Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: JW_Halverson on November 22, 2015, 08:04:10 pm
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It has, admittedly, been a very difficult year of deer hunting. What with people illegally baiting deer in the area I had spent a good 40 hours learning and scouting, weather, people driving where they do not belong on 4 wheelers, my own countless mistakes, breaking a dang nice pair of binoculars, and holding myself to higher ethics.
With Thursday's debacle with breaking the binoculars, I was seriously considering hanging up the gun and quitting. My attitude was almost unrecoverable, despite the best support from iowabow and other friends in here and around home. Thursday was supposed to be a good day, what with a cold, snowy front coming in. Friday I had to work and the snow on the ground taunted me. Around here, a skiff of snow quiets the stalking and highlights the deer. The cold gets them moving, and we are in the PEAK OF THE RUT right now. There, literally, would be no better time to hunt for deer. But I was just not feeling it.
I didn't even set an alarm yesterday morning and I slept until the dog had to walk all over me in bed to get me up so she could go out and pee. I took my sweet time making coffee and thawing a mouse to feed the kestrel. A second cup, an hour noodling with Facebook, cleaning the kitchen, taking the dog for a walk to a friend's house, picking up groceries....finally I ran out of excuses. I had to look myself in the hairy eyeball and ask if I was a going to be a quitter.
I had successfully shamed myself to action, but had done nothing to adjust my own attitude. I decided to strike out into new territory (easy to do with the Black Hills is 1.25 million acres and has more miles of logging roads than the entire state highway system). I hit Estes Creek Rd and kept my speed low. I was looking for recent logging activity, thinning operations, and aspen filled valleys or draws. Those three are usually solid bets. Twenty miles north of Rapid City there was more snow on the ground and the very lightly travelled gravel road was slick with snow. Still, fresh wheel tracks were common, roadhunting is the norm around here.
I found some slash piles of ponderosa pines on a high pass over a ridgeline and thought I'd try working thru the thick cover to the ridgeline. I would have the sun over my right shoulder and the wind in my face, good enough! As soon as I got off the road and into the dog-hair pines, the payoff was deer tracks! And plenty of 'em! Every 10 ft there was another set of tracks meandering thru the brush. No heavily worn trails, just browsing deer trails everywhere. But in this sort of cover, the view is limited to about 10 yds. These stunted pines were also loaded with fluffy, powdery snow and my shoulders could not help but brush against them dumping snow on me at every step. I pushed on, keeping ever uphill, seeking to top out and get a view. After nearly half a mile and countless spooked deer (none of which I saw hide nor hair), I reached the top of the ridge. I walked the top looking for a meadow to set and rattle, but all I found was a small patch where some prior snowstorm had flattened most of the scrawny saplings.
I sat and rattled a while before thinking I should look thru the scope to get the feel for the range. The front of the scope was packed full of snow. Right then all the snow down my neck, the dense cover blocking any view of game, and the entire weight of the season crashed against down on me. I stood up with a few expletives and charged straight in the direction of where I thought my vehicle was downslope. Within a double handful of yards I was working up a sweat and the steam was starting to leak from my ears. I heard a whitetail blow a warning behind me and I spun around. The rifle slung over my shoulder whacked against the trunk of one of the very rare large pines dislodging it from my shoulder. The butt hit the ground just as my hand caught the barrel and leaning the muzzle away from me. An icicle of fear went thru my heart as I realized I needed to drop my childish attitude and stop this tantrum before I killed myself with stupidity.
When I got back to the vehicle, I carefully brushed snow off the scope and unloaded the gun. I got inside and fired up the heater on full blast to dry the rifle as best it could. I decided I was done for the year since I could not behave like an adult. Didn't mean I couldn't drive to the end of this new (to me) road, exploring new scenery. After all, the snow in the pines made it look like a holiday card.
An hour later, I saw a Forest Service side road with a great amount of logging activity sign. I cranked the wheel and drove in about half a mile. I'd emptied my small thermos of coffee on the drive, eaten an apple, a banana, and a Snickers bar. I had laughed as I unwrapped the candy, saying out loud, "You know, you just aren't yourself when you are hungry.) I parked the Jeep on a flat spot just off the road, reloaded the gun and got out. the coffee wanted out, so I made necessary adjustments to my garments and relaxed.
Talk about being caught with my pants down. Two fat does walked out from behind a 50 yd long slash pile and gave me the eye. They seemed neither scared nor impressed with me. In fact, I was only second on their list of immediate concerns as they kept flicking their tails and looking back behind them into the tree line. I hastily finished up my tasks just as their amorous and adventurous companion hurried to catch up. I saw antlers, and enough of 'em.
