First buck on our farm

We bought our farm in early 2010. I have let several smaller bucks walk and only taken does until this year. I couldn't pass up a broadside 75 used shot on this old fellow. The photo doesn't really do justice to how grey his snout was. He was a randy old fellow because when I went to find him I actually smelled him before I saw him.

After years of does I had forgotten how heavy a big buck can be. It was a real effort to drag him up the hill and lift him into the truck.

What hardware did you use to harvest him?

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257 Weatherby magnum with a Hornady 90 grain GMX bullet. Range was about 75 yards. The rifle is a FrankenMauser that I built 20+ years ago from an Interarms Mark X action and a PacNor barrel.

I've taken three deer with the GMX bullet now, ranging from 75 to 341 yards and it has performed well at both close and long range. I found one small expanded copper petal under the skin on the exit side but the bullet base held together and made a good exit wound. He only ran a few steps back into the thicket before he dropped.

gonefishin1 said:

nice buck! how much land do you have?

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65 acres. It's a nice mix of wooded bottoms, cedar thickets and pasture. Really prime territory for deer...which has made it very difficult to raise a garden I can tell you.