder mount.
This nostalgic article comes as a retrospective of my Texas Whitetail Hunt where shots are limited 150 yards or often 90 to 100 yards. I was missing my big bore super accurate .375 Ruger with reduced loads.
On that hunt a larger caliber and slower bullet is not necessarily bad, as my 50 cal TC Muzzleloader can attest. But I needed to special order powder and primers to ship ahead. If your shot distances are short, accurate big bore round nose or even flat point should be an option to consider such as a 30-06 or 300 win mag or larger to hammer one down as long as you can shoot it accurately. It just so happens that I own a .375 Ruger that shoots 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards and have taken Red Deer. It is my Hammer when I need one and It was missed.
Bull Moose
American Bison
A full power 300 grain bullet with a full power load out of the .375 is way more than you need producing over 4000 ft-lbs at the muzzle unless you have a Cape Buffalo staring at you with malice, it is not necessary. However a reduced hand load from my loading bench is just the ticket for A Big Bore Hammer when you need one to drop’em where they stand.
Checking my inventory of rifles the .375 Ruger is staring me in the face. Yes my 30-06 is also a great choice with 180 grain bullets such as the Nosler Partition Protected Point.
In retrospect, personally, I have done exhaustive testing with the .375 Ruger years back with reduced loads and worked up loads that were potent for Whitetails and accurate as all get out. I used Speer Hot-Cor™ in 235 grain back in 2014. You can’t get these heads right now. I have two boxes but there are other choices as you will see.
Through the Chronograph they exit the barrel at around 2200 fps (energy for deer needs at least 1000 ft-lbs). Trajectory and energy are as follows and near to my 50 cal Muzzleloader:
Yards Energy ft-lb Drop
75 2128 0.3
100 2002 0.0
125 1881 -0.9
150 1767 -2.4
The Barnes Bullet in 235 grain TSX is another great option. See reduced load data at website below.
A 300 grain TSX with 45 g 5744 will produce a MV of 2000 fps with a ME of 2664 ft lbs and a recoil of 22 ft-lbs.
Accordingly the table looks like this for the 300 grain TSX head that opens up like a buzz saw in .375 size.
Yards Muz Energy Drop
75 2275 0.5
100 2151 0.0
125 2033 -1.1
150 1921 -3.0
The .375 Ruger cartridge is so versatile in the appropriate rifle can cleanly kill any game on the planet provided good shot placement. My friend Larry Weishuhn is a .375 Ruger believer and he owns one too. A one rifle for the world kind of gun we say. By hand loading, it can shoot exactly the same as the .38-55 and the .375 Winchester for deer or bear or beefed up can equal or better the .375 H&H Magnum for Brown Bear, Cape Buffalo or Elephant. For those considering Alaska as a hunt destination in your lifetime. I would consider a 375 Ruger Rifle on the future purchase list especially if you hand load.
The 150 grains of Pyrodex and 295 grain Powerbelt out of my Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter 50 Cal and Gold Ring Leupold VX-3 2-8x36mm took out the center of the practice target at 100 yards.
On this trophy 11 Point Texas Whitetail the 50 cal was like a lightning bolt. He fell stone cold, his legs up for dressing. If you look you can see the exit wound above the right G2 antler. Since the Powerbelt tip hid a hollow point underneath, it mushroomed in a huge way and left a quarter size exit wound. The only problem was I had to ship my powder and primers to the outfitter and could not take the leftovers home.
The TC Encore has a special recoil absorbing stock and butt pad. Thus allowing the hunter to focus on the shot rather than the recoil.
Since I only had one shot, I had to make it count.
Energy delivered was over 1600 ft-lbs at 80 yards. Enough for Elk and even Moose with good shot placement out to 150 yards. This model is a convertible, thus allowing many other calibers and barrels to fit. In fact I used a 30-06 barrel for my Russian boar hunt last year, see below.
Just like the buck…one shot, one kill.
The 30-06 is great medicine as this boar can attest. I may experiment with some round nose bullets in Creedmoor too. Hornady makes a 160 grain interlock for the 6.5 and there are videos on 300 lb pigs, all with exit wounds.