At about 65 yds, he finally saw me and stopped. As I moved the gun to my shoulder, he turned to go back to the woods. I laid the crosshairs in the pocket and pulled the trigger. He went down, backend first. BAD SIGN! He struggled to get up and I worked the action, firing another round. He went down again, but his front legs pumped to lift himself.
The memory of whacking the gun on the tree and dropping it to the ground hit me like a PGA drive off the tee box right between my eyes. This was no time for dawdling and I slipped another round in the chamber, slid the safety on, and ran up on the poor struggling beast. Gutsick and ashamed of myself, I fired the third round from 10 yds, sighting down the action and along the barrel, not the scope. He was down and down hard, and my magazine was spent.
Guys, there was no glory in this hunt. My failures added up to this animal's agony in passing. The only explanation I can offer is my lack of experience with scoped modern rifles. I have only owned a couple and never really got comfortable with them. Certainly not as comfortable as I am with my flintlocks. Still, it's done. Start to finish, I doubt it took 30 seconds from when I saw the buck appear until he expired.
(http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Hunting%20albums/2015HillsDeer/cropa_zpsmihxjc92.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Hunting%20albums/2015HillsDeer/cropa_zpsmihxjc92.jpg.html)
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Atta boy :)
New York, New York. 8)
Pulled up my pants and got back in the race. :laugh:
Zuma
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(http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Hunting%20albums/2015HillsDeer/crop3_zpsdqlios0o.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Hunting%20albums/2015HillsDeer/crop3_zpsdqlios0o.jpg.html)
Five by five, but a broken off sticker on first tine after the eyeguard on the left side, or he would have been a six by five.
(http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Hunting%20albums/2015HillsDeer/crop2_zpssrfptof5.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Hunting%20albums/2015HillsDeer/crop2_zpssrfptof5.jpg.html)
(http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/JW_Halverson/Hunting%20albums/2015HillsDeer/IMG_20151121_135011122_zpsrccav9st.jpg) (http://s365.photobucket.com/user/JW_Halverson/media/Hunting%20albums/2015HillsDeer/IMG_20151121_135011122_zpsrccav9st.jpg.html)
There is a euro mount in my future. I also intend to have this one scored by Safari Club International.
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Very nice 5 by. Some seasons are just work. You obviously put yours in.
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Outstanding John!
A fine looking Black Hills deer.
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Nice deer JW. Some seasons can be frustrating but, it looks like it worked out alright for you.
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Outstanding John!
A fine looking Black Hills deer.
Thanks Sean. GF&P's decision to stop selling unlimited buck tags over the counter has paid off nicely, has it not? See any bucks like that 20 years ago? And this guy is not exactly in the top echelons, they come even bigger than this!
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Congrats! I would be thrilled with that buck!
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Congrats! I would be thrilled with that buck!
He's more than I asked for, sir.
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Perseverance, persistence skill or just blind luck I'll take any of them if it puts meat in the pot, i can hunt and hunt, on foot mind you and some sob that never gets out of his rig will tag out while i have tag soup, enjoy that fine buck JW i would
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A fine selection of steaks from this buck are going to be set aside for 2016 Spring Turkey Camp
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Very nice Jdub.............good job................
DBar
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OUTSTANDING buck, great story. Sounded like a good hunt to me.
Hey if it was easy, everyone would do it.
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Nice one, JDub, I can hear them sizzling.
