, and it dropped the temps to below freezing at the 7-8000ft that we hunt at, as well as dropped a beautiful couple inches of fresh snow. All the way up the mountain we saw does and fawns crossing the road, the deer were up and moving, thing we haven't had for a couple days. We hastily made our way the our canyon haunt, and moved down the ridge to our lookout. Deer were all over, moving back and forth, running around. There was only one thing missing, two things rather; the two bruiser bucks we intended on bringing home.The day went on and on, the clouds blew through the canyons, pushed by gusty winds that chilled this snow covered hunter down to his dark and clammy places. The snow stuck to us, and froze over.
Our high hopes of huge bucks frolicking around the fern covered gully, were quickly frozen and blown up and over the hills. we kept after it, hoping that something would change. And when it didn't, we took matters into our own hands. The 70+ does we had seen that morning surely had boyfriends, or at least live-in friends with benefits. And we were going to find them even if hell freezes over. Again.
We took turns making the rounds through the thick stands of trees that surely held our horned quarry. And various times throughout the day, fresh buck tracks could be found in snow that was barely minutes old. Determined to take one, we carried on. Finally, and unfortunately, the bucks broke loose. Right as a cloud came through, making our vision ride in the back seat with comfort, warmth, and intelligence. The clouds cleared, leaving us to re-identify every deer that had moved and now looked like a new deer. It didn't take long to find the broad shoulder's and shiny wet antlers of our beautiful wasatch front bucks. As I quickly setup my equipment for a shot, I pulled the Swarovsky and ranged the ridge they stood on. Seven hundred and thirty yards, certainly doable, I'd done much further before, and with less lead in the pencil.
I was shooting my DTA SRS, with the 7SAUM barrel in it, my new favoritest hunting caliber. The 730yd shot didn't seem hard at all after all the practice I'd gotten from PCPR matches and the Utah State Sniper Shoot. I must say I am very very pleased with this rifle system, even in todays extremely tough conditions. The rifle performed flawlessly. Ice froze all over it, drug through the trees, bumped, smacked and carried through brush that deer have trouble navigating. Call me a fan boy, but I love the confidence this rifle instills in me.
As luck would have it....... the very large deer would begin their bounding flee just prior to my preparations, and I was forced to watch two of the biggest deer I'd ever laid eyes on disappear into the misty aspen woods. Very irritated at myself, I waited, to see if perhaps luck would shine upon me, or the sun, either would have been nice at this point. But an hour passed, and I went back to stomping through the ever deepening snow, knowing that the big deer were gone, but maybe a younger buck was still around. My wish was granted, when my neighbor/contractor/hunting companion hollered at me over the radio; "Get up here fast!!" Which I did..........not do, as I just happened to be at the bottom of a deep canyon full of pines and deadfall. As I reached the lookout, sure in my mind that whatever excitement had awaited me, was now gone, He pointed out to me two deer. One of which was the lil' basterd I'd been tracking through the fresh snow in the pines. He was a handsome young three point, not the big fella I had hoped for, but a buck that would liberate me from the daily routine of 5 vertical miles in 5.5 year old boots.
I hit the pair with the Swarovsky, four hundred and thirty five yards it said. Not bad I thought, since I'd just shot an elk at the same distance a week or so ago. I got setup, put my camera in place, and readied for the shot. My partner watched through his Vortex spotter, waiting for the larger of the two bucks to turn broadside. And when he did, we had to yelp at him to stop.
As the trigger broke, I watched the 162 Amax scorch through the freezing air, it was intense to see it hit, not more than an inch or two from my POA, just behind the little guys left shoulder. He lept into the air (like deer often do) and ran about twenty yds, before he tumbled over into the snow, his deep red blood running underneath.
As always, high fives, and congratulations were exchanged. And then we set to work. As we came upon him, we found very significant blood trail, containing bits and pieces of lung.
Here is the video of the shot, I'll apologize up front for the poor videography, the deer jumps out of frame after the shot, but I was busy running the gun. As always, enjoy in 1080p.
Upon cleaning the buck, I found that my shot placement was perfect, literally blowing his heart in two, without doing too much damage to his shoulders (a pet peeve of mine)
Here is the firing position (note twig and berries dangling in shrubs)
We drug him back to the truck, a modest half mile hike uphill both ways through the snow.
For those that are interested, here are the entry and exit wounds caused by the 162Amax.
And that is it for me unfortunately, until next year.......
Thanks for reading.