My 2011 Shotgun Buck


00DodgeGuy

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So my deer season for the most part of the first weekend was really slow. Other hunters on the same farm were seeing a lot more deer, but primarily does. I had seen a total of 7 deer in 2.5 days with none of them being shooters. I had seen four does and three small bucks. I decided to sit in a ground blind that my sister had set in the night before as the stand I hunted in the morning I only saw a single doe. My sister had a really nice buck come by her but she only had a antlerless only tag. At about 3:00 I had a doe walk out to 135 yards at the opposite end of the field. I decided to wait to see if she would close the distance. 10 minutes later I notice movement even farther down the field and I see a doe and what looks to be a great buck. They are close to 175 yards when I first see them. The buck walks out with the doe and then proceeds to trot up to the other doe in the field and bumps her around a little bit. At this time he is at about 155 yards and proceeds to feed with the two does for a few minutes. At this point I can tell he is at least a 9 with great mass. I decide to pull out the range finder to see what the distance is because it looks as if they are feeding off to the side of the field toward the timber. Reading on the range finder is 148 yards. I think to myself it is now or never so I see if I can get a good solid hold on the deer. I am shockingly surprised how well I can hold on this stud and decide I am going to take the shot. I am using an H&R Ultra Slug gun with Hornady SST slugs. I slowly cock the hammer and pick a spot on the buck. Trying to control my breathing I slowly pull the trigger. The buck kicks and runs off into the timber with the two does. At this point I am a complete mess and of course the doubt sets in. Did I make a good shot, it has been raining off and on so am I going to find a good blood trail if I made a proper shot. I sit in the blind as I am shaken and trying to calm myself down. I decide to walk out to the field after about 10 minutes to see if I can find blood in the field. I normally wouldn't do this so quickly, but with the rain I was really nervous. I walk out to the field and am having a hard time finding blood so I pull out the range finder and range back to the blind 148 yards. I then go the direction that the buck ran and find one spot of blood on a leaf. Now my concern is did I make a lethal hit or did I wound this animal which would bother me to no end. I decide to go into the timber a few yards to see if sign is any better and I start seeing more blood. At this point I decide to back out and wait for my brother-in-law in case the buck wasn't dead. Last thing I want to do is push him off the farm. About an hour and fifteen minutes later we decide to start tracking. We follow the blood trail for about 100 yards on a flat and then it heads down into a huge ravine. We follow down the hill about 80 yards to the bottom and get to a creek. At this point my brother-in-law says there he is. I look up and he is laying just on the other side of the creek. We both hustle over and I realize truly how big he is. I start to lose it and the first thing I can do is grab my brother-in-law and hug him and tell him thanks for letting me hunt with him as I had lost my only hunting property from the prior years because it belonged to my ex-wife's family. I made a great shot and double-lunged the deer. I was actually shocked how far he went. This truly could be the biggest deer I ever shoot and I will not take it for granted. He will be headed to the taxidermist tonight as I just caped him out this morning. I hope you all enjoy him as much as I do.

2011 Shotgun Buck - 13 Pt.jpg

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Here is another picture that shows the other point that is on the inside of his left main beam. He had another one on the other side but it is broken and one of his brow tines is also broken. They are all over an inch long so were counted towards my score at the big buck contest I am in. He scored 173 2/8 gross inches and I am currently leading the contest by 12 inches with 3 more days to go as it ends on Saturday of the 2nd shotgun season.

Deer Close Up.jpg

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Edited by 00DodgeGuy
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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I have to say I have been very fortunate this season minus not harvesting a deer yet with my bow. I was able to take a nice doe that dressed out at 136 lbs on Saturday with my shotgun. With her and my buck I was able to take 1st place at the big buck contest and took 2nd in the big doe(lost by one lousy pound). I am pulling for you all and hope a little of my luck rubs off on ya.

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