Shot a nice buck a few weeks back...
I was hunting with my father-in-law (FIL) a month ago, just outside Llano, TX. Its an area of Texas with rolling hills, mesquite trees, cactus, and thickets of thistle brush. Truly beautiful country.
We arrived at the camp at about 2pm, and knew we were going to make an afternoon hunt. We chose our blinds, and I went to this blind called Big Moo. Mainly because its a ground blind and there are frequently lots of cows around being in the middle of a 2300 acre cattle ranch. My FIL is friends with the guy on this lease, and he has invited us out there the past few years. We can shoot a buck, a doe, and as many hogs as we see.
So I get to my ground blind, and its a box blind that could easily accomodate 2 people, but its old and has 4 huge windows. Pretty much looks like 4 sheets of plywood with a plywood roof, painted dark green, very homegrown. It serves it purpose. So, I am settled in, have my binoculars up and am glassing the area. There is a feeder approx. 45yds directly in front of me, which for a ground blind, is VERY close. You have to be very still and quiet. I might as well have been sitting on the ground. Fortunately, the wind was in my face. Being my first night there, I was going to be very hesitant to shoot something unless it was a magnificent deer. Well, first several does came in and started eating at the feeder followed by 2 spikes and a 4-pt. After a while, I am glassing area and about 100yds off to my left is a big deer, a shooter for sure! Nice wide 10-pt rack, big neck and broad shoulders. But he never comes in. He was in and out of the brush and I really didn't have a shot, so I just watched him. Well, he disappeared into the terrain. So, I went back to watching the does and spikes, and now a 7-pt. Periodically I would scan 360 degrees, hoping to catch a glimpse of that big buck again. Well, sure enough, he appeared directly behind me at about a 100yds. And once again, I didn't reallly have a shot! This was getting very exciting, but frustrating. I saw him another time on my far right doing the same thing, and again he disappeared. The next time I saw him he was again on my far left, and further out than before, closer to 120yds, but this time I had a shot. He was getting further away, and I couldn't let this buck get away. I pulled up the Remington .270, stared down my Leupold scope... and pulled the trigger. He ran about 20yds and fell! I was pumped!
When I finally got out and trekked over to him, he was about 150yds from my blind... and through the binoculars I didn't notice he was an 11-pt!!! This deer had a forked brow tine! Had moss all up in the brow tines! Very cool! Here's a picture of me with the deer:
That evening, I saw 3 hogs, 7 does, 2 spike bucks, a 4-pt buck, and a nice 7-pt buck.
We arrived at the camp at about 2pm, and knew we were going to make an afternoon hunt. We chose our blinds, and I went to this blind called Big Moo. Mainly because its a ground blind and there are frequently lots of cows around being in the middle of a 2300 acre cattle ranch. My FIL is friends with the guy on this lease, and he has invited us out there the past few years. We can shoot a buck, a doe, and as many hogs as we see.
So I get to my ground blind, and its a box blind that could easily accomodate 2 people, but its old and has 4 huge windows. Pretty much looks like 4 sheets of plywood with a plywood roof, painted dark green, very homegrown. It serves it purpose. So, I am settled in, have my binoculars up and am glassing the area. There is a feeder approx. 45yds directly in front of me, which for a ground blind, is VERY close. You have to be very still and quiet. I might as well have been sitting on the ground. Fortunately, the wind was in my face. Being my first night there, I was going to be very hesitant to shoot something unless it was a magnificent deer. Well, first several does came in and started eating at the feeder followed by 2 spikes and a 4-pt. After a while, I am glassing area and about 100yds off to my left is a big deer, a shooter for sure! Nice wide 10-pt rack, big neck and broad shoulders. But he never comes in. He was in and out of the brush and I really didn't have a shot, so I just watched him. Well, he disappeared into the terrain. So, I went back to watching the does and spikes, and now a 7-pt. Periodically I would scan 360 degrees, hoping to catch a glimpse of that big buck again. Well, sure enough, he appeared directly behind me at about a 100yds. And once again, I didn't reallly have a shot! This was getting very exciting, but frustrating. I saw him another time on my far right doing the same thing, and again he disappeared. The next time I saw him he was again on my far left, and further out than before, closer to 120yds, but this time I had a shot. He was getting further away, and I couldn't let this buck get away. I pulled up the Remington .270, stared down my Leupold scope... and pulled the trigger. He ran about 20yds and fell! I was pumped!
When I finally got out and trekked over to him, he was about 150yds from my blind... and through the binoculars I didn't notice he was an 11-pt!!! This deer had a forked brow tine! Had moss all up in the brow tines! Very cool! Here's a picture of me with the deer:
That evening, I saw 3 hogs, 7 does, 2 spike bucks, a 4-pt buck, and a nice 7-pt buck.
Comments
Also, down here alot of companies (like paper companies) that have lots of land for harvesting timber, lease the land they harvest. So, the majority of hunting clubs are on cattle ranches and paper company land. And to lease here is EXPENSIVE!