One of the things that my guides at Wildlife Systems said is that you don’t want to be trailing a mortally wounded deer very far of the trail as there is nasty prickly pear and barbed Christmas cactus out there that can ruin your day. And of course the ubiquitous Rattle Snake.
Better to drop them right there if possible.
On this hunt, none of us really needed a spitzer bullet as our shots were within 150 yards. I’m thinking Hornady 160 grain round nose 6.5mm for next year. Or 180 grain round nose in 30-06.
My hunt began with an email this summer from Greg Simons, General Manager and Principal of Wildlife Systems, Inc. of Texas as an invitation. https://wildlifesystems.com/our-staff.html
The hunt was to be for a small group of hunters who were interested in a hunt with Larry Weishuhn otherwise known as “Mr. Whitetail” . I have read some of Larry’s books and seen his many of his video’s for more than a decade. I jumped at the opportunity because if Larry – Mr. Whitetail likes it, then it must be good. Below he and I are in a rattle off. He won of course! What Fun!
The price was right for a low fence wild trophy hunt and it was on my bucket list for several reasons. The most important reason is that Texas has some of the largest racked deer in the world. I was already looking for a Texas Hunt! Yea, Saskatchewan and Alberta bucks are bigger bodied but not necessarily in antlers. Over the years I gleaned great respect for Larry because he was just as jeeped up about deer hunting as I was and shared that “spark of life” enthusiasm with his family and friends that hunting can bring. He is truly a hunters friend.
We only had 3 1/2 days to take a mature trophy animal of our choosing. I thought that the days to hunt was a bit short but I was proved wrong as the hunt unfolded.
As in all hunts, we fired our rifles to check our 100 yard zero that afternoon before the hunt. Below, J. D. a retired College Professor and part of my hunt team, sighted his 7mm Rem Mag in.
My Weatherby Vanguard, with Nosler 129 grain AccuBond Long Range bullets, was dead on. My back up rifle was my TC Encore 50 Cal Muzzleloader and I shot that too with 100 grains Pyrodex and 300 grain Powerbelt bullets. The shot was off dead center by a whole inch. Nice! But as I shared a long shot of 150 yards would produce insufficient energy. Larry encouraged another shot with 150 grains of Pyrodex to see where it might hit. I agreed, and said with a smile; “Yea Larry you just want to see this cannon beat my shoulder up”. Yup,he replied with a Texas drawl, and with a big grin,something like “Should be real fun” as I recall.
Stoking the TC with three Pyrodex pellets and another 300 grain Powerbelt I let the TC Encore (smoke-pole) rip. Boom…!When the smoke cleared the 50 cal bullet took out the black 1 inch square we were supposed to aim at. “Guess we will need a new target”, I offered. Dead silence for a moment among other hunters and Larry was a big thumbs up on the 150 grains of Pyrodex. They were impressed, I guessed. Me too!
I was encouraged to use that instead of the Weatherby 6.5 but I said only if it really becomes necessary. The 6.5 Creedmoor is one of the most accurate, high delivered energy, mild recoil hunting cartridges in the world. Nosler provides an excellent range of 6.5mm bullets to use.
My Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard was topped with a Leupold Gold Ring VX-6 3-18x44mm (not HD) zoom lens. One of the finest quality variable zoom scopes on planet earth. I tested it and I love it. https://www.leupold.com/scopes/compact-scopes/vx-6hd-3-18x44mm
Check out the dozen or so articles here in my magazine on the VX-6 (type in VX-6 in the SEARCH BOX). The Weatherby is a trusty rifle with synthetic stock. The Weatherguard coating is almost impervious to rain and rust. Priced in the $600 range it is a real bargain! The Leupold VX-6 is worth two rifles.
Pete my guide used 4 wheel/ 4 passenger ORV’s to go from stand to stand sometimes traveling up to 15 miles to get to a far away box blind (many were elevated) . We got lots of 4×4 passenger time! Lots, driving perhaps over 100 miles of Texas wilds in total.
I was seeing so many deer and 10 or so 8-point bucks on my first day but no mature 4.5 year old shooters yet. Day 2 morning stand I was dropped off solo, to shoot from my own blind while Pete spent the morning with JD my hunt partner for the trip. I was observing a nice typical 8 point with chocolate palmated antlers below. I guessed him at 3.5 years old. He needed another year, so I passed on him.