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OOOOOH Baby that is a nice on there J.W. ! Sorry about your bad luck, and glad for your good luck. If it weren't for the bad luck, you wouldn't appreciate the good luck. You would not have anything to compare it to. But it got you to the place you needed to be, at the right time. ;) What kind of Binoculars, and scope did you have? Like a good Friend of mine used to say, put a 500-600 dollar scope on a hundred dollar gun! I have been a steadfast fan, and customer of Leupold scopes, and binoculars, though I do own a pair of lower priced Steiner binoculars, I had originally bought for my Girlfriend, but she liked the eye relief on my Leupold's, better, so I had to get her a pair like mine for her. I got her the compact Rogue 10 X 25. Which is what I have. The Steiner's are 10 X 25 also. Both are waterproof. I cannot say enough about Leupold scopes, and their warranties. When I was in the Army, and stationed in Italy, I bought a 3-9 X 40 Leupold with duplex recticle. I still have it. In the late 70's I dropped my rifle from a tree, when my quick detached sling swivel quick detached, and a rock jumped out to catch it. It hit right on the bell housing, where the lens sits! I was sick! I reluctantly looked at the front lens, and lo and behold, it was intact! I sighted through the scope, and all seemed well! I test fired it later that day, and it was dead on! Next season was approaching, and I was checking for rust, and such, and sighted through the scope, and uh oh! There are little trees growing in my scope! It had leaked the nitrogen out! I sent it back to Leupold, and explained what had happened, and asked them to call me with what the cost would be to repair it, and not to bother to fix the back lens which had rubbed on the hammer spur of my pistol, and gouged a small area on the rear lens, but did not interfere with sight pictures. A week later, I received a letter, saying there was no charge, and a week after that, I received the scope back, and rear lens was replaced also. I essentially have a new scope. It was the same scope, but they repaired everything! I have three or four others, that I have bought since. You can get the old model 3-9 X 40 pretty cheap, and all Leupold scopes, and binoculars come with a lifetime warranty! I have a couple of Rifle man scopes, with duplex, and mil dots, on the lower, section of the recticle. You can get them fairly cheap also, under $180.00. S.G. Has them for $169.00. They are water proof, shock proof, fog proof, etc. and the Lifetime warranty, and they stand behind it! I have dealt with other companies, that did not. One that is named after a "Fish Hawk, particularly! But even after all that happened to you, it all came through. You just had to appease the ancestors, is all. That is a really nice Buck, and you earned it. Paid your dues so to speak.
Wayne
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Brilliant written story as always JW.
I can't hunt over here, but that gets me close enough (without the discomfort too :) )
Do I get my armchair hunters badge? ::)
Great to hear that inner dialogue...
cheers
Del
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Way to hang in there Jdub - dandy example of a Whitetail Buck ! Bob
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Congrats,Way to hang in JW, nice buck and loved the story. :)
Pappy
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Congrats - like others have said, way to hang in there. Sorry this year was so frustrating. I need to learn more about 2016 Spring Turkey camp...
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Fine buck J-dub!
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So, where did the three rounds go?
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I am glad you got your buck JW and a good one at that. I am still fighting demons myself but I hope I have your determination and luck. You know "a little bit of luck and anything will do for brains." I am banking on that. Gota get out there.
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JW, as I have stated before, you deserved this. You are honest to the very end. Most would have woven a tale so big that many would doubt it, yet with nary a witness couldn't doubt it. Good work.
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Great looking buck JW. It has some major tine length. That would make a fine looking skull mount.
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OOOOOH Baby that is a nice on there J.W. ! Sorry about your bad luck, and glad for your good luck. If it weren't for the bad luck, you wouldn't appreciate the good luck. You would not have anything to compare it to. But it got you to the place you needed to be, at the right time. ;) What kind of Binoculars, and scope did you have? Like a good Friend of mine used to say, put a 500-600 dollar scope on a hundred dollar gun! I have been a steadfast fan, and customer of Leupold scopes, and binoculars, though I do own a pair of lower priced Steiner binoculars, I had originally bought for my Girlfriend, but she liked the eye relief on my Leupold's, better, so I had to get her a pair like mine for her. I got her the compact Rogue 10 X 25. Which is what I have. The Steiner's are 10 X 25 also. Both are waterproof. I cannot say enough about Leupold scopes, and their warranties. When I was in the Army, and stationed in Italy, I bought a 3-9 X 40 Leupold with duplex recticle. I still have it. In the late 70's I dropped my rifle from a tree, when my quick detached sling swivel quick detached, and a rock jumped out to catch it. It hit right on the bell housing, where the lens sits! I was sick! I reluctantly looked at the front lens, and lo and behold, it was intact! I sighted through the scope, and all seemed well! I test fired it later that day, and it was dead on! Next season was approaching, and I was checking for rust, and such, and sighted through the scope, and uh oh! There are little trees growing in my scope! It had leaked the nitrogen out! I sent it back to Leupold, and explained what had happened, and asked them to call me with what the cost would be to repair it, and not to bother to fix the back lens which had rubbed on the hammer spur of my pistol, and gouged a small area on the rear lens, but did not interfere with sight pictures. A week later, I received a letter, saying there was no charge, and a week after that, I received the scope back, and rear lens was replaced also. I essentially have a new scope. It was the same scope, but they repaired everything! I have three or four others, that I have bought since. You can get the old model 3-9 X 40 pretty cheap, and all Leupold scopes, and binoculars come with a lifetime warranty! I have a couple of Rifle man scopes, with duplex, and mil dots, on the lower, section of the recticle. You can get them fairly cheap also, under $180.00. S.G. Has them for $169.00. They are water proof, shock proof, fog proof, etc. and the Lifetime warranty, and they stand behind it! I have dealt with other companies, that did not. One that is named after a "Fish Hawk, particularly! But even after all that happened to you, it all came through. You just had to appease the ancestors, is all. That is a really nice Buck, and you earned it. Paid your dues so to speak.
