(This is a write up I wrote for another forum where I got this hunt)
Where to start. First off I want to thank Spaher for his generous offering of this hunt to the forum. Never thought my love of Sako's would translate into getting an opportunity to hunt a fantastic South Texas ranch.
My first decision to make was deciding on what rifle to take. Spaher offered up one of his Sako's if I did not want to bring my own. The choice came down to either my Finnbear in .338 win or my M995 in .30-06. I though the .338 was a little much so I opted to bring the M995. This would be the M995's first hunt. I have a bad habit of buying guns and putting them into the safe and not shooting them. Time to go to the range and sight this beauty in. The M995 is topped with a Swarovski Habicht 6-18x50 scope. My local indoor range has a 75 yard rifle range. I didn't have time to get to the outdoor range so 75 yards would have to do. The first three shots were cloverleafed at 75 yards about 3" inches left and 1.3" high. I adjusted the scope and got it shooting dead on right to left and still about 1.3" high at 75 yards. That should give me a dead on hold out to approx. 250 yards. I was shooting Federal Premium168 grain Vital Shok with Sierra Gameking BTSP bullets.
The plan was to arrive on Wednesday around noon. We would have a light lunch, go verify zero on the rifle and then head out for an afternoon hunt. I had decided to drive down. I am the kind of guy that likes to drive straight through instead of splitting the drive up and getting a hotel. So I took off from Nashville and drove straight through till I arrived at the ranch. Spaher was running a couple of errands so he had one of his buddies meet me at the gate. The first thing that I noticed was how well maintained the road was leading down to the kitchen and bunk houses. We get to the bunk houses and park and that's where I met his ranch manager. Super nice guy. He got me set up in a room and showed me around the main camp area. We were having lunch when Spaher came in. He instantly made me feel welcome. We sat and talked for awhile. Not only is Spaher into deer and land management but also history. It was fascinating learning a lot about the lands history. After verifying zero on the rifle it was time for our afternoon hunt.
Spaher does a lot to manage his property. He does supplemental feeding with corn and protein for the wildlife. Just understand that these deer are 100% wild deer. It is not high fenced, there are no pen raised deer or anything like that. Spaher does a lot of culling to make sure he has the right mix of bucks to does and the correct bucks that have potential to grow into giants. They run a lot of cameras on the ranch so they can keep track of the deer from year to year. That way they know what needs to be culled and what needs a chance to grow. The brush can get a little thick on this property. It is full of cactuses and other thorny plants. Because of that Spaher asks that you shoot the deer right through the front shoulder. He does not want the deer to be able to run very far.
That afternoon we went to a blind that was beside a pond. It was not long before a fawn came out to feed and play. Not long after more deer kept coming out of the brush to feed and drink. There was a pretty even mixture of does and young bucks. Where I hunt it is a good day to see a couple of deer. I had a blast just getting to watch all the deer. There were 5 young bucks between a spike and up to a small 8 pt and 7 does. About 20 minutes before dark another buck comes out and you can instantly tell he is a mature deer. The ranch manager glasses him for a minute and say that is one on our hit list. I have not seen him in over a year. After a minute or two he says aren't you going to put your rifle up and shoot him. Not sure why but for some reason I had it in my head that I was going to be shooting cull bucks. So I say I can shoot him? He responds that's why you are here. Well then the buck fever hit me. This was a beautiful 14 pt. He was a perfect 6x6 with split brow tines. I put the cross hair on his shoulder and pulled the trigger. He bolted off into the underbrush. We wait a few minutes and then go look for blood. We get to where he was standing and can not find any blood. My stomach just drops. I get that sick feeling that I made a bad shot. A few minutes later the ranch hands show up. They are expert trackers. One of the hands found a piece of hair with a little meat attached to it right where he was standing. Still not sure how I missed it. They head off into the brush tracking the deer by his footprints. About 60 yards in they found a couple of drops of blood where it looks like the deer stopped and stood for a minute or two. I was not a lot of blood. It was dark now so they decided to pull out and look again in the morning. After talking it over the with the ranch manager we think I shot low and hit the deers' leg. Nothing I could do now except hope we find him in the morning. So we head back to camp and get cleaned up for dinner.
There is just something magical about sipping on bourbon while steaks cook over a live mesquite fire. We had a great dinner and then off to bed.
The next morning the manager and I go a different blind. We are sitting there in the dark waiting for it to get light when he says hear all that crunching. I am like what is that. He says that is a bunch of javalina. They are very loud eaters. As it got light enough to see I could make out 20-30 javalina feeding off to our right.
I am watching the javalina when the manager says he sees 2 deer at the end of field. We can 2 bodies through our binoculars but can't make out if they are bucks or does yet. After a couple of very long minutes we can make out that they are both bucks. We watch them for about 10 minutes and the manager says lets take the one on the right. He is an older mature deer. He looked like a solid 8 or maybe a 10, I was not positive. I ranged him at just over a 100 yards. I took my time, put the cross hairs right at the top of his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I saw him hunch up a little and then take off into the underbrush. The manager says I head the bullet hit him. We message the trackers and then head up to where the buck was standing. We start looking around and again we can not find any blood. I am thinking what the hell is going on.
