Nebraska 2016
11-28-2016, 11:48 AM
#1
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: ****ifornia
Posts: 5,052
Nebraska 2016
Well after missing last year, I made it back to Nebraska this year for my 6th time. My Dad and I left at 330am on Saturday the 12th (opening day in Nebraska) for the long drive across Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. We made it to Ryan's (owner of Diablo Custom Rifles) house at about 930pm and found a cozy Hotel 8 to catch some sleep in, nasty hotel BTW...felt like I had bugs on me all night!
The next morning we packed up Ryan's gear and got on the road at 6am. We made it to Holdrege NE around lunch time, got checked into the hotel, unloaded our gear then reloaded the truck with hunting gear and went out to kill deer.
That afternoon was pretty discouraging, it was in the high 70's and we had the biggest moon in 68 years bearing in on us. Needless to say, we only saw one small buck and one doe all afternoon and they were gone like lightning as soon as they saw us.
To make things more discouraging, the other landowner whose property we usually get to hunt on, said that he would like to keep all his property to himself this year since the numbers are down and he hasn't had much on his cameras. It was very understandable, he's been awesome to us for 5 seasons so we were ok with it but disappointed at the same time.
BUT! We were soon getting our spirits up because we found a few sections of property that are managed by the State and hunting is permitted on, luckily for us they were right next to other property we were allowed to hunt.
The next morning my Dad managed to pop a smaller doe on the State land and we saw about a dozen deer in and around the property.
So, that evening we split up. I went to a section of pasture, my Dad went to another section of pasture 1 mile south and Ryan set up over the State land. My Dad and I didn't see anything. Ryan however, connected on a big doe at 590 yards with his new .284 Diablo. He was shooting a 120gr Nosler Ballistic tip at 3500 fps. It was amazing that I could hear the shot and then the "WHACK" of the bullet connecting.
He texted me so I went over to pick him up and load up the doe. We picked up my Dad on the way and looked over in the cut corn and saw another big doe and smaller doe, so it was my turn now! I set up my new .240 Artzer Mag on the dirt, Ryan ranged the big doe, 426 yards he said. So I made my adjustments and boom, the 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tip left the barrel at 3460 fps and WHACK the big doe dropped in her tracks, not even a twitch. Right thru both shoulders, a little forward so I believe I also clipped the neck/spine junction. It was pretty awesome to shoot something with cartridges that we created!!!
The next two days were basically the same, hot and a big moon! So the deer were pretty scarce. My Dad managed one more doe on my friends property near his house, I would be leaving Nebraska with just the single doe. Ryan connected on one more at 330 yards with a 110gr TTSX at 3880 fps with his .284 Diablo. It's amazing how hard those light fast bullets hit!!
Overall it was a pretty enjoyable trip with my Dad and good friend. The drive home was terrible tho...a storm moved North from Colorado into Wyoming and I-80 was closed at Cheyenne right when we got there. Luckily Ryan knew a way around it and we came back onto the Interstate about 8 miles from Laramie and that 8 miles took nearly 2 hours with all the snow and spun out trucks. The rest of the way across Wyoming for my Dad and I was in ice and snow, it didn't clear up until 30 miles from the Utah border. It was the longest drive across Wyoming I have ever had and made me think that flying looks pretty good for next year.
I didn't get many pictures, but I'll post up what I have in a bit.
The next morning we packed up Ryan's gear and got on the road at 6am. We made it to Holdrege NE around lunch time, got checked into the hotel, unloaded our gear then reloaded the truck with hunting gear and went out to kill deer.
That afternoon was pretty discouraging, it was in the high 70's and we had the biggest moon in 68 years bearing in on us. Needless to say, we only saw one small buck and one doe all afternoon and they were gone like lightning as soon as they saw us.
To make things more discouraging, the other landowner whose property we usually get to hunt on, said that he would like to keep all his property to himself this year since the numbers are down and he hasn't had much on his cameras. It was very understandable, he's been awesome to us for 5 seasons so we were ok with it but disappointed at the same time.
BUT! We were soon getting our spirits up because we found a few sections of property that are managed by the State and hunting is permitted on, luckily for us they were right next to other property we were allowed to hunt.
The next morning my Dad managed to pop a smaller doe on the State land and we saw about a dozen deer in and around the property.
So, that evening we split up. I went to a section of pasture, my Dad went to another section of pasture 1 mile south and Ryan set up over the State land. My Dad and I didn't see anything. Ryan however, connected on a big doe at 590 yards with his new .284 Diablo. He was shooting a 120gr Nosler Ballistic tip at 3500 fps. It was amazing that I could hear the shot and then the "WHACK" of the bullet connecting.
He texted me so I went over to pick him up and load up the doe. We picked up my Dad on the way and looked over in the cut corn and saw another big doe and smaller doe, so it was my turn now! I set up my new .240 Artzer Mag on the dirt, Ryan ranged the big doe, 426 yards he said. So I made my adjustments and boom, the 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tip left the barrel at 3460 fps and WHACK the big doe dropped in her tracks, not even a twitch. Right thru both shoulders, a little forward so I believe I also clipped the neck/spine junction. It was pretty awesome to shoot something with cartridges that we created!!!
The next two days were basically the same, hot and a big moon! So the deer were pretty scarce. My Dad managed one more doe on my friends property near his house, I would be leaving Nebraska with just the single doe. Ryan connected on one more at 330 yards with a 110gr TTSX at 3880 fps with his .284 Diablo. It's amazing how hard those light fast bullets hit!!
Overall it was a pretty enjoyable trip with my Dad and good friend. The drive home was terrible tho...a storm moved North from Colorado into Wyoming and I-80 was closed at Cheyenne right when we got there. Luckily Ryan knew a way around it and we came back onto the Interstate about 8 miles from Laramie and that 8 miles took nearly 2 hours with all the snow and spun out trucks. The rest of the way across Wyoming for my Dad and I was in ice and snow, it didn't clear up until 30 miles from the Utah border. It was the longest drive across Wyoming I have ever had and made me think that flying looks pretty good for next year.
I didn't get many pictures, but I'll post up what I have in a bit.
