Buck Dropper
Senior Member
Hunting and the outdoors have always been my favorite thing about this world we live in. Growing up, every minute that I could, I was in the woods doing something. So, take that kid, drop him off 1,000 miles away from home in a city with a population of 1 million people for a few years at college, and you have me. Those were some tough times stuck going to school and working full time in the big city while family was back home hunting whitetails.
This season has been my first time back home and able to hunt more than a day or so in the past three years. You might can imagine how excited I've been. My season started off great. I killed two does with my bow (my only bow kills of my life), and opening week of rifle season I dropped a doe with my new bride with me. However, buck movement was a little slow during daylight hours. I hunt Coffee and Ware county, so by opening weekend of rifle season, the rut is usually in full swing. That didn't necessarily seem to be the case this year. I saw very little signs of rutting activity this year, early on.
November 18th, I had work, but made it out to the farm for an evening hunt. I decided I would hunt a box stand on our power line overlooking a food plot planted in rape and clover. The deer had really been starting to pile in there in the evenings with the colder weather and not as much browse in the woods. I got in the stand and settled in around 4:30. By 4:45, I already had a doe feeding out at around 150 yards. At 5:51, a doe and yearling came out 50 yards away. I put my scope on the doe, just checking her out. As I began to lay my rifle back down, I saw a deer at around 250 yards, standing on the edge of the power line. With my naked eye I could tell that he was a pretty good buck.
I got on him, and knew he was a shooter. He trotted out into the food plot and stopped for a bite. I began to contemplate whether I needed to go ahead and shoot, or wait for him to come check the does that were closer to me. My longest shot to this point was 183 yards on a doe back in 2010 with my 30-30.
I quickly decided that even though he would likely come closer to check the does, he may not stop again and give me a shot. With my mind made up, I put the cross hairs on his shoulder, took a few deep breaths, let one halfway out, and squeezed the trigger. At the crack of the gun, he dropped down low and whirled back into the treeline from where he had come. I felt good about the shot, and started thanking the Lord for this deer that I had waited what seemed like forever for.
After a long walk to where he was standing, I found a little bit of blood and a few chunks of meat. Seeing this, I started to worry that I may have hit him low in the brisket. I made my way over to the pines and found some better blood on the bushes. A few yards inside the tree line, I could smell him before I saw him. I found him piled up in the bushes, 40 yards from where he was hit. It was a perfect heart shot at 225 yards.
He is no monster, but I waited a long time for this deer and I couldn't be more thankful to be back in the South doing what I love: spending time in God's creation and chasing mature whitetails.
Thanks for reading!
Side note: I am taking recommendations on a new factory load for my Remington .280. The Remington Core-Lokts I have been using have been giving me very little expansion. I had a complete pass thru on this deer and both the entry and exit were the size of the end of your pinky finger. This isn't the first time I've experienced this from this round. I would love to find something that will mushroom out more and leave me a good blood trail.
This season has been my first time back home and able to hunt more than a day or so in the past three years. You might can imagine how excited I've been. My season started off great. I killed two does with my bow (my only bow kills of my life), and opening week of rifle season I dropped a doe with my new bride with me. However, buck movement was a little slow during daylight hours. I hunt Coffee and Ware county, so by opening weekend of rifle season, the rut is usually in full swing. That didn't necessarily seem to be the case this year. I saw very little signs of rutting activity this year, early on.
November 18th, I had work, but made it out to the farm for an evening hunt. I decided I would hunt a box stand on our power line overlooking a food plot planted in rape and clover. The deer had really been starting to pile in there in the evenings with the colder weather and not as much browse in the woods. I got in the stand and settled in around 4:30. By 4:45, I already had a doe feeding out at around 150 yards. At 5:51, a doe and yearling came out 50 yards away. I put my scope on the doe, just checking her out. As I began to lay my rifle back down, I saw a deer at around 250 yards, standing on the edge of the power line. With my naked eye I could tell that he was a pretty good buck.
I got on him, and knew he was a shooter. He trotted out into the food plot and stopped for a bite. I began to contemplate whether I needed to go ahead and shoot, or wait for him to come check the does that were closer to me. My longest shot to this point was 183 yards on a doe back in 2010 with my 30-30.
I quickly decided that even though he would likely come closer to check the does, he may not stop again and give me a shot. With my mind made up, I put the cross hairs on his shoulder, took a few deep breaths, let one halfway out, and squeezed the trigger. At the crack of the gun, he dropped down low and whirled back into the treeline from where he had come. I felt good about the shot, and started thanking the Lord for this deer that I had waited what seemed like forever for.
After a long walk to where he was standing, I found a little bit of blood and a few chunks of meat. Seeing this, I started to worry that I may have hit him low in the brisket. I made my way over to the pines and found some better blood on the bushes. A few yards inside the tree line, I could smell him before I saw him. I found him piled up in the bushes, 40 yards from where he was hit. It was a perfect heart shot at 225 yards.
He is no monster, but I waited a long time for this deer and I couldn't be more thankful to be back in the South doing what I love: spending time in God's creation and chasing mature whitetails.
Thanks for reading!
Side note: I am taking recommendations on a new factory load for my Remington .280. The Remington Core-Lokts I have been using have been giving me very little expansion. I had a complete pass thru on this deer and both the entry and exit were the size of the end of your pinky finger. This isn't the first time I've experienced this from this round. I would love to find something that will mushroom out more and leave me a good blood trail.
