Yesterday was the opener for our Idaho deer season & good friend Tank Hoover joined me for a handgun hunt in endless thousands of acres of prime hunting country in south east Idaho. Tank arrived a few days early so we could practice eating burrito's, fresh french fries, cinnamon rolls, huckleberry & strawberry cheesecake, homemade biscuits & gravy, fried chicken, fresh mashed potatoes, fried potatoes & great chicken fried steak!
Finally Tuesday arrived (opening day) and we headed out before daylight & 3 minutes into the hunt we spotted several deer with a nice buck in the bunch but the doe's spooked before we could get a shot so we kept going to another spot I had picked out for Jeff & we ended up seeing quite a few deer & a few more bucks but didn't get a shot because of being limited on distance with my old model flat top 44 magnum & Tank packing a Bisley 454 with heavy 45's snuggled inside.
We came back to town for lunch & went to work on El Toro's Burrito's again (wow) came home for a nap & headed back out for an evening hunt about 5pm. Tank went back to the same spot where he had seen several deer earlier & I decided to go to another spot but ended up with too much sun in my eyes so about 5:30 I decided to move across the grain field about 200 yds & get into the Quakies a little bit. It was the right decision because about 20 minutes later a deer came out of the trees about 250 yds from me & started feeding. At first I thought it was a doe because it blended in with the trees but as it fed towards me I could see it was a fork horn buck.
I had my 357 Maximum set up on the rear of my 4 wheeler in case I needed to take a long shot & needed to use a scope but as the buck got closer it looked like I would be able to use the iron sighted flat top. I eased the 44 out of my Barranti cross draw & slowly raised it up onto my leather covered rest. As the buck got closer he started to get a little bit goosy & I could tell he knew something wasn't right.
He was too close to range & was starting to move slightly to my right but still almost straight on. If he moved anymore to my right I was going to be in trouble because it would be hard to move the gun without him seeing me move. I guessed the range at 50 yds & made a little grunt to stop him. He faced me straight on but his body was just a bit to the right as I broke the shot. The 245 gr cast HP broke the right front shoulder & he whirled & ran about 30-35 yds & went down. I ranged to where he had been standing & it turned out to be 64 yds. The bullet had broken the right front shoulder & took out the right lung. I haven't skinned him yet to see what other damage was done but I'm very happy with the gun, the bullet & the results.






Dick

Nice buck and it sounds like a lot of fun.

Very cool! Can't wait to get one with my SRH. Our doe season opens Saturday...

Excellent work!
I almost stopped reading, after thinking about the feast you guys were participating in...

Good deal! You've got some fine eating there too.

Good on ya, Dick! Who needs a magnum eh.

Way to go, Dick! It's not neighborly to kill a deer before your guest... lol
Now we know why your were so generous with the wonderful meal. 😜

This is great!!! Congratulations

Well done Dick! Keep up the good work............

Very nice Sir, I always view meat as the trophy and the antlers are just for the memories.

x2

Congratulations sir. Nice shot. Good story

Very nice. Congrats.

Good job! That's some beautiful scenery.

Yesterday morning I passed on a nice 4X4 buck because I wanted Tank to shoot it but he was behind me & the doe's spooked before he could get a shot off. I could have shot it but you are correct, you don't shoot one when you have a good friend with you.
This morning I ran a buck towards Tank but it was running so hard he couldn't get on it quick enough before it hit the brush, he'll get one, he's a very fine shot.
My buck looked like he had broken part of a horn off when it was in velvet, not sure. I was lucky to get him, he was about to come unglued just before I stopped him with the grunt.
If you look close maybe you can see Tank at the bottom of the field about 50 yds left of that Quakie patch, I ran the buck out of the brush by throwing a whole bunch of rocks in there.



Dick

WAY TO GO IN IDAHO...............................

Great shooting and congrats! Enjoyed the hunt report!

Great story. I love to read your hunting tales. Thanks for sharing and congratulations.

Meat and taters... way to get it done. Congrats!

Congratulations,I enjoyed your story !

Congratulations! Headed out that way myself here in 3 weeks or so, looking to fill my 2 whitetail tags with my 45LC Blackhawk. Enjoyed your story!



Eric.

Awesome story and shot. Thinking of taking my flat top opening morning. Now about those burritos......

Way to go. Now you can make venison burritos to take with you next hunt.

That is awesome!

I have a short barreled SA revolver in .45 Colt I'd love to use on a deer some day.