Mike Guerin aka omegaman66

Well the last three years I have taken a buck on the opening day of either bowseason or rifle season. Would today pan out the same to make it 4 years in a row?

Slipped into my stand as a deer was feeding nearby. Never saw it but I could hear it.

At 830 the shooting barage that had been going on all morning stopped. Don't think I heard a single shot after 8:00. I figure the deer must have been moving and now nada. My hopes a very low. At ten minutes till 9 a group of 3 does come walking by. All pretty big but I am holding out for a buck today.

Mid-day sleep and listen to the beginning of the LSU football game as the wind is really howling. This is a big game and I question my sanity for deciding to hunt on a day that is so windy when I could be watching the game. To make matters worse, I talked to the guys next to me and the three of them didn't see a single deer that morning.

Oh yeah. I watched a flock of turkeys scratching for acorns while I at my lunch right near camp.

As luck would have it a deer steps out 150ish yards away on the powerline I am watching for the evening hunt. I put the scope on it and can see that it has a rack of some sort. But it is walking slowly straight away. Now I wouldn't hesitate to take a butt shot on a deer with an '06 but it is about 160 yards out and that is a pretty small target when not broadside.

I let out a bleat to hopefully get it to reverse course. It's tail goes straight out and it continues its course striaght away from me. Finally it angles slightly to the left. Not perfect but better. Now I have been sitting in this tree stand for more than an hour. So I shouldn't be huffing and puffing for breath but I am. (adrenaline ya know).

I try to catch my breath so I can aim steady. The buck is not again walking directly away from me. The crosshairs float all over its butt. Finally it makes a slight angle to the left again. Not much about half way to quartering away. I try to hold the crosshairs steady while trying to decide if I should wait for a better angle. BOOM. The '06 booms and the buck runs into the woods to the right side of the powerline. It is kind of hunched up and favoring one its one of its front legs.

I feel confident that it is dead. I climb down and begin walking to where it was standing when I shot. Doubt starts to seep in. Normally his reaction means meat in the freezer but this was an almost straight away shot. Did I only catch his shoulder and miss the vitals????

Reach the area and find no blood, Canvas the edge of the powerline where I think he exited. NO BLOOD. Go into the woods about 15 yards and start a track parallel to the powerline. (its thick) Walk about 20 yards and spot him 5 yards away in the bamboo and briars. YES. Kneel down and say a few hail marys.

The shot couldn't have been place any better if I had walked up to the deer and touched where I wanted to hit. The bullet hit just below midway up the body from top to bottom. The bullet went in just and I mean just infront of the left rear leg. It traveled forward throught the gut, through the liver and bust the front right should from back to front but never exited because it would have had to go through a heck of a lot of bone since it was traveling almost from back to front instead of the usual side to side.

Drag, gut, drag, drive, skin, quarter and put in icechest, clean up stuff, shower.

The back tines are about 10 inches long. Pretty rack as the main beams curve around and are about 1.5 inches from touching again.

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