Sometimes a trophy is in the eye of the beholder
Through the years, I have harvested some pretty nice bucks. In my mind, the trophy may not even be the deer. You would likely be surprised what I consider a trophy.
This year could be considered my worst deer season ever. I have never seen such a lack of big buck movement. This is my first season in 21 years that I didn't see a racked buck. I passed up several small bucks, but never saw what I was looking for. It seems I wasn't the only one in this boat. The reports that I've received from other hunters have been dismal at best. Most say they didn't see much, and if they did get a nice one, it was likely more luck than skill. Only a few people have said their plan worked flawlessly and were able to harvest a nice one.
My freezer was looking pretty hungry and something had to give. I mentioned changing tactics last week and set out to move some deer. On my first walk, I was fortunate to come across a doe. I am a meat hunter first and take does when the chance presents itself. I had walked through a small thicket and made as fast an approach possible to their escape routes. As I entered the wood line, I slowly crept through the trees. As typically happens, my heart jumped when I saw her staring me down. It was a freehand shot at just over 100 yards. I raised the gun and adjusted my scope from four to 12 power.
I walk with my scope on four power for close-range shots. I have found it is much less likely that you will be able to power down the scope at close range and make a shot. At longer range, you typically have plenty of time to power up. I popped the safety and settled on her vitals. I slowly built pressure on the trigger and upon the shot saw the deer drop.
I use what is called a shoulder spine shot, or a drop zone shot to instantly down game. I recovered my deer and headed home. Upon skinning, I noticed something pretty cool. I was shooting a .308 with a 150 grain bullet. The velocity coupled with a heavy bullet typically pass through the animal and is lost in the woods. Upon discovering there was no exit wound, I became optimistic that I may recover it.
I pulled out and dusted off the metal detector. As I ran it across the chest cavity, it rang out. I could see a small lump under the tissue, and was able to feel the projectile. To a die-hard hunter or ballistics fanatic, a recovered round can be quite the trophy. Unfortunately, they are typically ripped into several pieces or damaged beyond recognition. I made a small incision, and popped out the most beautiful mushroom ever. A good bullet will expand to nearly three times it's original diameter, and the copper jacket should peel back and also stay intact. They resemble a mushroom with copper petals upon proper performance.
To date, that bullet is one of my favorite trophies. The trophy here is in the rarity of recovering a high-powered rifle round, not the animal that was harvested with it. Another odd trophy on my wall is a nearly one-inch sapling with a perfect hole through the middle. I was walking a ridge several years back. Looking down into the swamp bottom, I observed a deer stand up out of its bed. My scope was turned down and on first look, I thought it was a doe. When I powered it up, I noticed a nice eight-point rack on its head. I steadied for the shot and once the cross hairs settled on its chest, I let her rip. The deer ran off and looked to have not been hit. As the deer crossed the stream about 80 yards from its bed, I thought I saw its head slump. They do this right before they go down sometimes, but it could have also been attempting to duck under some branches.
I approached the bed, and at over 50 yards away, spotted the sapling with a hole in it. You can imagine my surprise to find blood and hair in the bed. I recovered the buck with a quick tracking job. After cleaning the deer, I went to recover my trophy. In this case, the deer wasn't the trophy, rather the pole-axed sapling and story were.
I have passed six small bucks this year, and don't regret it a bit. Not that I'm a die -hard trophy hunter, but because I feel it is senseless to harvest a deer under two and a half years old. I may not get a nice buck this year, but my chances will be better next year due to letting the little ones walk. One week left of smoke pole, so I'm not out of the game yet.
Good wishes and show off your trophy, whatever it may be.
This year could be considered my worst deer season ever. I have never seen such a lack of big buck movement. This is my first season in 21 years that I didn't see a racked buck. I passed up several small bucks, but never saw what I was looking for. It seems I wasn't the only one in this boat. The reports that I've received from other hunters have been dismal at best. Most say they didn't see much, and if they did get a nice one, it was likely more luck than skill. Only a few people have said their plan worked flawlessly and were able to harvest a nice one.
My freezer was looking pretty hungry and something had to give. I mentioned changing tactics last week and set out to move some deer. On my first walk, I was fortunate to come across a doe. I am a meat hunter first and take does when the chance presents itself. I had walked through a small thicket and made as fast an approach possible to their escape routes. As I entered the wood line, I slowly crept through the trees. As typically happens, my heart jumped when I saw her staring me down. It was a freehand shot at just over 100 yards. I raised the gun and adjusted my scope from four to 12 power.
I walk with my scope on four power for close-range shots. I have found it is much less likely that you will be able to power down the scope at close range and make a shot. At longer range, you typically have plenty of time to power up. I popped the safety and settled on her vitals. I slowly built pressure on the trigger and upon the shot saw the deer drop.
I use what is called a shoulder spine shot, or a drop zone shot to instantly down game. I recovered my deer and headed home. Upon skinning, I noticed something pretty cool. I was shooting a .308 with a 150 grain bullet. The velocity coupled with a heavy bullet typically pass through the animal and is lost in the woods. Upon discovering there was no exit wound, I became optimistic that I may recover it.
I pulled out and dusted off the metal detector. As I ran it across the chest cavity, it rang out. I could see a small lump under the tissue, and was able to feel the projectile. To a die-hard hunter or ballistics fanatic, a recovered round can be quite the trophy. Unfortunately, they are typically ripped into several pieces or damaged beyond recognition. I made a small incision, and popped out the most beautiful mushroom ever. A good bullet will expand to nearly three times it's original diameter, and the copper jacket should peel back and also stay intact. They resemble a mushroom with copper petals upon proper performance.
To date, that bullet is one of my favorite trophies. The trophy here is in the rarity of recovering a high-powered rifle round, not the animal that was harvested with it. Another odd trophy on my wall is a nearly one-inch sapling with a perfect hole through the middle. I was walking a ridge several years back. Looking down into the swamp bottom, I observed a deer stand up out of its bed. My scope was turned down and on first look, I thought it was a doe. When I powered it up, I noticed a nice eight-point rack on its head. I steadied for the shot and once the cross hairs settled on its chest, I let her rip. The deer ran off and looked to have not been hit. As the deer crossed the stream about 80 yards from its bed, I thought I saw its head slump. They do this right before they go down sometimes, but it could have also been attempting to duck under some branches.
I approached the bed, and at over 50 yards away, spotted the sapling with a hole in it. You can imagine my surprise to find blood and hair in the bed. I recovered the buck with a quick tracking job. After cleaning the deer, I went to recover my trophy. In this case, the deer wasn't the trophy, rather the pole-axed sapling and story were.
I have passed six small bucks this year, and don't regret it a bit. Not that I'm a die -hard trophy hunter, but because I feel it is senseless to harvest a deer under two and a half years old. I may not get a nice buck this year, but my chances will be better next year due to letting the little ones walk. One week left of smoke pole, so I'm not out of the game yet.
Good wishes and show off your trophy, whatever it may be.
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