Well, a few of us braved the 10 degree temps and snow to hunt the Ohio blackpowder opener. It was a pretty great day to be out hunting, to say the least. I went with my hunting buddy and my dad. Usually there are more like 5 or 6 of us that go, but some unamed persons wimped out because of the cold.
I saw a few but didn't have a clear shot in the a.m. My hunting buddy shot a buck that had dropped its antlers early (he thought it was just a really big doe) at around 8:30. After lunch at the cabin, we went out again to different spots.
As I was walking out, I came over the crest of a hill and saw a group of 5 does. I crouch down as they come across an open area in front of me. I lined up the crosshairs on the lead doe and when she stopped, I pulled the trigger. Through the smoke I saw her limp back the way she came, I quick reload and crawl forward. She's standing there about 70 yards away, and all I can see clearly is her head & neck. So I aim for the neck, fire, and she drops on the spot.
Turns out my first shot was a bad one- hitting too far back. I have no idea what happened, the shot felt good to me- possibly it had not completely stopped moving when I fired. In any case, I was able to seal the deal with the neck shot 90 seconds later.
Turns out, while I was field dressing the deer, my dad (who was using the new Wolf I had bought) connects on another doe out of a tree stand. I went up to meet him, and we tracked his deer that had run off into some thick stuff. His shot was less than ideal as well (I keep telling him he needs to practice more), so the deer required a finishing shot. But I was happy nonetheless - first blood for the Wolf!
My hunting buddy ended up getting a doe in the afternoon as well- so we came home with 4 deer! Pretty nice day hunting
As far as technical details:
My deer:
60 yard initial shot
200 Shockwave
80 grains T7 3f
complete pass-thru (but thru the paunch)
70 yard follow-up shot (same load) neck shot, instant death
Dad's deer:
35 yard shot
250 grain Deep Curl (Gold Dot)
70 grains T7 3f
complete pass-thru (liver & paunch shot)
follow-up neck shot with same load at 10 yards
My hunting buddy was using a Traditions Tracker with 90 grains JSG and a .429 Hornady XTP 240 grain.
Sorry for the poor quality picture. I wish I had more but my cell phone died before lunch time- I suspect the cold temps killed it.
First Blood for the Wolf!
