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I HUNTED DEER AT MY RANCH IN EDWARDS COUNTY, TEXAS A FEW TIMES THIS PAST SEASON BUT NEVER SAW A SHOOTER. I HAVE ALSO BEEN DEER HUNTING AT A DEER LEASE IN SOUTH TEXAS ON AN INVITE FROM MY COMPADRE OSCAR GARCIA. HE GETS 2 BUCKS, BOTH HAVE TO BE MATURE BUCKS, 1 OF WHICH HAS TO BE A CULL BUCK (UNDER 140 B&C). HE TELLS ME TO SHOOT ANY BUCK I WANT BUT I AM NOT SHOOTING A TROPHY ON AN INVITE (IN FACT I PASSED ON A M/F 12, 16 POINT BUCK), SO I WAS LOOKING FOR A CULL. THE LEASE IS ON A MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AND DEER SEASON RUNS SEPTEMBER UNTIL THE END OF FEBRUARY BUT THEY DO NOT START DEER HUNTING UNTIL THE START OF THE REGULAR SEASON IN EARLY NOVEMBER, STILL, A 4 MONTH DEER SEASON IS HEAVEN FOR ME.

IN NOVEMBER OR DECEMBER I SPOTTED A WARY, WILEY OLD 9 POINT BUCK THAT LOOKED LIKE A SHOOTER BUT HE WOULD HANG BACK IN THE BRUSH AND NEVER COME OUT TO SENDERO TO EAT CORN. I WUD PUT XTRA CORN, LACED WITH BIG&J ATTRACTANT, 50 YARDS AWAY FROM THE BLIND JUST OFF OF THE SENDERO (TO ENTICE HIM CLOSE ENUFF TO TRY AND TAKE HIM WITH MY OPEN SIGHT RUGER BOWEN PERFECTED BISLEY IN 45 COLT USING MY OLD WEST LOADS BUT TO NO AVAIL). FINALLY ON 2/3/18 I WAS SET UP IN THE SAME BLIND FOR THE MORNING HUNT. A CAMO BANDANA BLOCKING A LOT OF THE BLIND WINDOW, IT WAS EARLY, ABOUT 7:40 A.M., LOW LIGHT AND FOGGY (WHICH ALL HELPED IN HIM NOT DETECTING MY PRESENCE IN THE BLIND). I SEE MOVEMENT IN THE BRUSH ABOUT 100 YARDS AWAY, I QUICKLY GET THE BINO's ON HIM AND ID HIM BY HIS DISTINCTIVE BROW TINES, AS THE 9 POINT CULL I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR. HE MOVES BEHIND SOME BRUSH AND I CANNOT SEE HIM, THEN HE STEPS FORWARD JUST A BIT BEHIND SOME LOW BRUSH AND HIS LUCK RAN OUT, AS I WAS ABLE TO GET A REEDS AMMUNITION 200 gr WFN-GC 357 MAX BULLET OUT OF MY 12 INCH CONTENDER AND INTO HIS SHOULDER. AT THE SHOT HE DISAPPEARED (HE WENT DOWN BUT I CUD NOT SEE HIM BEHIND THE BRUSH). I WENT OVER, FOUND HIM, AND FINISHED HIM OFF.

THE BULLET WENT IN JUST BELOW DEAD CENTER ON HIS LEFT SHOULDER, AS IT PASSED THRU HIS LEFT SIDE RIB CAGE THERE WERE 2 HOLES, THEN THE BULLET WENT UP INTO EITHER SIDE OF HIS SPINE. I RECOVERED MOST OF THE BULLET (TEMPORARILY MISPLACED), JUST UNDER THE SKIN ALONG HIS BACKBONE, IN NOT TOO BAD A CONDITION CONSIDERING.

THIS 9 1/2 YEAR OLD BUCK HAD BEAUTIFUL BROW TINES AND HEAVY MAIN BEAMS BUT WAS ALL CULL AFTER THAT. HE WAS A 130 B&C CLASS BUCK, AND HAD A LW OF 153 lbs WITH NO FAT (HE OBVIOUSLY HAD LOST A BUNCH OF WEIGHT DURING THE RUT).

I WAS USING A 12 INCH CONTENDER 357 MAG BARREL THAT BELLM REAMED OUT TO 357 MAX AND I HAD MNP QUAD PORT, USING THE AFOREMENTIONED AMMO FROM RON REED (ESTIMATED MV OF 1,750 fps), AND MOUNTED WITH A B&L ELITE 3000 2X6 SCOPE.

