Topic: Opening day, deer, unit 39

[NoviceHunter]

Armed with my doe tag, and a little more smarts than last year, we went out today.  Hiked 11.5 miles.  Too much elevation gain to remember.  The snow storms made things fun.

Saw two does in the morning (yes, I went for the easier tag).  255 yards.  Took too long fussing to find a shot, as standing was mondo wobbly after so much climbing, spooked them, and off they went.

Later in the day, found another doe, 75 yards, perfect broadside...  Missed.  Completely.  Pulled the rifle high at the last second, iirc.  Not sure why.  Huffing and puffing plus adrenaline make for fun, I guess.

Lesson for the day:  Deer are not paper targets.  Perhaps running sprints and then practicing would be more useful than gobs and gobs of rounds downrange.

Great fun, though.  Will try again tomorrow.

[MarkinIdaho]

Sounds like you had fun, though.  The chase is the best, I think.  I'm taking my son out for the first time this year... trying to teach him how NOT to jerk the trigger so the muzzle doesn't jump so bad.  Last time I took him out shooting paper, he swore up and down that he was perfectly still and there HAD to be something wrong with the scope.  I loaded four rounds and hit two inside the red center diamond, and the other two in the surrounding solid black.  I handed it back to him and just smiled and said, are you sure you're not jerking?  I forgot 12 year olds are already perfect marksmen!   

[NGO]

... and hit two inside the red center diamond, and the other two in the surrounding solid black.  I handed it back to him and just smiled and said, are you sure you're not jerking?  I forgot 12 year olds are already perfect marksmen!   

I remember my Dad doing that to me. It made me try harder. Now I do that to my kids.

Sometimes I surprise myself, feels good to know I'm sometimes wearing my Dad shoes. Which is a humbling experience, and a little scary to know someone new depends on me as much as I depended on my Dad.


Keep up the good work.

[MarkinIdaho]

I remember my Dad doing that to me. It made me try harder. Now I do that to my kids.

Sometimes I surprise myself, feels good to know I'm sometimes wearing my Dad shoes. Which is a humbling experience, and a little scary to know someone new depends on me as much as I depended on my Dad.


Keep up the good work.

Yah - it is a very humbling experience... and probably one of the best parts of being a dad.

[fj40mojo]

Not to high jack your thread, but opening day in 46 went well for me!

[Michael N]

Way to go !! We went up near Idaho city and saw a bunch of Elk but no Deer . Gonna try up by Lucky Peak next week in the evenings . Its been a proverbial slot machine the last 3 years for me so I may as well give it a go .

[fj40mojo]

Here are 2 more of the 4 deer that we took out of the same general area yesterday.  The deer on the left measured 32" of spread.

[NoviceHunter]

Very nice!  Hijack away.

I'll be trying again up by Arrowrock tomorrow.

[fj40mojo]

Here is another shot of my buck.  Shot him with the '06-150grn Nosler Partition in front of 61.5grns of Reloader 19@3005fps at the muzzle (if you believe the books) approx 200yds distance.  I recovered the bullet this afternoon while skinning him out, first time I've ever had a Partition fail-front core completely separated after blowing heart and right lung to bits.  Jacket and rear core were rolled up just under the hide on right side just behind the last rib.  Appears as thought the front core blew through the left inside backstrap, but didn't find it-yet.  What remained weighed 83.5grns or 56% of start weight.

[NoviceHunter]

Spent all day at cottonwood creek again and got totally skunked.

Had some fun with sheepdogs that were unhappy with me when I mistakenly got into the middle of their open range flock.  And by fun, I mean, goddamn, they are protective.  They didn't want me there, nor did they want me moving in any direction away, since the sheep were all around me.

Trying again at Bogus tomorrow...

[Nomad]

 Hunted up north and saw more elk than deer, we all got a
deer as well as sore feet and fresh air GOOOD food....and
the beauty of nature.....

[MarkinIdaho]

Spent all day at cottonwood creek again and got totally skunked.

Question - isn't that part of area 39 closed to hunting?  I thought from where the middle fork road hits hwy 21, up past Arrowrock, to Cottonwood Creek, back over to Hwy 21 and down again to where it meets the Middle Fork Road is all closed... essentially the East side of Hwy 21...  I think all the anti-hunters didn't like it a few years ago when there was a big archery harvest up there.

I ask, because I'm looking at that area (in the WMA) as a back up to my primary spot

[NoviceHunter]

Phew, made me nervous.  Just downloaded the rules brochure, and a big chunk of 39 is closed, but only to archery seasons (deer & elk.)  All the deer rifle seasons (and elk 39 B) do not have the same footnote.

[MarkinIdaho]

I'm glad you can read because obviously I can't.  Thanks for the clarification!

[Orbital-Burn]

I got stuck with my wife and kid, no hunting got done yet.  Anyone still have a B tag and know where some bucks are?

[NoviceHunter]

Got one!  Just about 9am, rounded a corner, there she was.  First shot through the heart and spine (diagonal downhill, yes), she just laid down where she was hit.  Still squirming while she bled out, so a quick followup to her neck and it was done.

Then the hard part started, indeed.  Makes all the hiking to get to that point seem easy in comparison.

Using 150gr TTSX's at 3020fps, the bullets had zero expansion.  (That's faster than a standard '06, slower than a 300).  Zipped through like laser beams.  I'm not too surprised, as that's the load I was planning to use for elk, and had they not overpenetrated without expansion, I'd be worried about them for something bigger.  Just didn't want to mix TSX's and traditional bullets in the same barrel, so I used them for deer as well, and it got the job done.

Was wearing a pair of electronic muffs for these shots.  BIG difference to comfort and willingness to take a follow-up.  BIG difference.  .308 from a mountain style gun is f'ing loud (6.5 lbs all up.)

[MarkinIdaho]

Got one!  Just about 9am, rounded a corner, there she was.  First shot through the heart and spine (diagonal downhill, yes), she just laid down where she was hit.  Still squirming while she bled out, so a quick followup to her neck and it was done.

HEY congrats!!  Where'd you get her???  My boy and I got skunked this weekend in unit 25... wolves had moved back in according to some lodge owners.  I'd really hoped my son would get something on his first hunt.  I'm thinking of going out in the evenings above Lucky Peak in the WMA area.  Gotta find someplace close this time.  Any pointers and/or directions would be nice. 

[NoviceHunter]

PM sent.  Maybe move the thread about favorite deer spots to the member's section?