Back Home Again!!!!
WYMULEYMAN
10/26/04 9:33am
Howdy All,
Just thought i would drop a few lines, pretty busy today so this will have to be short. After being gone for the past few weeks i am slammed at work. Out of five permits, all five deer were taken! My dad, brother-in-law, dads hunting buddy and his son, and i all killed our deer. Unfortunately i held off for a monster and the time came to make a decision and i killed just an average so-so type of deer. the hunt was the most fun of my life and although no monsters were taken i had the opportunity at some dandy deer that i opted to hold off on or couldn't make a move on them. Opening morning came with me staring at a 30" slick four point that i couldn't get a shot because it was a little far and the wind was just ripping. Three days later i had another big deer, 26-28 inches wide, heavy, five point. Was ready to pull the trigger and boom someone came up the back side of the hill and shot and missed the deer before i had the chance to shoot. The rest of the season we saw some good deer that just did not present a ethical shot. Sooooooo, on the seventh morning of the hunt i shot a 3X4 sage buck. His horns are bleached white from hanging out in the sun and sage all day. He is no monster but a worthy trophy for me. The pictures will arrive eventually but we had several cameras and so it will take me awhile to round up all the photos. but rest assured i will post them eventually. My dad is still hunting elk and when he finishes he will develop the pictures and i will post them. The ironic things is, the very next day after our deer hunt, we were hunting elk in a different unit, and i saw the most amazing deer of my life, he was every bit of 34 wide, heavy, amazingly deep forks. i think i was staring at a possible typical contender for the wyoming state record. Roughly i scored him at about 210-213 b&c points. this deer was a pig. i got some pictures but because he was standing so far away i am not sure they will turn out, but i will post them if they turned out and you can see his rack. also got some pictures of an amazing elk, will post them also if they develop o.k. as he was a little far out.
Just thought i would drop a few lines, pretty busy today so this will have to be short. After being gone for the past few weeks i am slammed at work. Out of five permits, all five deer were taken! My dad, brother-in-law, dads hunting buddy and his son, and i all killed our deer. Unfortunately i held off for a monster and the time came to make a decision and i killed just an average so-so type of deer. the hunt was the most fun of my life and although no monsters were taken i had the opportunity at some dandy deer that i opted to hold off on or couldn't make a move on them. Opening morning came with me staring at a 30" slick four point that i couldn't get a shot because it was a little far and the wind was just ripping. Three days later i had another big deer, 26-28 inches wide, heavy, five point. Was ready to pull the trigger and boom someone came up the back side of the hill and shot and missed the deer before i had the chance to shoot. The rest of the season we saw some good deer that just did not present a ethical shot. Sooooooo, on the seventh morning of the hunt i shot a 3X4 sage buck. His horns are bleached white from hanging out in the sun and sage all day. He is no monster but a worthy trophy for me. The pictures will arrive eventually but we had several cameras and so it will take me awhile to round up all the photos. but rest assured i will post them eventually. My dad is still hunting elk and when he finishes he will develop the pictures and i will post them. The ironic things is, the very next day after our deer hunt, we were hunting elk in a different unit, and i saw the most amazing deer of my life, he was every bit of 34 wide, heavy, amazingly deep forks. i think i was staring at a possible typical contender for the wyoming state record. Roughly i scored him at about 210-213 b&c points. this deer was a pig. i got some pictures but because he was standing so far away i am not sure they will turn out, but i will post them if they turned out and you can see his rack. also got some pictures of an amazing elk, will post them also if they develop o.k. as he was a little far out.
3,530
Just left another site where a question was asked in they forum,"what rifle for 400 to 500 yd mule deer hunting". It got some good well deserved reply's and a few that some actually had a suggestion. Sounds of your note, you know the answer, I wish more people did. Reminds me of the question, "how big a gun do I need to hunt grizzly bears?". If you have to ask, you shouldn't be hunting them. It's not about the size of the bore or the cartridge case, it's about your own ability. Funny, nobody ever ask's "what rifle do I use for 400 and 500 yd. grizzly bear hunting?"!!!
Sound's like a great hunt. What part of Wyo.? I drive a truck for a living and have traveled U.S. 30 many times. See lot's of deer, elk and even saw a moose last fall! Didn't know there were any moose down there. But year's ago I saw 4 of them near the top of Parley Summit.
i have always thought that the size or caliber of rifle you use only answers part of the question. by that i mean i think a .243 is plenty of rifle for anything in the state of wyoming, shot placement is so much more the answer to that question than size or caliber. i personally like my new .7mm rem. ultra mag. i just bought it this past summer and have only shot my deer with it but i know it will be plenty for anything i hunt with. i like the more flat shooting rifle, rather than a big caliber that has a shot pattern similar to that of a rainbow. i have a .300 win. mag. which is a good rifle but for those long shots it just is not very flat shooting.
i hunted deer back in my home town this past season, southern wyoming, rawlins, along I-80 on a limited quota area down there. i live in hoback junction which is only about 12 miles south of jackson hole. there are so many animals in this area it is not even funny. we got one heck of a snow storm this past weekend and it drove the elk mad. they were running all over this morning on my way to work.
I used mine on a black bear in Lakeside, Mont in the early 70's. Used a 140 gr Sierra and it was a disaster. The bullet couldn't handle the velocity and blew up just under thr skin at about 75 yds. A second shot to the bach of the head finished it. Simply a poor bullet selection.
That rifle was later long throated to accomadate the 160 gr Speer and I never had the problem again. Now I'm pushing 60 yrs awful hard and no longer shoot magnum's. I have used the 264 Win mag, 7mm Rem mag, 300 Win mag and the 338 Win mag.
happy trails
Don