2015 SD Whitetail

[Davek1977]

Taken yesterday evening at about 250-275 yards. Rifle was a .243 700 Remington BDL, ammo was "American Whitetail" Horandy 100 gr Interlock bullet. Deer was hit through the lungs, liver, and heart, and still managed a 100 yard dash before dropping dead, never to wiggle again. We thought this was going to be a poor year for hunting, but my 2 nephews and I took 2 5x5s and a 5x6 off our ranch

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

congrats that's a fine looking Deer

 

[Davek1977]

My favorite partabout the experience was, in reality, that my Dad was there to see me make what ended up ebing a perfect shot. Due to various circumstances, he hasn't gotten to hunt much with me this season. That said, he still has his touch...he was the one who suggested I hunt this spot, and over the years, and many deer later, I've learned his hunches are usually worth paying attention to Another noteworthy fact about this deer....he commemorates my 25th season in a row, since I was eligible to hunt, that I've hunted the family ranch. Every deer season Ive taken part in has involved hunting "the home place"....

 

[3212]

Thats a great whitetail.What did he weigh?That terrain is so different from the area I hunt here in PA.We have steep wooded ridges above narrow farming valleys.Most shots in the woods are under 100 yds.I once managed to take a doe at 270 yds with a .243 across a mountain meadow.My last buck in the brush was about 70 to 80 yds.Our largest deer weigh about 150 lbs. live weight.

 

[H&Hhunter]

That is a beautiful, classic whitetail buck! Congratulations on a fantastic deer. I'd be proud to hang that buck on my wall.

 

[Nature Boy]

Very nice!

 

[ZeroJunk]

Nice. Wish they grew them like that around here.

 

[3212]

Another question.Do you have mule deer in that area?

 

[Davek1977]

I honestly couldn't tell you the weight, but would guess maybe 160-170 lbs? Under 200...and yes, we have Mule deer in the area as well. However, this year I had a whitetail only tag. Otherwise I could have tagged out opening weekend with a VERY nice mule deer buck I had to let walk at 25-30 yards!

 

[Casefull]

Congrats. Nice deer.

 

[Patocazador]

Nice. Wish they grew them like that around here.

Me too.

My tree stand would be useless out there.

 

[cowpoke]

WOW hes a whopper ! congrats.

 

[Davek1977]

I wouldn't be a good uncle if I didn't show off my nephew's deer as well!!! The first deer was taken less than a 1/2 mile from my deer, with a 400 yd plus shot by my 17 yr old nephew. His little brother connected with 2nd deer 2 hours or so into opening day on another area of the ranch.

 

[Nature Boy]

Another whopper.

 

[3212]

Dang,those are great deer!In my area any one of them would be a once in a life time trophy.

 

[Davek1977]

I can't call these deer "average" for the area, but, in all honesty, none would warrant much attention in these parts. They're good representations of whats out there, but there are certainly bigger deer in the area. A friend of mine played a big role in the harvest of a 185 class whitetail this year!!!!

http://southdakotahunting.com/photo/mellette-county-bruiser Now, THAT deer is ANYTHING but "average" for this area of the world. I was fortunate enough to see trail cam pics of this deer the past two years, before he was harvested a couple weeks ago.

 

[Davek1977]

While not a great pic, and MY horns got cut off significantly...here are the racks from our 2015 whitetail hunt....Oldest nephew's on the left, younger one in the middle, and mine off to the right. Not bad, considering we didn't think we had much in the way of good bucks around this year. The racks furthest to the left and right were taken within a 1/2 mile of one another



the 2nd picture is a deer a friend of mine has hunted the last 2 years. While he didn't harvest the buck, he played a significant role in its taking! What a PIG!!!!! There are more pics in the post above this one, in the link

 

[BudgetBucks1]

Nice bucks! That's almost enough motivation for me to move from NC to SD. Another plus is that I love long distance shooting. In NC it is hard to find a place to shoot over 200 yards. I shot a doe this year at 275 yards and couldn't wipe the smile off my face for a week. Looking forward to next years pics. Those would all be bucks of a lifetime in NC.

Here is a pic of me and my brothers Thanksgiving vacation bucks from this year. We hunted as a family also and had a great time. Believe it or not these three bucks are all decent bucks for this area of NC. The six pointer was the oldest and weighed the most but had smaller horns. All of these deer were shot from less than 40 yards away in thick woods.