J_McLeod
Member
Some friends of my wife and I invited us to join them on the 100 acres in North Central KY for a hunt this weekend. They went up a day earlier and got a doe so the wife watched the kids while the husband guided my wife and I around.
We left my wife near a trail around dawn with a .243 while he and stalked around the property. We saw several deer throughout the morning. At about 8am we came back to where we left her. We were just sitting around talking when my friend spotted a buck walking up the trial toward us only about 20 yards away. I was stuck kneeling behind a small sapling while my wife had a bad angle. I couldn't get a good position to shoot from and he was facing us, but he'd also sensed us and appeared about to bolt. So I put the crosshairs about the center of his chest and pulled the trigger on my .308. In hindsight, I somewhat regret this decision. He ran away, and my friend and I went over to check for blood. While we were looking we heard another shot close by, and my wife told use she'd shot at a doe walking towards us (right side of the deer). We found no blood from either shot, and called off the hunt around 10, deciding to come back in the evening.
On the drive in to our hunting spot in the evening, we spotted a dead buck by the side of the road. We climbed out to inspect it and found a small entrance wound in the center of the left chest and no exit wound. I appeared to have been shot by a small caliber bullet and conveniently died at the side of the road for us. My wife happy claimed him, took some pictures and told all her friends, as this was the first hunt for us both. We decided to continue out until sunset but be very judicious in shooting, as we already had one per family.
My friend was kind enough to gut it for us, and we found the that the bullet had torn up the intestines after going through ribs on one side, but the lungs and heart appeared mostly intact, Skinning it, we found a slightly longer entrance would, that indicated the bullet had probably entered from the front or at a very shallow angle. This meant that the buck was more likely the one that I shot at, but we agreed not to tell her. If only one of us was going to get one, I'm glad it was her, and I didn't feel so bad about missing at 20 yards. It turned out to be a very lucky shot, or unlucky. A few millimeters in either direction would have missed or crippled him,and either probably would have been better. But we did get our first buck, a 6 point and had a fun weekend. Next time I'll wait for a better shot or let it go.
I thoroughly the hunt, the time outdoors and the time with friends and family. The gutting and butchering will take some getting used to if we do it again.
We left my wife near a trail around dawn with a .243 while he and stalked around the property. We saw several deer throughout the morning. At about 8am we came back to where we left her. We were just sitting around talking when my friend spotted a buck walking up the trial toward us only about 20 yards away. I was stuck kneeling behind a small sapling while my wife had a bad angle. I couldn't get a good position to shoot from and he was facing us, but he'd also sensed us and appeared about to bolt. So I put the crosshairs about the center of his chest and pulled the trigger on my .308. In hindsight, I somewhat regret this decision. He ran away, and my friend and I went over to check for blood. While we were looking we heard another shot close by, and my wife told use she'd shot at a doe walking towards us (right side of the deer). We found no blood from either shot, and called off the hunt around 10, deciding to come back in the evening.
On the drive in to our hunting spot in the evening, we spotted a dead buck by the side of the road. We climbed out to inspect it and found a small entrance wound in the center of the left chest and no exit wound. I appeared to have been shot by a small caliber bullet and conveniently died at the side of the road for us. My wife happy claimed him, took some pictures and told all her friends, as this was the first hunt for us both. We decided to continue out until sunset but be very judicious in shooting, as we already had one per family.
My friend was kind enough to gut it for us, and we found the that the bullet had torn up the intestines after going through ribs on one side, but the lungs and heart appeared mostly intact, Skinning it, we found a slightly longer entrance would, that indicated the bullet had probably entered from the front or at a very shallow angle. This meant that the buck was more likely the one that I shot at, but we agreed not to tell her. If only one of us was going to get one, I'm glad it was her, and I didn't feel so bad about missing at 20 yards. It turned out to be a very lucky shot, or unlucky. A few millimeters in either direction would have missed or crippled him,and either probably would have been better. But we did get our first buck, a 6 point and had a fun weekend. Next time I'll wait for a better shot or let it go.
I thoroughly the hunt, the time outdoors and the time with friends and family. The gutting and butchering will take some getting used to if we do it again.
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