Backpacking Success

[Condor]

We had a very exciting day in the backcountry this weekend. We got to our glassing spot an hour before sunlight. We started glassing and didn't see much until about 9. I glass up a good buck, I would put him at about 95. He was sidehilling pretty quickly so we stand up and get ready to go after him when we see deer right in front of us. A doe and 3 fawns were about 40 yards downhill from us. We watched them for a second and then bumped them to go after this buck. Well we don't get very far before we see the doe and her fawns tearing up the hill. A mountain lion was chasing them full speed. You could even hear it snarling at them, very scary noises. The lion swiped at one of the fawns but missed and stood broadside, out of breath. So I threw my gun on top of my tripod and yelled range him!! 500 yards, so I looked at my ballistic chart taped to my gun, 25 inch drop. I had him in my crosshairs, broadside, about to shoot but I couldn't get steady enough to let one go before he took off. After that we hike a few more miles glassing as we went. We took a nap and decided to go back to that hillside we saw the buck and the lion. We get there and almost immediately I glass up a 3x3 2 ridges over. As I throw up my spotting scope to get a better look at him, I end up glassing the hillside closer to me by mistake. I ended up glassing up a bedded 2x2 right in front of us. I decided to go after him even though he was about the same size as my last deer. I had a bunch of school work to do and couldn't really afford to stay the whole length of my hunt without hurting my grades. I sneak in to 350 yards, get set up and start waiting for him to stand up. About an hour goes by just staring at this buck so I decided to take a little less practical shot through the neck. I have been practicing a lot, working my load to perfection, had a ballistics table, and an outdoorsmans front and rear support. I go through my sequence and BOOM! I back off my rifle and scan the hillside as I pump another round in. No movement, good sign. I pack up and hike over to the ridge and back range to where I shot from (315 yards), I wait for my buddy adrian to get over to me before going further. He said he saw me shoot, then blinked, and then there was no deer. We walk over to where he was and sure enough there's my buck piled up. While we were cleaning him up and quarting him in the dark we definately heard something turning over rocks and lurking just out of sight. So after we finished cleaning we hustled up to the trail and headed back to the truck. 4 hours and several miles later, DONE on opening day.

Thanks for reading,

Connor

[rigutierrez]

What an experience! Great Buck.

Too bad the lion got away.

[bonecollector]

Nicely done!

Looks like your rootin for the rangers tonight!

[Jimmer Negamanee]

Cool story and pics. Thanks for posting!

[The Coues]

Great job on a great buck!!