BML Report post Posted October 10, 2008 Well, we are back from our short trip, but we had a blast. We arrived Saturday and purchased our Conservation Stamps and checked out the ranch. I immediately found a buck that I wanted with my bow, so we drove the short distance back into town to get an archery license so that I could hunt that day before everyone else had a chance to kill him. I was able to get within 60 yards several times, but I just could not get him to stop long enough for a good shot. We continued to scout the ranch the rest of that day and decided on two bucks for us. One was the big one and the other was a very nice heart shaped buck. He was the only buck on the ranch that we found that had tops that curled in. Every other buck had tops that just went straight up and that's it. Opening morning came and found us getting ready. I was to walk into a natural blind in an alfalfa field where both our bucks were living. My dad walked in a short way with me just in case one of those bucks was already there. Sure enough, the heart shaped buck was there. After a small stalk, my dad was ready for the shot. BOOM!! I said, "dad you hit the dirt you dingdong!!" He says he must have shot under him, but then I explained that the dirt he hit was the small hill 50 yards in front of us in between us and the buck. We both had a good laugh about that one. So I told my dad to go back to the truck while I would walk in the rest of the way to the blind. As soon as I got set up, I glassed up the big buck about 500 yards away on the edge of the field. Then, I noticed that my dad was already stalking him! I watch the events unfold hoping my dad would shoot straight. BOOM, a miss. BOOM, another miss. BOOM, yet a third miss!! I couldn't believe it. He kept at it though, and the fourth shot rang true! Yeah baby, my dad got the big one!! So my time in stand lasted about 5 minutes and I grabbed all my gear and ran over to my dad. He was pretty excited to say the least!! He just shot the biggest buck on the ranch and it was a great buck!! Shortly after we finished taking care of his buck, the predicted bad weather rolled in. Not much in the form of rain, but terribly high winds. I knew that bowhunting was now out of the question. I really wanted to kill two P&Y bucks with my bow this year and I also knew that had I sat that blind it would have happened, but ethically, it just wasn't right to try to fling arrows in such high winds. I already had a terrible experience in August because of a bad shot and I had no intentions of repeating that performance. So, I had to painfully put my bow away and grab the rifle. I tried for several hours to get buck number two on our list, but he was very elusive. He had a ton of does and even getting within rifle range was tricky. I decided to let him go for a while and try to find another buck. I found another buck a couple hours later that ironically looks very similar to the buck I killed in AZ this year. I wasn't able to seal the deal at first though, so we headed back to camp for lunch and a little rest. We headed back out after lunch and found that buck again, only this time he was in a great spot. I made a short stalk and set up on him. Ranged him at 302. Quick check of my ballistics that I tape to my rifle showed a 6 inch drop at 300 yards. Aim, squeeze, BOOM and a miss. I hit right where I was aiming, but the bullet didn't drop. He took off about a quarter mile, but stopped in another good area. I did about a 600 yard sprint through an old river bottom while my dad and his buddy stayed behind to watch. I was able to sneak up on them again and wait. I knew they were funneling out of this draw and he would give me a great shot. Another check of the range. This time 342. I put the cross hairs right behind his shoulder this time and squeezed one off. I heard that distinct THWACK when the bullet hit him, but he didn't move. Instead, he instantly laid down. I had to circle around him for another shot at 175 yards and put him down for good. All in all, we had a great hunt. My dad shot the biggest buck on the ranch and I couldn't have been happier for him. This was his hunt and he made the best of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ402 Report post Posted October 10, 2008 Congrats again to you and your Dad...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZcoyotehunter Report post Posted October 10, 2008 You don't work at basspro shops by any chance do you? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BML Report post Posted October 10, 2008 You don't work at basspro shops by any chance do you? Nope, I live up in Prescott Valley. I wish there was a BPS up here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
