Do people still hunt anymore? Too many jokes here, not enough hunting stories LOL!

Wednesday was the opener for our Muzzleloader deer season. We had a storm roll through tuesday afternoon, brought temps down well below freezing in the high country. Winds were unreal, 7 hours of it. I thought for sure my trailer cover was going to tear off.

The following morning, it was freezing, and the high country was blasted with new sleet and snow. There was nothing moving above the treeline at 10k ft elevation. I moved a bit lower, immediately ran into elk... tons of elk. Bulls everywhere. I didnt have an elk tag unfortunately. I could have easily killed at least 6 big bulls that I had at around 60-70 yards for quite some time.

But, I was there for deer, and they were hard to find. I moved lower in elevation still, into thicker cover that I figured they moved to to get out of the wind. Few does, no bucks. Went home for some lunch, refuel, take a shower, then headed back up in early afternoon.

More of the same, lots of elk... few does. Then, with about 45 minutes left of light, I saw a head of a deer move through an opening with antlers. I grabbed my shooting sticks, gun and began to cut an intercept path according to where I thought he was going to go. The new snow and wet grass made it very quiet. I was able to close within 60 yards and I got a nice broadside shot. He bolted out of there on a dead run, I never heard an impact sound, and I never found a single drop of blood.

I followed his trail, which was a pita... grass hid most of his tracks, I could see occasional bits of dirt on top of splotchy snow here and there that he had kicked up. After 60 yards trailing through some thick cover, I stumbled on him laying against this log. He was bigger than I initially though. Very pleased. Pretty decent buck for this area.



-DallanC

Congrats! That's a nice looking deer! What gun/cartridge/bullet were you using?

50cal Remington 700ML SS (not the ultimate, I got this gun in 2003), shooting a 300gr XTP (I usually use 240's but the 300 was grouping better leading up to the hunt). 90grns Pyrodex.

-DallanC

Great job Dallan.

Well done Dallan…that’s a damn fine looking critter mate.

I’m pretty sure that many of us want to get out and do some hunting, but dare I say COVID has put the kybosh on many hunting trips. My usual hunting venue is out of reach at the moment because it necessitates crossing the State border and will require thousands of $$$ in quarantine costs on returning. I have been trying to source a “local” property to hunt, but so far, no success.

Congrats, Dallan! As usual, you are starting off the hunting season for the HuntingNuts. I head to NW CO for a pronghorn hunt next week.

Vince wrote:

Well done Dallan…that’s a damn fine looking critter mate. .

Thanks, he's already proving to be fantastic eating





-DallanC

good stuff...Ive been out hunting,but not been very sucessful
actually spent most of the day out scaring wallabies (may have connected with a couple) mate has just bought a carl Gustave 6.5x55mm so it was out on maiden voyage....seems to be a good one.spring has just arrived,got snowed on a week ago out after deer...windfall everywhere after recent storms making life hard in the thick stuff.

He looks great on the ground, and maybe better in the pan!

Thanks for the load info! I'm always trying to learn more!

Congratulations, that is a nice deer.

We in Oz are under very strict lockdown and cannot travel further than 5 km from home atm.
I have to cancel my August trip - not happy at all.
The govt is promising freedom by December

gelandangan wrote:

Congratulations, that is a nice deer. We in Oz are under very strict lockdown and cannot travel further than 5 km from home atm. I have to cancel my August trip - not happy at all. The govt is promising freedom by December

Yeah…good luck with that mate.