In the original post, I explained how my son wanted me to take the buck last year, even though he was locked and loaded when the buck stepped out. Well, this year was all his. He started by taking an Axis doe early on while we were watching for some nice bucks we'd seen on the game cam. We had decided on a nice 8 point which wasn't too wide, but had high and nicely symmetrical antlers, though it still seemed relatively young. He surprised us one evening, approaching from the side of our ground blind, coming to within 30 yards and trotting off into the sunset.
Fast forward to the final weekend of the general season. We hunted Saturday evening and retrieved the SD card from the camera to see if the high 8 had been around. He had, but we saw a new buck. He was large bodied and had a wide rack. In all, it looked like we would have at least three nice bucks to choose from...IF one decided to show up.
The next morning was 31 degrees and crystal clear. My son and I were in the stand well before sunrise. After an hour or so, a mama doe and her twin yearlings came to feed. They always come and it's very annoying because mama is very skittish. She snorts and stomps at anything. After a long while, she got wind of us and they ran off. After that we saw nothing. We were cold and tired. I told my son we'd leave at 9 o'clock if nothing happened.
About 8:40 I was nodding off in my chair when my son told me a doe was crossing the field. I grabbed the binos and watched as she went right past the feeder. He then said there was a buck following her. I pulled the binos back up and saw that it was a big one. I gave him the green light...except the buck wasn't stopping. We both started whistling like crazy and he finally stopped. My son fired and the buck dropped straight down on his belly.
He was using an old converted 1895 Mauser in 257 Roberts. This rifle requires standard pressure ammo, so it's probably running about like what some of you are getting from your handguns. the load consisted of a Speer 120 gr. HotCor, a standard cup and core bullet. It's only running at around 2550 FPS. He hit it high in the shoulder. It had a entry wound, which shows massive destruction inside the body cavity, but no exit. My son has killed a number of deer with this load and it's deadly effective.
We didn't get a weight, but the buck was challenging to get into the truck after being dressed. The antler bases are really thick, but many of the tines are broken, including both brow tines. The spread is impressive at 24". Anyway, I wanted to update the thread with an "all's well that ends well' post! he wanted me to get mine and now he has his. Thanks for looking. (for size reference, my son is 6' tall)
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