Project TNX
Active Member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2006
Mine went great! :biggrin: I've been hunting for 24 years, deer hunting for 19 of those and I just got my first 10 pointer, woot!! I hunt in Marion County, WV and the land is unmanaged, no crops to speak of, and has been over hunted in general until recently. So while he's no monster buck, he's my trophy of a lifetime thus far. I've taken a lot of nice 8's, a nice 9, and even got a real nice 7 point this year as well but it's the first 10 harvested by any of us.
A dog was running deer on the hill beside me opening day and kicked out a really nice 7 point, no one was hunting with a dog, just another irresponsible owner whose dog was out running deer. The buck was with 8 doe, the doe ran behind me and the buck took a different escape route and was 40 yards below me. I shot him with my 257 Weatherby Magnum and he just keeled right over and proceeded to tumble down the mountain. He dressed out at 125 pounds and it took me 3.5 hours to get him out of the woods.
The weather was cold and snowy all week and the deer just weren't moving, it was the worst natural movement I can remember actually. I only saw a few does on Tuesday and Wednesday morning I still hunted up to a small spike, but tha was it.............right until Wednesday afternoon, that is.
Wednesday morning was cold and the snow on the limbs made it difficult to see anything. I didn't see any natural movement but I snuck up on a little spike. I had a massive headache and took a mid day nap, my alarm clock never went off and nobody was at the cabin to get my lazy ass up. So I woke up 2 hours later than I wanted too (thank god for that) and got all my stuff together and was going to go check out powerline clear cuts and see what I could see.
As I went up there I noticed 3 doe bedded down at the head of the hollow, I checked out their heads and snuck back out of there without disturbing them. I got to the top of the powerlines and stayed there for an hour and a half, I saw 5 doe but no bucks. It was getting dark so I started heading down the mountain. When I got down to the spot the 3 doe were bedded down early I slowly crept to see if they were still down there...........
When I got to the edge I saw one deer standing where they were bedded, it was approximately 40 yards below me. It was too brushy to see it's head so I cranked my scope up to 8x and took 3 steps to my right. When I put the scope on him I could see his right antler and instantly knew it had 5 points. I had a clear shot at it's vital's and I took it. The buck started stiff legging it across the flat and I cranked another 257 round through him. He fell right down and when he passed away he leaned his head back and it was resting on his ass.
Usually I give the deer a few minutes to pass away but with this one I ran down there pretty quickly. I confirmed he was dead and shouted with glee. Not only is it my first 10 point, it's the first 10 point I've seen back on our property and the first 10 anyone in my party has ever recovered. I drug him to my ATV, ungutted, and tried to load him on the ATV myself. I got him on the rack twice but he kept sliding off so I tagged it and headed back to the cabin to get help. My stepdad came back up with the mountain and we loaded him up and took him back for some pictures before I gut him.
It weighed 135 dressed, so figure ~175 live weight. It's not a huge racked deer by any means but he's a trophy in my book any day and the buck I've been dreaming of. He's narrow, thick, and high which is just how I like them. I'm running him to the taxidermist later today, I'm going to get him mounted in a straight semi-sneak with his ears forward.
The 10 point:
The 7 point:
What 20 pounds of prime deer jerky looks like:
If you got a deer this year post up.
A dog was running deer on the hill beside me opening day and kicked out a really nice 7 point, no one was hunting with a dog, just another irresponsible owner whose dog was out running deer. The buck was with 8 doe, the doe ran behind me and the buck took a different escape route and was 40 yards below me. I shot him with my 257 Weatherby Magnum and he just keeled right over and proceeded to tumble down the mountain. He dressed out at 125 pounds and it took me 3.5 hours to get him out of the woods.
The weather was cold and snowy all week and the deer just weren't moving, it was the worst natural movement I can remember actually. I only saw a few does on Tuesday and Wednesday morning I still hunted up to a small spike, but tha was it.............right until Wednesday afternoon, that is.
Wednesday morning was cold and the snow on the limbs made it difficult to see anything. I didn't see any natural movement but I snuck up on a little spike. I had a massive headache and took a mid day nap, my alarm clock never went off and nobody was at the cabin to get my lazy ass up. So I woke up 2 hours later than I wanted too (thank god for that) and got all my stuff together and was going to go check out powerline clear cuts and see what I could see.
As I went up there I noticed 3 doe bedded down at the head of the hollow, I checked out their heads and snuck back out of there without disturbing them. I got to the top of the powerlines and stayed there for an hour and a half, I saw 5 doe but no bucks. It was getting dark so I started heading down the mountain. When I got down to the spot the 3 doe were bedded down early I slowly crept to see if they were still down there...........
When I got to the edge I saw one deer standing where they were bedded, it was approximately 40 yards below me. It was too brushy to see it's head so I cranked my scope up to 8x and took 3 steps to my right. When I put the scope on him I could see his right antler and instantly knew it had 5 points. I had a clear shot at it's vital's and I took it. The buck started stiff legging it across the flat and I cranked another 257 round through him. He fell right down and when he passed away he leaned his head back and it was resting on his ass.
Usually I give the deer a few minutes to pass away but with this one I ran down there pretty quickly. I confirmed he was dead and shouted with glee. Not only is it my first 10 point, it's the first 10 point I've seen back on our property and the first 10 anyone in my party has ever recovered. I drug him to my ATV, ungutted, and tried to load him on the ATV myself. I got him on the rack twice but he kept sliding off so I tagged it and headed back to the cabin to get help. My stepdad came back up with the mountain and we loaded him up and took him back for some pictures before I gut him.
It weighed 135 dressed, so figure ~175 live weight. It's not a huge racked deer by any means but he's a trophy in my book any day and the buck I've been dreaming of. He's narrow, thick, and high which is just how I like them. I'm running him to the taxidermist later today, I'm going to get him mounted in a straight semi-sneak with his ears forward.
The 10 point:
The 7 point:
What 20 pounds of prime deer jerky looks like:
If you got a deer this year post up.