I wasn’t exactly sure how far the shot was going to be as I didn’t have my Leica rangefinder out yet.
I also had left my binocular in the truck, four miles away. Figures, the one time I leave without my most-used piece of gear is the day I would probably need it most.
Since I’d put myself in this predicament, I was using my Pole Cat shooting staff to hold my rifle steady as to search the patch of trees about 300 yards away with my Leupold set on 10x for a glimpse of the group of mule deer that had just run into it.
I was worried as I had seen three wall-hanger bucks come through here three years before and they ran right over the top of the ridge directly above where we were looking. My vantage point this year was quite different since my oldest son, Hunter, and I were down in “the hole” and not up on the rim and couldn’t see through the timber to the deer’s favored escape path.
We had stopped behind two tall, dead snags to break up our out line and dropped our pack boards as soon as we saw the deer run far out in the trees.
We waited for a good 10 minutes with no sign of life. These deer had obviously pulled the same trick and snuck out through the top.
I had just told Hunter to set his rifle down and put his pack back on when he excitedly, but not too loudly, snapped, “there they are!” He has an uncanny ability to see moving game with just the slightest glance from his peripheral vision. T
hey had moved through the timber and were making their way across a steep, mostly open hillside at a walking pace. Most of the group of about 15 had given us the slip but these two does and a forked horn has split off for some reason, a fatal mistake for forkie.
“The front one is a fork, do you want him?”
The answer was short and to the point, “Yep.”
I pulled the Limbsaver slip-on recoil pad from the butt of my Savage in 280 Ackley Improved so that he could get a nice cheek weld and to shorten the length of pull.
I also left the safety on for a specific reason besides our safety. I knew it was a long poke but had no time to get my rangefinder out and into operation.
“Just use my gun, it’s already pointing at him and on the shooting staff. It’s kind of a long shot, I’d say right at 300 yards so aim accordingly.”
I used to rush these situations and have sometimes screwed them up because of my impatience and adrenaline. I guess the years and experience have calmed me down. I don’t know if my calmness comforted Hunter or he’s just naturally that way but he never lost his cool.
“Squeeze the trigger nice and slow and keep your aim right where you want it; this is no time to jerk the trigger, the noise and recoil won’t even exist.”
This was the moment of truth: Could he pull off this shot out in the field off of a single-point rest, standing up, on a live animal that was moving? His finger went to the trigger, I picked up his .308 and turned its Burris Signature up to it’s maximum setting of 8x but had to hold it off-hand. It sure would have been a lot nicer if some idiot hadn’t left my binos in the truck.
I knew there would be no crack of a rifle shot, the safety was still on. Hunter’s knuckle was about to turn white from the pressure he was exerting on the trigger but no sign of a flinch whatsoever. That’s my boy!
I was fully prepared to let this deer go if the barrel of that rifle was jerking around while he tried to pull the trigger.
“OK, Hunter, the safety is on, push it all of the way forward and do exactly that again.”
I put his rifle to my shoulder and paid no attention to anything he was doing, I just watched that buck.
BOOM! The bullet impacted right under the deer and they kicked their pace up.
Right now! I’d estimated the range too short and now wasn’t sure this shot could be made by a 13-year-old on his first try on a big game animal.
The deer had now put one of the dead snags between us and them and I had to help Hunter reposition right between the two. I couldn’t tell where this one went but the deer noticeably stumbled. Ahhh! I forgot to give him a new range! He’s still shooting for 300!
“Reload, aim twice as high as you have been and well ahead of him, they are really scooting now.”
It’s amazing how many things go through your mind in a short period of time when you are on point. I remember vividly thinking, “shoot that sucker right at the top of the ridge, we won’t have to pack uphill at all – just three miles or so on flat ground back to the truck.”
That’s exactly what happened. The third shot appeared to be right through the front of the buck, his front end just gave up and he went down. We couldn’t see him because of the sagebrush and the angle but I was sure he’d went down.
“Put your pack frame on, take your rifle and get up there. If you see him moving put him down for good.”
Another proud moment, in a day full of them, was when I opened the action on my rifle and there was a loaded round, fully chambered and ready to go. I’d neglected to teach him this as far as I can remember, but when you fire a shot you reload immediately.
The hillside we went up is about as steep of one as you can climb and it took a good 15 minutes to get to the buck. Hunter beat me to the top and ran into another hunter who had almost tripped over his dead deer and showed him right where it was.
I talked to the guy before I got to Hunter and his buck. I asked him how many times it had been hit.
“It only needed one, it’s right in the side of his head.” was his reply. That’s not where Hunter was trying to shoot him but it was right where I was telling him to hold. I checked the range from the deer to the snags and the Leica said 375 yards, we were about 10 yards behind them.
Judging by the bullet drop and the lead on the running deer the 140 grain Nosler Accu-Bond landed right where it should have. That second shot that made the deer flinch just grazed his rear hoof. That bullet also went right where it should have landed, given the fact that I forgot to have him adjust his aim for the running, long range shot.
Two days later my wife got her first buck, not nearly as far but just as exciting and proud a moment for me. I’ll save that story for next time.