Wayne
Wayne, the scope is Leupold's 2-7x by 40. Not their upper end, but good glass, still. The binos are Steiner Predator 8x42's. I will borrow a LeadSled and run a magazine downrange to see if the hairs are loose or if it will hold a zero. The binos get shipped off to Steiner later this week. They said they will warranty them even though the only fault was mine for dropping them.
So, where did the three rounds go?
I know one broke a femur and one went high in the shoulder and barely caught the top of the lungs. I am unsure of the shot in between. When the hide comes off, the story will be exposed.
JW, as I have stated before, you deserved this. You are honest to the very end. Most would have woven a tale so big that many would doubt it, yet with nary a witness couldn't doubt it. Good work.
I care about the consumptive outdoors activities (hunting/fishing/etc) that I am willing to expose my failures in order that folks can learn from my mistakes. Especially if it leads to higher standards of ethics and efforts for myself and those that I can reach. A lesson from working with raptors is that sunlight kills bacteria. Anything that needs cleaning also needs to be exposed to the light. Feel free to internalize that as necessary.
Great looking buck JW. It has some major tine length. That would make a fine looking skull mount.
You and I have almost the same process for cleaning skulls, sir! And with those long tines, this mount is gonna really be beautiful. It will also serve as a reminder to keep my temper in check, watch the optics more carefully, and above all...just slow down and enjoy the ride. Every time I look at this rack on the wall I will feel guilt for the failures that added up to unnecessary pain this animal felt. To cover up his reproach would be a dishonor to the memory.
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Congrats JW!
You earned that buck.
I always tell people, I kill more deer with persistence than any other way.
Sure looks like persistence paid off for you in a big way!
Kevin
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Glad that Steiner is going to honor their warranty. I hope the scope is OK. Might the mount have been knocked a little loose? If the scope is at fault, Leupold will warranty it. Great story, and great Buck. A European mount will make a nice feeding perch for the little Kestrel. Well at least, in the morning, when you were self flagellating about going, you at least didn't get the coffee cups mixed up with which was for heating mice, and which was for coffee. ......Again. ...... ::) :P
Wayne
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Well at least, in the morning, when you were self flagellating about going, you at least didn't get the coffee cups mixed up with which was for heating mice, and which was for coffee. ......Again. ...... ::) :P
Wayne
No. Not really. Not for long.
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Well glad to hear that you have the coffee cup issue, resolved. But I guess once is all it would take. Did you have a chance to test fire the rifle yet? Oh, why did you choose the 8 X 40 binoculars? Even as a kid, I always wondered why, anyone would choose a 7 X 35 pair of binoculars. For my own personal choice, it is at least a 10 power, fixed, or variable. But everyone has their likes, and dislikes. Let us know what the outcome is for your rifle. How is the barrel bedding now? A lot of things could cause a miss like that. Snow, in between the stock, and barrel, wood expanding, or contracting, etc. But I think that is all stuff you already are aware of. I had a doe permit, one year, and saw a nice big doe, about a hundred yd.s away, and sighted in on her heart area, and bang, a complete miss, she did not move, just looked around, and went back to feeding, another, shot, and then another, and different sighting, finally she and the other does, took off. Later the next day, the coyotes, were celebrating. After the shots, I checked the scope mount, and it was sloppy loose. I felt sick, and knew I should have checked before the next shots. But I did not, and felt, and still feel bad about the doe. I don't know where I hit her. She did not act like she was hit at all. And when she and the other does, left, it was not a fast run, just sort of a slow trot. No hint of being wounded. I honestly thought I had missed by a mile.
Wayne
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Congratulations JW. I enjoyed reading your story. I showed Keller the pictures and he says, "wow". Thanks for sharing the story.
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Congrats neighbor! For what it's worth I've experienced my fair share of disappointments this year. Case in point, lazy "ranchers" not checking their fences on a regular allowing livestock to wander in every conceivable hunting spot of mine. Note to self, make sure no studs or bulls are in the vicinity of your grunt call. Otherwise prepare to sprint like an Olympian.
