BuzzH
Well-known member
My Dad, Brother, Nephew and I decided to try some mule deer hunting in a part of the State we haven't really hunted much.
We settled on dates and started hunting last Saturday.
First priority was get my Nephew his first mule deer buck. We started out seeing plenty of deer and he passed up some bucks. On the morning of our 3rd day, I glassed up a buck bedded in some broken country and we decided to make a run at it. We managed to get within 167 yards, but the buck was bedded facing toward us. So, we reversed our stalk, and tried a better angle, getting to 151 yards. Aiden rested his 7-08 over my backpack and settled in for the shot. He sent a 120 nosler ballistic tip right through the bucks near shoulder, destroying the heart. The buck tried to get up, staggered forward and rolled onto a small flat spot.
One happy deer hunter with his first buck mule deer:
The next day, we woke up to much colder weather and tried a new area. We were seeing quite a few deer and eventually found a buck that Matt, "really liked". We peeked over an edge and Matt got set for the shot. The 7-08 and 140 Nosler AB's did the trick.
Matts buck:
The following day was even colder weather and the deer were moving real well. Didn't take long for us to glass up a nice heavy buck that my Dad liked. We quickly moved into rifle range and he made a great shot with his 25/06 and 120 grain Nosler partitions. Dad hasn't killed a mule deer in quite a long time, and was really happy with this buck:
I had a morning to hunt before we had to get back home. Matt and I went out while Dad and Aiden started to break camp. Matt found this buck right away in the morning, and with the clock ticking, I shot it as it was trotting away at about 160 yards. The 140 AB, from my 7-08, entered the back of the rib cage and the bullet exited just in front of the off shoulder. I didn't plan on even getting any time to hunt myself, but was happy that I got one at the last minute.
All in all a great trip with 3 generations getting to spend quality time together, hunting, looking around, playing cribbage in the evenings, etc. etc. Even managed to bring home some mule deer.
Oh, and thanks JS for shortening up the learning curve for us, in his part of Montana, appreciate it.
We settled on dates and started hunting last Saturday.
First priority was get my Nephew his first mule deer buck. We started out seeing plenty of deer and he passed up some bucks. On the morning of our 3rd day, I glassed up a buck bedded in some broken country and we decided to make a run at it. We managed to get within 167 yards, but the buck was bedded facing toward us. So, we reversed our stalk, and tried a better angle, getting to 151 yards. Aiden rested his 7-08 over my backpack and settled in for the shot. He sent a 120 nosler ballistic tip right through the bucks near shoulder, destroying the heart. The buck tried to get up, staggered forward and rolled onto a small flat spot.
One happy deer hunter with his first buck mule deer:
The next day, we woke up to much colder weather and tried a new area. We were seeing quite a few deer and eventually found a buck that Matt, "really liked". We peeked over an edge and Matt got set for the shot. The 7-08 and 140 Nosler AB's did the trick.
Matts buck:
The following day was even colder weather and the deer were moving real well. Didn't take long for us to glass up a nice heavy buck that my Dad liked. We quickly moved into rifle range and he made a great shot with his 25/06 and 120 grain Nosler partitions. Dad hasn't killed a mule deer in quite a long time, and was really happy with this buck:
I had a morning to hunt before we had to get back home. Matt and I went out while Dad and Aiden started to break camp. Matt found this buck right away in the morning, and with the clock ticking, I shot it as it was trotting away at about 160 yards. The 140 AB, from my 7-08, entered the back of the rib cage and the bullet exited just in front of the off shoulder. I didn't plan on even getting any time to hunt myself, but was happy that I got one at the last minute.
All in all a great trip with 3 generations getting to spend quality time together, hunting, looking around, playing cribbage in the evenings, etc. etc. Even managed to bring home some mule deer.
Oh, and thanks JS for shortening up the learning curve for us, in his part of Montana, appreciate it.
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