NOW I NEED TO HELP MY COMPADRE FIND THAT 16 POINTER.

45 MANS Texas deer............................................

whopper of a cull...............

Heck yes Rey! Great story and a fine management deer. Congrats!

Cull or not thats a beautiful old deer and a great shot.

Rey, you guys kill some management bucks that most guys spend 4-5 years looking for, nice job with a great caliber for deer.

Dick

Nice!

Nice buck Rey! Congrats

Very nice indeed! Love those long dog catchers.

BTW, ALL THE MOUNTS IN THE BACKGROUND ARE NOT MINE, THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN AT THE TAXIDERMIST'S SHOP (GETTING A SKULL MOUNT DONE), PLUS HAD HIM GOUND UP TRIMMINGS AND SHOULDER MEAT INTO HAMBURGER. THE REAR LEGS, BACKSTRAPS AND TENDERLOINS ARE AGING FOR A WEEK IN A WALK IN COOLER. I LIKE TO USE GAME MEAT AT MY RANCH FOR AT LEAST 1 MEAL WHEN I GO UP THERE, NOW I HAVE VENISON AND SOME NILGAI HAMBURGER MEAT THAT I GOT FROM MY BROTHER, LIFE IS GOOD.

That's a goodun'!

Great buck and a cool story too.

Nice buck indeed.

Great buck and hunt.

Fantastic hunt, congrats!

Congratulations on a fine deer and great hunt!

Dan

Very Nice!

Saturday is the close of our season ... hope I get a cull like that!

WTG Rey, nice buck!

That?s a great old buck. Sounds like quite a hunt. I like the heavy rugged antlers.

Congrats! on a great buck and hunt.

Nice buck! I enjoyed the write up!

I CHECKED WITH RON REED AND HE ESTIMATES THAT 200gr LOAD TO BE DOING 1,750 fps OUT OF MY 12 INCH 357 MAX BARREL.

Congratulations, Rey. That's a great, and distinctive-looking deer!

That sounds like a pretty hard hitting load. How is the accuracy? It looks like it penetrated pretty well.

Very nice buck; great hunt!

Thats a nice load too.

JDK: I BOUGHT 5 BOXES OF 20 (PROBABLY A LIFETIME SUPPLY FOR ME), SIGHTED IN DEAD ON AT 100 METERS AND IT SEEMED ACCURATE ENUFF (I DID NOT DO A LOT OF GROUP TESTING). HAVE SHOT TWICE WITH IT AT GAME, ONCE AT A SMALL FERAL HOG AT MY RANCH AT AROUND 65 YARDS AND THE OTHER AT THE 9 POINT CULL AT AROUND 95 YARDS, BOTH TIMES THE BULLETS WENT WHERE THEY WERE SUPPOSE TO. WITH THE QUAD MNP PORTS, THE 2X6 B&L AND THE HANDY SIZED 12 INCH BARREL IT MAKES FOR A REALLY NICE STAND GUN. I WUD LIKE TO PUNCH A BIG BOAR HOG THRU THE SHOULDERS WITH IT TO SEE HOW IT DOES. WILL PROBABLY USE THIS GUN FOR THE NEXT FEW TRIPS UP TO THE HIGHPOINT. WITH AT LEAST MONTHLY TRIPS UP TO MY RANCH, AND FERAL HOGS AVAILABLE ALL YEAR, I LIKE TO ALTERNATE MY BLIND GUNS EVERY FEW MONTHS.

Score another one for the "older, wiser" guys. Way to go!

state of the art!

Nice buck Rey !

Nice, that's a heck of a cull buck! Congrats!

Nice! If that's a cull buck, I'd love to see the shooters.

HERE ARE PICTURES OF THE 20Ogr HARDCAST WFN-GC BULLET I SHOT MY BUCK WITH. IT WEIGHS 175grs NOW. AS A BULLET INTEGRITY TYPE GUY I WAS INITIALLY FREAKED OUT BY THE DEFORMATION BUT I GUESS THE BULLET PERFORMED AS IT SHOULD ON A SHOULDER SHOT. I THINK IT WILL DO OK ON FERAL HOGS AND WHITETAILS AND EVEN AOUDAD.