Rat Fink
Member
I have had a tough elk season so far. Archery season had me on the bulls, but a twig ruined my best chance in September. 3 days of rifle hunting had yielded a big fat zero on sightings.
Yesterday my luck all changed. I got up extra early and drove to a spot close to home and was the first and only guy up the mountain for the day. At daylight I parked and headed down the old logging road to sit on a clearcut I have been watching some big mulie bucks in. I saw the small herd of deer feeding in the timber with a good buck nosing the does. He was the shooter I had seen a few times prior. To me a shooter mule deer is pretty big as I have never had a mature mule deer buck that tasted any better than a dirty dishrag, so I usually let a mulie walk in favor of a tasty whitetail. I decided to close the gap a little to assess him better and get a better shot. On the way down the ridge I walked into an even bigger buck as I rounded a bend in the old logging road. He spooked and I couldn't get a shot as he bounded off. That buck was way more than a shooter. He was a monster. That was disappointment number one of the morning.
Once I got into good position to find the original herd of deer, I slowed way down and picked apart the timber edge with my binoculars. I saw the head and neck of the biggest buck with the herd, which was my intended target. He was about 100 yards out and standing still, but on alert. I didn't have much time as the wind was swirling. I wanted a better look at his headgear before I pulled the trigger. The wind picked up on the back of my neck and my assessment was over, they scattered like bowling pins. Deer bounded in all directions and the big buck was gone. Disappointment number 2.
I figured they went up the adjacent ridge line so I stayed low and downwind while I snuck around to get in front of them. I made it a few hundred yards carefully sneaking through the timber when I caught the outline of an animal on the ridge in front of me. I was in fairly open timber so at 200 yards I had a good view. It was a bull elk looking at me. He was slightly quartered to me but not by much. I didn't have much time at this point but many decisions needed to be made in a hurry. It wasn't a spike so I knew I could shoot it and that was all I cared about. I raised the rifle and had a shot standing freehand, but I knelt down and dumped my pack and tried off the knee for more stability, that shot was blocked by branches, so I stood tall, filled the 2 power scope with a lot of shoulder and let the 120 grain TTSX fly out of my 7mm-08. The bull spun on a broken leg and disappeared over the ridge. He only traveled about 40 yards and was piled up. Perfect shot thru the onside shoulder, center punch of the lungs, and a complete exit just in front of the diaphragm. He is my first rifle killed bull.
Thanks to my buddies who came to my rescue to help me pack him out in the raging blizzard that we had on top of the mountain.
Yesterday my luck all changed. I got up extra early and drove to a spot close to home and was the first and only guy up the mountain for the day. At daylight I parked and headed down the old logging road to sit on a clearcut I have been watching some big mulie bucks in. I saw the small herd of deer feeding in the timber with a good buck nosing the does. He was the shooter I had seen a few times prior. To me a shooter mule deer is pretty big as I have never had a mature mule deer buck that tasted any better than a dirty dishrag, so I usually let a mulie walk in favor of a tasty whitetail. I decided to close the gap a little to assess him better and get a better shot. On the way down the ridge I walked into an even bigger buck as I rounded a bend in the old logging road. He spooked and I couldn't get a shot as he bounded off. That buck was way more than a shooter. He was a monster. That was disappointment number one of the morning.
Once I got into good position to find the original herd of deer, I slowed way down and picked apart the timber edge with my binoculars. I saw the head and neck of the biggest buck with the herd, which was my intended target. He was about 100 yards out and standing still, but on alert. I didn't have much time as the wind was swirling. I wanted a better look at his headgear before I pulled the trigger. The wind picked up on the back of my neck and my assessment was over, they scattered like bowling pins. Deer bounded in all directions and the big buck was gone. Disappointment number 2.
I figured they went up the adjacent ridge line so I stayed low and downwind while I snuck around to get in front of them. I made it a few hundred yards carefully sneaking through the timber when I caught the outline of an animal on the ridge in front of me. I was in fairly open timber so at 200 yards I had a good view. It was a bull elk looking at me. He was slightly quartered to me but not by much. I didn't have much time at this point but many decisions needed to be made in a hurry. It wasn't a spike so I knew I could shoot it and that was all I cared about. I raised the rifle and had a shot standing freehand, but I knelt down and dumped my pack and tried off the knee for more stability, that shot was blocked by branches, so I stood tall, filled the 2 power scope with a lot of shoulder and let the 120 grain TTSX fly out of my 7mm-08. The bull spun on a broken leg and disappeared over the ridge. He only traveled about 40 yards and was piled up. Perfect shot thru the onside shoulder, center punch of the lungs, and a complete exit just in front of the diaphragm. He is my first rifle killed bull.
Thanks to my buddies who came to my rescue to help me pack him out in the raging blizzard that we had on top of the mountain.
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