That afternoon I hunted with Pete. Pete was excellent to have as my guide, younger and full energy and muscle. When Pete spoke I listened closely. We sat in a box blind that was slow to have animals show up to the feeder. It throws corn out to 10 or 20 yards when it goes off only once. I am not a box blind sort of hunter per se, but in these circumstances it was essential because the deer were so spread out across the 40 square miles. I acquiesced and later thanked these blinds for a measure of safety if I had to stay in one for overnight in Texas wilderness. I did not see any rattle snakes but some were seen by a family that lived nearby!
Back to the Hunt…An 8 point came in but we noticed he was always looking over his shoulder in an nervous sort of way. We guessed that there was a larger buck out there that he did not want to tangle with. Later on near dusk, my jaw dropped when this high-long-tined 10 point came out. Holy mackerel, “I want that one” I said excitedly to Pete, reaching for the Weatherby. My heart was racing, and adrenaline was kicking me hard. I got the rifle set up on a “Bogpod” and took the shot at 100 yards. A gimme shot from a bench but add in a adrenaline soaked shooter (me) that had never seen a rack like that in his entire life. I missed! You what! Yep, I missed. Oh No! The buck of my lifetime and I missed! The buck nervously turned to look back where the shot had come from. He gave us the caboose and walked quickly off. His gait as he walked away showed no signs of injury. Still, we needed to be sure he was ok and went to look for blood and hair. Part of Pete’s job is to ensure a real miss, and that the animal was not wounded, so he got right down on his hands and knees and looked for hair or blood spatter. Finding none Pete declared a complete miss.
Well, I lamented, “if I am gonna miss, then miss clean, I said. Nothing worse than a wounding or losing a deer. I was just kicking myself for not controlling the buckets of adrenaline washing over me. But that is what drives me to hunt, I love the excitement of the hunt. If I had no adrenaline, I’d just as soon stop hunting. Even the best of hunters miss now and again, that’s why they call it hunting and not getting!
As a result of the miss, I was concerned that we may have inadvertently banged the scope out of whack in the many miles we had it in the 4×4. Accordingly, I could not shoot it in the morning as we were on the trail to the next hunt stand at 5 am before light. Larry agreed, “Take the 50 cal Ed”
I was forced by the circumstances to take the TC Encore 50 Cal out as my backup. The TC sported a Gold Ring Leupold VX-3 2-8x36mm and, as I said earlier, it shoots well.
At dinner that night everyone said, “It happens” that’s why they call it hunting!
The Camp Cook, Richard and I hit it off well. He said these things happen for a reason. Ed, he said, “I have a good feeling about your hunt in the morning” ! I was undaunted as well, another shot will present itself, I thought firmly.
I said a prayer of thanksgiving just to be here on such a great hunt.
The morning, still dark save for Moonlight, was clear. Above my head I could see the constellation known as the Big Dipper (Ursa Major – Big Bear) to the right and “Orion the Hunter” directly above me. A good sign! My father, a hunter too, taught me about the American Indian where young braves who were challenged to look at the middle star in the arm of the Big Dipper as a test to see the double star we call Mizar that was with it. That second star was easily visible.
I sat in silence at 6 AM awaiting the dawn in the glow of the “day old” full Moon. The local population of Mocking birds, like a barn yard roosters, began chatting and chirping about 7:15 AM announcing morning has broken. Light began to intensify with each passing second as the skyline went from purple orange to blue. I used my Vortex 10x binoculars to see what was gathering at the feeder, they worked great. I could only see shadows for a while that were deer but never identify buck or doe. I waited till there was enough light near 8am to see antlers. There was one very large deer with its tail facing me. It was directly under the feeder. As other deer approached, the big deer would lurch at them. The other deer gave wide birth…. The light was sufficient to see it was a buck and antler tips but he was still feeding with his back side to me. Suddenly he lifted his head. Oh My God! I saw so many points on just one side that said “Shoot em” to me. But I was skeptical, I needed more convincing as QDMA training teaches that it is the body that says age not the antlers necessarily, wanting to see his neck and body too. In a few moments he had turned to his right side. His body was large and dark, his neck was not at all slender and it had no curve but full and chunky. Just a straight line from his jaw to his chest. And he was bossy to other deer. That was all the convincing I needed, a real mature deer of 4 1/2 or older, I said to myself.