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Well glad to hear that you have the coffee cup issue, resolved. But I guess once is all it would take. Did you have a chance to test fire the rifle yet? Oh, why did you choose the 8 X 40 binoculars? Even as a kid, I always wondered why, anyone would choose a 7 X 35 pair of binoculars. For my own personal choice, it is at least a 10 power, fixed, or variable. But everyone has their likes, and dislikes. Let us know what the outcome is for your rifle. How is the barrel bedding now? A lot of things could cause a miss like that. Snow, in between the stock, and barrel, wood expanding, or contracting, etc. But I think that is all stuff you already are aware of. I had a doe permit, one year, and saw a nice big doe, about a hundred yd.s away, and sighted in on her heart area, and bang, a complete miss, she did not move, just looked around, and went back to feeding, another, shot, and then another, and different sighting, finally she and the other does, took off. Later the next day, the coyotes, were celebrating. After the shots, I checked the scope mount, and it was sloppy loose. I felt sick, and knew I should have checked before the next shots. But I did not, and felt, and still feel bad about the doe. I don't know where I hit her. She did not act like she was hit at all. And when she and the other does, left, it was not a fast run, just sort of a slow trot. No hint of being wounded. I honestly thought I had missed by a mile.
Wayne
The stock is wedded to the receiver and that is all. Not only zero contact between barrel and stock, but the stock came from a gun with a bull barrel and my barrel is standard! Talk about free floating!
As for binocular choices, I find 8x plenty since most of my work is fairly close in. I don't need to spot half a mile away because the woods are just not conducive to that kinda sight lines. I have tried 12x and 10x and without expensive stabilization they are too shakey and make me seasick! I find the 8's to be perfect. For reaching out further (example, trying to lock on leg bands for osprey nesting on power line structures/etc, I have the 40x Leupold spotting scope! I can tell the sex on emerging mayflies at 100 yds with those!
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Cool! Thanks for replying. I have just always wondered why people chose a low power set of binoculars. I can see the reason, if you are in a fairly wooded area, and or not much open spaces. I have always liked the variable binoculars, for that reason, you can drop down, for close up, and zoom in for the distant critter, or object. So have you had the time to test fire your rifle? Yeah, I kinda figured you were familiar with bedding of the barrel and stock. Wow, I would say you have a free floating barrel. Sort of like those race stocks they make for custom Ruger 10-22 rifles. They have the fore stock not touching the barrel by about two inches, or more. They are angled. Looks like some kind of Hollywood version of a modern rifle. I am curious now about the rifle and scope, to see what the problem is, or was. Take care, J.W., and have a very Happy Thanks Giving. I am doing it right. I am eating at my Neighbors! ;) I "am" baking some banana nut bread, and taking a bottle of wine, so I won't feel totally like a moocher. But it is good food, and I don't have to spend time making it! Take care, and have a great day.
Wayne
P.S.
I wonder, if the birds, would like some warmed up raw turkey? I boil down venison, and elk scraps for my cat. He goes ape shit over it. I have to thaw out some more for him. He runs back and forth, meowing the whole time, while I am heating it up after being in the fridge. Then he runs to the half bath, and laundry room, where I keep his litter box, and feed him. Do you feed the birds any of the deer, or other game you harvest?
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That's s gooder Jdub . It's been a tough year for me too. I'm trying to get my 11 year old out as much as possible and we hunt from the ground. It's been tough. Way to stay with it! dp
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Wayne, I have not yet taken the gun out for a test firing, I am trying to get caught up on all the things I let slide so I could put so many hours into chasing deer. I am paying the butcher's bill for that now!
The barrel is surely free floated, LOL! It was originally an ADL, but I found the BDL stock for trade and I upgraded for about $5!!!
All the birds get some form of wild game today. Squirrel, rabbit, bird, what-have-you. If you wanna smile, go find the Black Hills Raptor Center's Facebook page. I gave our American kestrel a chunk of turkey neck this morning for his breakfast. He spent two hours picking and snacking on it, what with all the tendons and ligaments, it was a real workout!
Since my deer was shot with copper ammo, I saved the liver for special uses. From time to time a bird comes in that has been on the ground for a while and is emaciated. Often their gut tract has shut down for lack of anything to work with, restarting it is a tricky operation and feeding will often kill them. We start with Pedialyte, then when they are hydrated and have a boost of electrolytes such that they have a watery poop or two, we add a little liver to the Pedialyte and run it thru a blender. It is simple enough proteins that it is easily digested. Eventually, we feed straight liver, in chunks until they build up some strength. This deer provided us with 2 1/2 lbs of good, strong liver.
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Beautiful buck JW!
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Good glad to hear, the kids, get some of of your kills.
Wayne