Did it take out the offside shoulder? What a blood trail, there's no replacement for displacement in that regard!
I'm guessing based on the entrance and quartering, both shoulders are intact. Well done! CONGRATs to NB Jr! I'm actually re-discovering the .35s now and it's great to see how effective they are. My hunting style is changing to more wooded, my neighbors farm is pretty heavily wooded and earlier this week a few of us from the fort put on a couple drives which resulted in one buck and a doe. Unfortunately most of what we saw were bucks and the majority of us have filled our buck tags. We've decide the "Ft. Leavenworth Deer Drive" is now going to be an annual thing, so I'm now looking for a used 760 or 7600 in 35Rem or .35 Whelen, that I can customize. The .35REm I can easily re-chamber to .358W. For this stuff I just don't need my long shooters and I may even buy a red plaid jacket. It's actually good to see the effects of a "non-perfect" shot because that's exactly what the blockers and drivers will most likely experience.
Ahhh..yes you are correct I mistakenly read quartering away for some reason re-reading it I obviously read it incorrectly.
I congratulate your son. My son's first buck was a decent 9 pt. He said, "This is too easy" and went back to video games. I hope your son doesn't do the same.
That's a real nice first buck. Congratulations to you and your son. My first buck, not first deer. Had both antlers broken off, the longer one was 2 3/4", too short to qualify as a legal buck in NY, so it had to go on a doe tag.
I realized the pics I posted showed a stoic face on my son that belies his joy. These are better He had a pretty good dose of buck fever too. He showed me his hand after he took the shot and it was shaking like a leaf
You can be happy and stoic at the same time. Tho in every picture of my friends oldest boy he's got that "Great Stone Face" look no matter what. BTW, those happy face pictures are great too.
Congratulations. Very nice buck. That looks like some excellent deer habitat. What part of West Texas if you don't mind?
Great way to start out, congratulations to you both. It's been over 50 years since my son shot his first buck and we've shared almost a lifetime of hunts since (always looking forward to just one more). Hope you and your son share as many in the coming years. Regards, hps
Congrats and a big thumbs up for NB Jr.. Nice buck; nice choice of rifles and a truly memorable hunt for both of you. Don't worry about those stoic faced pictures. When you get your first buck you try to appear calm and composed for the camera like someone who does this on a regular basis and not like some over excited newbie. Like some of those stoic faced pix of me with my first buck trying to look like an old pro.
Nice west Texas deer, i have a worker from west Texas and he would let you now that he was not from Texas he was from WEST TEXAS congrats to your son !!!
My taxidermist gave me great service and got my son’s mount turned around in one month. It looks great and he loves it
He felt bad that it took so long for the one he was doing for me from last year so he made up for it by getting this one done quickly. He’s a good dude