Hey guys,

Well the 7mm08 strikes again. I downed one of the top 2 bucks we had on trail cam this year. It was Sunday morning at 9:00, and a doe crossed a crp field I was sitting by. She was a big mature doe, and the rut is hottt in our area right now. I kept waiting for a buck to follow her out into the field, but she crossed and dissappeared into the woods. 10 min later I see a white fence moving up and down in the edge of the woods 150yrds away where the doe came out.

Then he steps out, and he is on her trail, nose to the ground. I couldn't steady myself enough to shoot because there was no good rest in that direction in the tree. So I'm starting to really get nervous and shake and am sooo afraid he is going to turn and leave at any moment. Meanwhile my crosshairs are dancing all around him as I try to hold steady and he is walking across the field..... Finally he gets to the middle of the field and I am able to lean over and rest the gun on a tree branch, and FINALLY the crosshairs go rock solid steady. At this point he turns and looks in my direction....he must have seen movement on the skyline as I moved to settle in, and as I get the crosshairs on him he is looking right at me broadside, and the Encore ROARS!!!

I recovered from the recoil only to see him take 3 walking steps forward... WTF!! Did I miss???? He didn't react at all to the shot. Now I am trying to reload as quickly as possible, and he wobbles once...twice...and goes down!! 3 steps is all the farther he got.

Now I'm shaking soo bad...and I turn on the video to record the story, and I call my dad who is hunting about 1/3 mile away and calm myself down.

Ranged the shot at 134yrds. T/C Encore 7mm08 15inch barrel Simmons Pro Hunter 2x6 140grn speer soft point. Took out the top of the heart, and the bottom of both lungs. Perfect bullet performance. Nice exit hole, and jelly in his chest cavity.

What a morning. Had the rest of the day to enjoy it. Hunting with my dad and little brother. It was a magical day......

A quick field scoring came up with a 160gross score. Main frame 10 with a 1 1/8 inch sticker point off his left base. He is over 2 feet wide(outside), and has 27 inch main beams.

My little brother took lots of AWESOME photos and video that I will post when I get them. For now, here are my cell phone pics.

Here is the field.



Here is what I walked up on.




Happy Hunters!



Here is a trail cam pic of him. He only showed up ONE time about a week ago.



Thanks
MN

WOW!

That is an awesome deer! Congratulations on another fine handgunned buck!

Good job, great buck!

Thanks guys!

Great buck! Congrats

Nice. Hope you are an HHI member

All I can say is WOW!! Nice work, congratulations!!

Wow, awesome buck! You make this sound easy...get a pic of a good buck on the trail cam, go back in a few days and get him. Nothing to it!

Congratulations MNH!!!

Excellent in all regards. Congratulations on a great buck. How wide was he? Looks like 21ish

Thanks!! He is 24 3/8 inches outside spread. Inside spread depends on how you measure it... If you stay perpendicular to the center line of the skull, the widest inside measurement is 22 1/8, but if you angle the tape back and fourth, the widest inside measurement is just over 24 inches. That's how we used to measure inside spread, just move the tape around till you find the widest point inside. Then someone that knows scoring said you are supposed to keep the tape exactly perpendicular with the center line of the head and just move back and fourth to find the widest point.

Not sure which way is correct, so I say he is 22 1/8 inside, and 24 3/8 outside.(that's staying perpendicular)

His ears were 20 inches!! Had a huge head.

MN

Congrats! that's awesome!

Haha. I WISH! We are only running 2 cameras, and moving them around. Seems like the really good buck only show up at night. This guy showed up once.

It was just one of those right place right time deals. I always say I'd rather be lucky than good!

MN

Heart and both lungs at that distance? I'd say you're both! Congratulations!

That family picture with the "new" addition who will be hanging out on the wall for years to come is priceless. Great looking bunch, and the deer's not bad either. (G)

That is great!!!!!! Super nice buck. reflex264

That is a great buck, congratulations to you.

MN,
Great job holding steady with that monster strolling threw your crosshairs! That is a buck of a lifetime! Man, even though Im hunting state land for the MI deer opener, those pictures got me siked-up for opening day. Thanks for sharing!

damn man! he is a beast! that is one awesome buck that you thumped with your Encore... one that we all dream about!

I am happy for you! congratulations and good shooting!

Congratulations on a GREAT buck! That'll make your heart go pitter-patter for sure.

That is just fantastic. Congrats on a great deer and a great shot. Thanks for sharing the events of your hunt with us.

Larry

Congratulations on taking a great buck! And it feels even better when you have done your "homework," doesn't it!

I hope you will have him scored and enter him in the Safari Club International Handgun Record Book. I am helping promote this for SCI and have a coupon that will save you 50% on the entry fee if interested.

PS: This goes for all of you and includes all previous year's animals as well as this season.

Wow! A huge congrats to ya!

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it.

MN

Perpendicular is the correct way to measure the inside spread. You can slide the tape forward and backward to find the widest point but it has to stay perpendicular.

Thanks Gary. Then it is 22 1/8 inside and 24 3/8 outside.

Simply awesome...congrats again!

And I believe my early call on the Informal contest would have proved correct! You've scored on some GREAT deer - may have to start looking into a trip to Minnesota...

That's a Awesome Buck to take with a Handgun! Congrats!! MN

Thats an awsome deer .... sugestion... make many copy of the picks in particular the ones with the kids so they can have them when they get older ... My biggest deer was stolen off the wall 20 years ago and sold in a bar all but one pic was lost in a fire .... kids all wish they had the photo albums we lost and the boys always talk about that buck.

That is a great buck, congrats!

very nice !!!!!!!

AWESOME DEER! GREAT JOB!

perpendicular is the correct way to score inside spread,congrads on a nice trophy...