Great opening day!
Nov 15, 2009 6:10:42 GMT -5
Post by Rifleman on Nov 15, 2009 6:10:42 GMT -5
Yesterday was the gun opener here in Indiana and we had a great day despite some things that could have made things difficult. Alot of the corn is still in, the weather was very warm with a high yesterday near 70, alot of hunters in the field, including a trespasser on our hunting spot, and the wind was out of the south, which makes it very hard as much of the land we hunt is only accessible from the south. However we prayed and asked the Lord to bless us and trusted that He would. The blessing He gave us exceeded our expectations. God is good all the time!
We had 5 hunters in our party and 3 of the 5 were using Savage 10MLII's. One sports a Zeiss, one a Sightron, and one a Bushnell Elite 4200. I had a young hunter (J) who was hunting deer for the first time. I have been working with J on and off for a couple years now on his shooting skills. I felt he was strong at 75 yds with a good rest. He gets little opportunity to practice and only hunted squirrels once before when I took him a few weeks ago. But in his favor he is very deliberate by nature.
J was using my Marlin 44 mag lever gun with a 2x Leupold scout scope. I took my Benelli 12 ga Riot gun with ghost ring irons, as I thought I might need to back him up if there was a poor hit. The other 3 guys are all very experienced hunters and shooters and packing 50 Cal's I had set up and tuned in with N120 and the Barnes BO.
My good buddy Pk but the smack down on a nice 9 point that came into a grunt and bleat sequence. He was in a ladder stand that we call the tower, as it was on a hill and is also very high. He took a steep downward shot at about 40 yds and busted this large deer right through the shoulder. The deer ran into a fence and was dead in a few yards. PK was excited at the fast action and serious smack down horsepower of the BO.
Willtokill 0311 my young Jarhead apprentice did very well. He took a nice doe with the BO at about 50 yds and she was DRT. Dragging the deer out last evening he and my son spied 2 others at approx 240 yds standing in a field. Prone and sitting were not options as terrain precluded that. WTK took a rest off my sons shoulder and made another DRT shot and drop her also.
My boy tried to bust some brush with the BO on a nice drop tine buck at approx 90 yds, but even the mighty BO does not shoot through sticks well. We had a healthy discussion later that night as to just how much of a shirttail JR was to surrender. ;D
Yesterday morning me and J sat in a nice dbl ladder stand and saw nothing for the first 3 hrs. Then a nice buck showed up off to my right at approx 80 yds but was bird dogging for a doe. I laid the benelli across the rifle rest and the back of the stand and had J take a rest for a shot on this buck. The angle was difficult for him but he finally managed to get a decent position. I told him to shoot, but in the excitement of getting a crack at his first deer, he managed to pull the trigger twice. However these lever guns really work better if you pull the hammer back. By this time, the buck had moved out of J's line of sight was headed out of the woods to cross a bean field over to the neighbors property, however the bean field was on our property. The neighbors property is lined with stands and 3 guys hunt it hard and were in their. Not wanting to lose the buck to the competition, I stood up and swung around hard with the Benelli to take him. I got on him, and by this time he was 130 plus yards out. I knew it was pushing the max effective for the Benelli. I quickly swapped arms with J and nailed the buck at 160 yds with one shot, DRT with a spine shot. It was a decent 10 pt. As we climbed down we saw the hot does and another buck, which we had not seen before head out quick to the neighbors and then heard alot of shooting. Found out later they got the buck, an 8 point. J was very disappointed in himself for not getting the shot off in time and blowing his big chance. I gave him a pep talk about how the season was young and that we have all had a bout of buck fever before and that experience would help him overcome that. Just to keep his chin up and stay ready, and surely he would get another chance. After going over to the field and tagging my buck we slid back over to the woods and took a seat on the ground hoping the rut would work in our favor and give J another chance. About 1/2 an hour later a small slick head came running in hard right on top of us. This little button buck ( we could not tell he was a button) was running at light speed and bouncing all over the woods like a rabbit. I knew J had no chance of hitting this one and also wanted that yearling for the pot. So I opened up with the Benelli and managed to drill a few trees. I never thought for a moment J would even shoot. About then the little button turned sideways and slowed to a walk in a open area of the woods at approx 150 yds. Out of range for me I was looking at him when I heard the 44 mag pop off.
I was about to say what are you doing J but instead saw the button was hit hard! A short track job and J had his first deer. I asked J where he aimed to make the shot ( rifle is zeroed at 100 yds with a 240 gr JSP) and J told me what lead and hold over he took. I did not tell him that it was all wrong and if he had fired on call that a clean miss was what he would have had. The deer was hit a little far back but still only managed to make it about 75 yards before dying. I did not want to rain on J's parade and congratulated him heartily on a fantastic shot. But J is no dummy and told me later that he knew the Lord had allowed him to hit that deer and he really should not have fired. Lessons learned for a young hunter, and I left it at that. J was very excited about getting his first deer and it took the sting out of the earlier failure. We took pics and J sent them via his cell to his Momma back home. I helped J dress his first deer and drag him out. Tally for the day was 5 deer for 5 hunters. I took some hazing for being backed up by J instead of vice versa. ;D That was OK I enjoyed every minute of it.
