Post by Masshntr on Oct 31, 2006 15:15:36 GMT
I couldn't hunt the opener because of previous plans, but judging from the weather, I didn't miss much. Sunday I took the old Knight LK-93 50 cal. to the range. I typically sight it in at 50 meters since that's about the longest shot I get. I had a good sight picture and took one shot with 100 gr. Prodex and 295 gr. Powerbelt and hit the center of the bull in the wind. I'm good to go, I figured.
Yesterday I hunted Russell-Abbott SF near Greenville. I'd killed a big spike there two years ago with the ML. I had some nice morning stands but it was still blowing hard and from every direction. I moved to another ridge for the afternoon, hoping the wind would drop. When it didn't I still-hunted down to a creek for the last hour or so. I doe-bleated a couple of times and at 4:15 I heard one moving behind me. I took a peek and saw a big-bodied deer coming down a shoulder, ears up and looking. I got a glimpse of a branch in the antler and held on a small opening about 25 yards away. I mouth-bleated a couple of times but he wasn't having it. When he went through the opening (he was half-trotting), I put the scope behind his shoulder and touched it off.
He ran like he was hit hard and I listened but didn't hear him go down. I couldn't find hair or blood where I shot so I decided to take a look about where he ran around the shoulder. I found a drop of blood and began trailing; now it was just about dark. I found small splotches, a dime, a quarter, the occasional half-dollar. Nothing spectacular but steady. Every 30 yards or so I found spatter on the trees and brush up to about 15 inches. The blood was bright red.
He never bedded or stood, began meandering but moved steadily uphill. After an hour of sorting out the trail, I had about decided he wasn't hit hard and I might jump him. Still, the blood was fresh and steady, if not copius. The blood trail never changed and I found him piled up under a hemlock. I had double-lunged him, hitting him midpoint spine to brisket and midpoint diaphram to shoulder. His nose and mouth were bloody and I figure the spatter came when he was walking with his head down, blowing. I estimate he went 300 to 400 yards.
He's a big four-point, deep chested and long, dressed on my weigh tape at 170. I was about a mile from the truck, most of it uphill. Suffice it to say it was a long drag but the roasts are going to taste all the better for it. I'm glad I stayed with the trail.
Yesterday I hunted Russell-Abbott SF near Greenville. I'd killed a big spike there two years ago with the ML. I had some nice morning stands but it was still blowing hard and from every direction. I moved to another ridge for the afternoon, hoping the wind would drop. When it didn't I still-hunted down to a creek for the last hour or so. I doe-bleated a couple of times and at 4:15 I heard one moving behind me. I took a peek and saw a big-bodied deer coming down a shoulder, ears up and looking. I got a glimpse of a branch in the antler and held on a small opening about 25 yards away. I mouth-bleated a couple of times but he wasn't having it. When he went through the opening (he was half-trotting), I put the scope behind his shoulder and touched it off.
He ran like he was hit hard and I listened but didn't hear him go down. I couldn't find hair or blood where I shot so I decided to take a look about where he ran around the shoulder. I found a drop of blood and began trailing; now it was just about dark. I found small splotches, a dime, a quarter, the occasional half-dollar. Nothing spectacular but steady. Every 30 yards or so I found spatter on the trees and brush up to about 15 inches. The blood was bright red.
He never bedded or stood, began meandering but moved steadily uphill. After an hour of sorting out the trail, I had about decided he wasn't hit hard and I might jump him. Still, the blood was fresh and steady, if not copius. The blood trail never changed and I found him piled up under a hemlock. I had double-lunged him, hitting him midpoint spine to brisket and midpoint diaphram to shoulder. His nose and mouth were bloody and I figure the spatter came when he was walking with his head down, blowing. I estimate he went 300 to 400 yards.
He's a big four-point, deep chested and long, dressed on my weigh tape at 170. I was about a mile from the truck, most of it uphill. Suffice it to say it was a long drag but the roasts are going to taste all the better for it. I'm glad I stayed with the trail.