Ohio 2009 gun season
Dec 10, 2009 22:47:28 GMT -5
Post by rossman40 on Dec 10, 2009 22:47:28 GMT -5
The Ohio 2009 week of gun season has gone by. From the early ML season I learned I have to have bonded SWs so I stocked up. I lost my ramrod also so I made a new one using a cut-to-fit TC rod and installed a spinjag so the rod is factory length with the spinjag. I upgraded my optics from the 3-9X40 3200 with Weaver Grandslam rings to a Weaver Classic Extreme 2.5-10X56 sporting medium 30mm Burris Signature Zees. I also textured the factory synthetic stock and hit it with some camo paint. I didn't like all the shiny brass on the spinjag so I hit it with some paint also.
I had some problems getting zeroed and had to do a quickie zero Sunday at the cabin. I immediately was the object of some wise cracks over the scope, one of my hunting buddies ribbed me “NASA called while you were in the outhouse, they want to know when your going to bring back the Hubble telescope”. I can’t get no respect.
Opening day started out pretty miserable. Rained all morning and didn’t see a thing. Came back in and ate lunch and pondered the next move. Decided to try another area and still didn’t see anything and with the low cloud cover it was getting dark fast in the holler. On the way back to the cabin I went thru some fields and in the next field over I spied two deer on their hind legs sparing. Alright bucks! I’m glassing the area and one of the two deer retreats to the west so I’m watching the winner. Light is going fast (I swear it is still legal shooting hours) and I cannot see a rack but I’m trying to get into a good prone position but when I go prone I have to shoot thru a gap in the foliage of the fence line. I get set and the deer goes thru the gap too fast and exits into the tree line to the south (my left). So I stand up and glassing the area I spot a deer feeding that is facing me square, thinking it is the doe the bucks was fighting over, tough to see because of the fence line behind it. Well this is why I buy big glass and illuminated reticles. I turn on the dot and put it on where the heart should be if the deer raises it’s head. This is a +150yd shot from a standing position, so I take up a stance Ozark or Rifleman would be proud of and let the shot fly. After I recover from the recoil and muzzleflash I see a deer standing in the field which heads south after a few seconds. Thinking I missed I start heading for the cabin and say to myself I should at least check for signs of a hit. So I head over to where the deer was standing when I took the shot and low and behold a button buck is laying there. Ether I shot low or the deer raised its head because I nailed him right between the ears and then the bonded SW took out two or three neck vertebra and exited downward about 6 inches back. I then get razed about trying to shoot their heads off, most of the previous years shots were neck shots. We lasered the shot the next day, 516 feet (172yds).
Next day was pretty much a copy without the rain. No deer seen from my regular morning spot and went to another different area for the evening and had a 4pt basketrack in the crosshairs for about 15 minutes with a perfect broadside set-up at about 200yds but didn’t feel he was worthy of my buck tag on the second day of the season.
Third day (Wednesday) again nothing from my normal morning stand. For the evening I stalked and walked and ended up on a hillside that overlooked a field just before sunset. First a big doe and a yearling comes out at about 175yds and I watch them for a few minutes and then a medium doe comes out in front of me about 110yds. Nice broadside setup but she keeps looking to the far treeline and I keep glassing to see what she is looking at but cannot see anything. It is coming down to closing time so I decide to take the medium doe. I take a good sitting position and dropped the hammer. First time in a while that I heard the impact of the bullet, a bit farther back then planned but she went around in a tight circle and went about 20yds and was down.
Had a low pressure area move in and then some snow that lasted the morning. Didn’t see anything from my regular spots the rest of the week so there may be a shift in their patterns. Had some new hunters move into the area, total dickweeds.
New equipment wise the spinjag is a great addition and the stock texturing was great on the wet days. The WCE is an awesome lowlight scope but I miss the rainguard on the Bushnell. I wish I had jumped earlier on a 2.5-10X50mm, the 56mm is big but like the rap song, “I like big glass and I can not lie”.
Biggest lesson learned this season. If you have something you absolutely want dry in your supposedly waterproof backpack (like a spare set of gloves). Put them in a ziplock.
Biggest mistake made. Do not attempt to blow the snow off your lenses.
I had some problems getting zeroed and had to do a quickie zero Sunday at the cabin. I immediately was the object of some wise cracks over the scope, one of my hunting buddies ribbed me “NASA called while you were in the outhouse, they want to know when your going to bring back the Hubble telescope”. I can’t get no respect.
Opening day started out pretty miserable. Rained all morning and didn’t see a thing. Came back in and ate lunch and pondered the next move. Decided to try another area and still didn’t see anything and with the low cloud cover it was getting dark fast in the holler. On the way back to the cabin I went thru some fields and in the next field over I spied two deer on their hind legs sparing. Alright bucks! I’m glassing the area and one of the two deer retreats to the west so I’m watching the winner. Light is going fast (I swear it is still legal shooting hours) and I cannot see a rack but I’m trying to get into a good prone position but when I go prone I have to shoot thru a gap in the foliage of the fence line. I get set and the deer goes thru the gap too fast and exits into the tree line to the south (my left). So I stand up and glassing the area I spot a deer feeding that is facing me square, thinking it is the doe the bucks was fighting over, tough to see because of the fence line behind it. Well this is why I buy big glass and illuminated reticles. I turn on the dot and put it on where the heart should be if the deer raises it’s head. This is a +150yd shot from a standing position, so I take up a stance Ozark or Rifleman would be proud of and let the shot fly. After I recover from the recoil and muzzleflash I see a deer standing in the field which heads south after a few seconds. Thinking I missed I start heading for the cabin and say to myself I should at least check for signs of a hit. So I head over to where the deer was standing when I took the shot and low and behold a button buck is laying there. Ether I shot low or the deer raised its head because I nailed him right between the ears and then the bonded SW took out two or three neck vertebra and exited downward about 6 inches back. I then get razed about trying to shoot their heads off, most of the previous years shots were neck shots. We lasered the shot the next day, 516 feet (172yds).
Next day was pretty much a copy without the rain. No deer seen from my regular morning spot and went to another different area for the evening and had a 4pt basketrack in the crosshairs for about 15 minutes with a perfect broadside set-up at about 200yds but didn’t feel he was worthy of my buck tag on the second day of the season.
Third day (Wednesday) again nothing from my normal morning stand. For the evening I stalked and walked and ended up on a hillside that overlooked a field just before sunset. First a big doe and a yearling comes out at about 175yds and I watch them for a few minutes and then a medium doe comes out in front of me about 110yds. Nice broadside setup but she keeps looking to the far treeline and I keep glassing to see what she is looking at but cannot see anything. It is coming down to closing time so I decide to take the medium doe. I take a good sitting position and dropped the hammer. First time in a while that I heard the impact of the bullet, a bit farther back then planned but she went around in a tight circle and went about 20yds and was down.
Had a low pressure area move in and then some snow that lasted the morning. Didn’t see anything from my regular spots the rest of the week so there may be a shift in their patterns. Had some new hunters move into the area, total dickweeds.
New equipment wise the spinjag is a great addition and the stock texturing was great on the wet days. The WCE is an awesome lowlight scope but I miss the rainguard on the Bushnell. I wish I had jumped earlier on a 2.5-10X50mm, the 56mm is big but like the rap song, “I like big glass and I can not lie”.
Biggest lesson learned this season. If you have something you absolutely want dry in your supposedly waterproof backpack (like a spare set of gloves). Put them in a ziplock.
Biggest mistake made. Do not attempt to blow the snow off your lenses.