We had 5 hunters in our party and 3 of the 5 were using Savage 10MLII's. One sports a Zeiss, one a Sightron, and one a Bushnell Elite 4200. I had a young hunter (J) who was hunting deer for the first time. I have been working with J on and off for a couple years now on his shooting skills. I felt he was strong at 75 yds with a good rest. He gets little opportunity to practice and only hunted squirrels once before when I took him a few weeks ago. But in his favor he is very deliberate by nature.
J was using my Marlin 44 mag lever gun with a 2x Leupold scout scope. I took my Benelli 12 ga Riot gun with ghost ring irons, as I thought I might need to back him up if there was a poor hit. The other 3 guys are all very experienced hunters and shooters and packing 50 Cal's I had set up and tuned in with N120 and the Barnes BO.
My good buddy Pk but the smack down on a nice 9 point that came into a grunt and bleat sequence. He was in a ladder stand that we call the tower, as it was on a hill and is also very high. He took a steep downward shot at about 40 yds and busted this large deer right through the shoulder. The deer ran into a fence and was dead in a few yards. PK was excited at the fast action and serious smack down horsepower of the BO.
Willtokill 0311 my young Jarhead apprentice did very well. He took a nice doe with the BO at about 50 yds and she was DRT. Dragging the deer out last evening he and my son spied 2 others at approx 240 yds standing in a field. Prone and sitting were not options as terrain precluded that. WTK took a rest off my sons shoulder and made another DRT shot and drop her also.
My boy tried to bust some brush with the BO on a nice drop tine buck at approx 90 yds, but even the mighty BO does not shoot through sticks well. We had a healthy discussion later that night as to just how much of a shirttail JR was to surrender. ;D
Yesterday morning me and J sat in a nice dbl ladder stand and saw nothing for the first 3 hrs. Then a nice buck showed up off to my right at approx 80 yds but was bird dogging for a doe. I laid the benelli across the rifle rest and the back of the stand and had J take a rest for a shot on this buck. The angle was difficult for him but he finally managed to get a decent position. I told him to shoot, but in the excitement of getting a crack at his first deer, he managed to pull the trigger twice. However these lever guns really work better if you pull the hammer back. By this time, the buck had moved out of J's line of sight was headed out of the woods to cross a bean field over to the neighbors property, however the bean field was on our property. The neighbors property is lined with stands and 3 guys hunt it hard and were in their. Not wanting to lose the buck to the competition, I stood up and swung around hard with the Benelli to take him. I got on him, and by this time he was 130 plus yards out. I knew it was pushing the max effective for the Benelli. I quickly swapped arms with J and nailed the buck at 160 yds with one shot, DRT with a spine shot. It was a decent 10 pt. As we climbed down we saw the hot does and another buck, which we had not seen before head out quick to the neighbors and then heard alot of shooting. Found out later they got the buck, an 8 point. J was very disappointed in himself for not getting the shot off in time and blowing his big chance. I gave him a pep talk about how the season was young and that we have all had a bout of buck fever before and that experience would help him overcome that. Just to keep his chin up and stay ready, and surely he would get another chance. After going over to the field and tagging my buck we slid back over to the woods and took a seat on the ground hoping the rut would work in our favor and give J another chance. About 1/2 an hour later a small slick head came running in hard right on top of us. This little button buck ( we could not tell he was a button) was running at light speed and bouncing all over the woods like a rabbit. I knew J had no chance of hitting this one and also wanted that yearling for the pot. So I opened up with the Benelli and managed to drill a few trees. I never thought for a moment J would even shoot. About then the little button turned sideways and slowed to a walk in a open area of the woods at approx 150 yds. Out of range for me I was looking at him when I heard the 44 mag pop off.
I was about to say what are you doing J but instead saw the button was hit hard! A short track job and J had his first deer. I asked J where he aimed to make the shot ( rifle is zeroed at 100 yds with a 240 gr JSP) and J told me what lead and hold over he took. I did not tell him that it was all wrong and if he had fired on call that a clean miss was what he would have had. The deer was hit a little far back but still only managed to make it about 75 yards before dying. I did not want to rain on J's parade and congratulated him heartily on a fantastic shot. But J is no dummy and told me later that he knew the Lord had allowed him to hit that deer and he really should not have fired. Lessons learned for a young hunter, and I left it at that. J was very excited about getting his first deer and it took the sting out of the earlier failure. We took pics and J sent them via his cell to his Momma back home. I helped J dress his first deer and drag him out. Tally for the day was 5 deer for 5 hunters. I took some hazing for being backed up by J instead of vice versa. ;D That was OK I enjoyed every minute of it.