I had the TC Encore on the shooting sill and put my Leupold VX-3 crosshairs on him. I cranked up the power to see a symmetrical rack of at least 10 points with nice brow tines. In that moment I did not hesitate to pull the hammer back. My heart was thumping but I was much calmer as I put the crosshairs just behind his shoulder. This TC Encore had a trigger job by Mike Bellm (https://www.bellmtcs.com/) and set at 3 lbs pull. Very sweet!
As the Gold Ring Leupold VX-3 crosshairs settled just behind his shoulder, the rifle bucked rearward. I did not feel the recoil as I was so focused on the shot. White smoke belched out obscuring the deer for a several seconds. Even the ground was eerily oozing smoke among the flora. The buck was down, right there! See below.
I kept the scope on him and looked for movement, seeing none I still hesitated to take my eyes off him so I remained on him observing with the scope. I would normally reload but I wanted to stay in visual contact as the buck laid very still and wanted to keep it that way.
After a few minutes I was convinced he was hit very hard and at that point I reloaded and stayed in the blind with the rifle still on him. A Red Angus Cow and calf came over to see the buck lay ever so still. It was at that point that I shouted Yahoo! I eased out of the blind and toward the buck and the cow and calf took the cue to leave.
As I approached, the antlers kept getting larger and the points more numerous. I counted 11 points in utter amazement. This buck was even bigger than the one I missed. Guides saw him smaller last year and in a different place on the ranch. So this was unexpected that he showed up here.
There is a red spot on his shoulder, that was the exit wound from the 300 grain Powerbelt. His feet are already up in the air ready for dressing. This guy was massive for a Texas deer. Pete came over in the 4×4 with JD to see what I shot at. Grinning a big grin I said to Pete, “Got a Crane?, Your gonna need it.”) He said, “Yea we can handle that”. They drove the 4×4 80 yards to the buck. Wow! Nice Buck! And so fat! JD came over and shook my hand. Congratulations Ed! I was thinking this was THE buck of my lifetime. I was just elated beyond words. The guides scored him at 144 3/8 Boone and Crockett Points. I am just speechless!
I had two doe tags to fill so I retested the Weatherby Vanguard and Leupold VX-6 and it was fine. It was my excitement that caused the original miss the other day. So the next morning after some great backslapping I headed to a stand for taking the two does. As luck would have it I saw two does that morning and took both with the 6.5 Creedmoor Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard getting full penetration with the Nosler 129 grain ABLR. I tagged out!
In 3.5 days I saw at stands, in range, thirty 8-point bucks and five mature 8 and 10 point bucks including the one I took.
I was just lucky to shoot the best of them. Thirty five big bucks in 3.5 days. I am shipping meat back via ground transport. More soon when the meat arrives. I have Wildlife Systems handling the Trophy mount for me. I think I am going again! Check out the Wildlife Systems website at the beginning of this article if you are interested in a hunt. Happy Trails…
On and off camera he has a natural leadership style as a Whitetail aficionado that I look up to. On this hunt, Larry was the frosting on the cake as it were. His stories and hunt experience extended beyond US and Canada to Africa, Europe, and Australia. The hunters we had in camp (just west of San Angelo, Texas on the Edwards Plateau) were veteran hunters and a few of those in camp were also fortunate to be able to hunt around the world. We were all eager to listen and become intertwined in his memories. Larry and I became great friends! Larry is writing another book so look for it. I am hoping to get a signed copy.
Camp Cook – Richard T. Berry
Also in camp was Richard T. Berry, of Broken Spoke Cattle Company. He is also an Auctioneer- Sales Consultant Professional Guide and Outfitter and the greatest Camp Cook I have ever had the privilege to meet and eat the food he created. Richard and I became great friends as well. He is easy going and very helpful. Richard has a massive Canadian buck to his credit that scored over 200 Boone and Crockett points. Richard is writing a venison cook book which I hope to purchase as well. I gave him my copy of a Venison Cook book “Buck Buck Moose” by Hank Shaw! It is a fine Venison Cookbook too.
