Well Finally after 3 years a Buck

[Stang66]

I have been seeing this guy for a while every year but only once or twice. Then gone been very elusive and each year shortly afterwards I would hear someone shoot and assume he had been taken.
This past week we had been seeing him on a regular basis early mornings. He always goes under the big oaks and eats acorns (bumper crop this year) but only for just a few minutes then he’s gone.
Yesterday was opening day here…
I saw a doe come out about 200 yards out and she was standing very still and looked like she was on alert! Then out he came she turned towards my direction and ran about fifty yards and darted into cover with him catching up fast. With only a head on shot I opted not to (big mess to clean a dear if shot like that). Dang gone…thought for sure my one chance had come and gone.
Then about 10 minutes later out comes the doe again back where I saw her the first time, and she keeps looking back as if something was there… She started heading my way again just walking in a steady pace angled right to left. Stops and looks back again that’s when out he comes this time just walking in a slow pace. He keeps raising his head a sniffing the air she must be in rut! Then she turns away and keeps walking at a steady pace heading towards out fence line he gets closer suddenly she does an about face and runs off full speed ahead. He stopped right where she had been sniffs the ground then throws his head back up in the air. Now he is at about 150 yards out now.
I was hunting with my dad’s old 1960’s 740 Remington 30-06 it was topped with his original Redfield Wide View scope. Well I lined up the cross hairs on him and eased down on the trigger…..the buck stumbled forward about 10 yards and dropped like a rock! What an exciting day!
I hunted the last two years and didn’t shoot anything seen many but mostly young or not legal. Patience paid off and we all get a lucky break now and then.
We live in cattle country so very little cover here at my dad’s old place. We keep an area along with the joining property mostly all natural. We enjoy watching the deer and nature it’s our evenings entertainment watching the wildlife and a nice sunset.
Good luck to all this season and we hope y’all enjoyed my exciting hunt.

 

[Stewie]

Congrats @Stang66 That's a story to tell. Three years of waiting paid off, you earned it

 

[Alan]

Congratulations @Stang66 , more to come!

 

[bdubose]

Congratulations!
I love to hear the stories - Thanks!

 

[Stang66]

Congratulations @Stang66 , more to come!

Thanks Alan

 

[Stang66]

Congratulations!
I love to hear the stories - Thanks!

Thank you.

 

[BrotherHubb]

A friend showed me a picture of his dad’s 740 in 30-06, really clean looking from the picture. He asked if I could help him sell it $450. is not bad for a nice 740, it could be a 742 but I couldn’t see the model in the picture.

 

[Stang66]

A friend showed me a picture of his dad’s 740 in 30-06, really clean looking from the picture. He asked if I could help him sell it $450. is not bad for a nice 740, it could be a 742 but I couldn’t see the model in the picture.

I had a 742 my parents gave me for my 14th birthday it had nice checketing and details on the fore stock and grip. Unfortunately I put it and a pistol and my kids Christmas gifts in my car trunk to go out of town. So I did this at 3 in the morning with the rifle wrapped in a blanket to disguise it. When I went to leave that morning my car had been stolen. Miss that rifle it meant so much to me.

 

[Drycreek]

Congrats on the buck and using your Dad’s 742. My first “real” deer rifle was a Remington 742 in 30-06.

Funny story, I was hunting with it one morning and my brother and I had just left the truck at first light as we were in unfamiliar territory on a draw hunt. We saw a small buck just a couple hundred yards in and I raised my rifle. I missed him twice at pretty close range. Now, my shotgun of choice was a Remington 870 and I shot it much more than I shot the rifle because we had lots of ducks and squirrels in those days but very few deer. After the young buck ran off I expressed my disgust with the scope, the rifle, the ammo, and probably the buck, and probably in colorful language also. My brother looked at me and said, “You were trying to pump it”.

In just a few days I was the proud owner of a spanking new Remington 1100 !

 

[Stang66]

Congrats on the buck and using your Dad’s 742. My first “real” deer rifle was a Remington 742 in 30-06.

Funny story, I was hunting with it one morning and my brother and I had just left the truck at first light as we were in unfamiliar territory on a draw hunt. We saw a small buck just a couple hundred yards in and I raised my rifle. I missed him twice at pretty close range. Now, my shotgun of choice was a Remington 870 and I shot it much more than I shot the rifle because we had lots of ducks and squirrels in those days but very few deer. After the young buck ran off I expressed my disgust with the scope, the rifle, the ammo, and probably the buck, and probably in colorful language also. My brother looked at me and said, “You were trying to pump it”.

In just a few days I was the proud owner of a spanking new Remington 1100 !

A standing shot with no support isn’t easy unless you really practice I probably would have missed too. Haven’t done hardly any bird hunting. When I was a kid we went down to my uncles in Matagora Tx he was a rice farmer with a 1000 acres. We went goose hunting. He had an old 60’s pickup and me and my two cousins were in the back. Geese were so abundant then that he literally shouted out the windo Y’all hold on just drive right out in the middle of the flock. We stood up and just blasted our limit like fishing in a bucket. I was instructed to just aim at one and keep shooting until it dropped so not to wound a bunch. We did that two times and took home our limits. Fast hunt and the only skill building was cleaning them all!