The trackers get there and we show which way the deer went. They follow the tracks pointing out where they could see the deer turn but still can not find any blood. After another turn or two one of the trackers yells found him. Talk about a sense of relief. We head over that direction and find him piled up next to a tree with broken branch laying across him. First thing I did was look for my shot placement. Sure enough there was an entrance hole right in the middle of his shoulder. I hit him right where I was aiming. He was standing broadside when I shot him. The weird part is there was also an exit hole but it was 4-5"s back near the back of the rib cage. So we have an entrance and exit hole but not one drop of blood could be found. As soon as we moved the deer and its body shifted, blood started flowing out of the exit hole. It was then I started looking at the rack. We have all heard about ground shrinkage but this was the opposite for me. The rack looked a lot bigger than what I thought it was. It turned out to be a beautiful 11 pt. I was estatic. The deer in my neck of the woods are a lot smaller. We load the deer up and head off to the processing shed.
(part 1 of 2)
Where to start. First off I want to thank Spaher for his generous offering of this hunt to the forum. Never thought my love of Sako's would translate into getting an opportunity to hunt a fantastic South Texas ranch.
My first decision to make was deciding on what rifle to take. Spaher offered up one of his Sako's if I did not want to bring my own. The choice came down to either my Finnbear in .338 win or my M995 in .30-06. I though the .338 was a little much so I opted to bring the M995. This would be the M995's first hunt. I have a bad habit of buying guns and putting them into the safe and not shooting them. Time to go to the range and sight this beauty in. The M995 is topped with a Swarovski Habicht 6-18x50 scope. My local indoor range has a 75 yard rifle range. I didn't have time to get to the outdoor range so 75 yards would have to do. The first three shots were cloverleafed at 75 yards about 3" inches left and 1.3" high. I adjusted the scope and got it shooting dead on right to left and still about 1.3" high at 75 yards. That should give me a dead on hold out to approx. 250 yards. I was shooting Federal Premium168 grain Vital Shok with Sierra Gameking BTSP bullets.
The plan was to arrive on Wednesday around noon. We would have a light lunch, go verify zero on the rifle and then head out for an afternoon hunt. I had decided to drive down. I am the kind of guy that likes to drive straight through instead of splitting the drive up and getting a hotel. So I took off from Nashville and drove straight through till I arrived at the ranch. Spaher was running a couple of errands so he had one of his buddies meet me at the gate. The first thing that I noticed was how well maintained the road was leading down to the kitchen and bunk houses. We get to the bunk houses and park and that's where I met his ranch manager. Super nice guy. He got me set up in a room and showed me around the main camp area. We were having lunch when Spaher came in. He instantly made me feel welcome. We sat and talked for awhile. Not only is Spaher into deer and land management but also history. It was fascinating learning a lot about the lands history. After verifying zero on the rifle it was time for our afternoon hunt.
Spaher does a lot to manage his property. He does supplemental feeding with corn and protein for the wildlife. Just understand that these deer are 100% wild deer. It is not high fenced, there are no pen raised deer or anything like that. Spaher does a lot of culling to make sure he has the right mix of bucks to does and the correct bucks that have potential to grow into giants. They run a lot of cameras on the ranch so they can keep track of the deer from year to year. That way they know what needs to be culled and what needs a chance to grow. The brush can get a little thick on this property. It is full of cactuses and other thorny plants. Because of that Spaher asks that you shoot the deer right through the front shoulder. He does not want the deer to be able to run very far.
That afternoon we went to a blind that was beside a pond. It was not long before a fawn came out to feed and play. Not long after more deer kept coming out of the brush to feed and drink. There was a pretty even mixture of does and young bucks. Where I hunt it is a good day to see a couple of deer. I had a blast just getting to watch all the deer. There were 5 young bucks between a spike and up to a small 8 pt and 7 does. About 20 minutes before dark another buck comes out and you can instantly tell he is a mature deer. The ranch manager glasses him for a minute and say that is one on our hit list. I have not seen him in over a year. After a minute or two he says aren't you going to put your rifle up and shoot him. Not sure why but for some reason I had it in my head that I was going to be shooting cull bucks. So I say I can shoot him? He responds that's why you are here. Well then the buck fever hit me. This was a beautiful 14 pt. He was a perfect 6x6 with split brow tines. I put the cross hair on his shoulder and pulled the trigger. He bolted off into the underbrush. We wait a few minutes and then go look for blood. We get to where he was standing and can not find any blood. My stomach just drops. I get that sick feeling that I made a bad shot. A few minutes later the ranch hands show up. They are expert trackers. One of the hands found a piece of hair with a little meat attached to it right where he was standing. Still not sure how I missed it. They head off into the brush tracking the deer by his footprints. About 60 yards in they found a couple of drops of blood where it looks like the deer stopped and stood for a minute or two. I was not a lot of blood. It was dark now so they decided to pull out and look again in the morning. After talking it over the with the ranch manager we think I shot low and hit the deers' leg. Nothing I could do now except hope we find him in the morning. So we head back to camp and get cleaned up for dinner.
There is just something magical about sipping on bourbon while steaks cook over a live mesquite fire. We had a great dinner and then off to bed.
The next morning the manager and I go a different blind. We are sitting there in the dark waiting for it to get light when he says hear all that crunching. I am like what is that. He says that is a bunch of javalina. They are very loud eaters. As it got light enough to see I could make out 20-30 javalina feeding off to our right.
I am watching the javalina when the manager says he sees 2 deer at the end of field. We can 2 bodies through our binoculars but can't make out if they are bucks or does yet. After a couple of very long minutes we can make out that they are both bucks. We watch them for about 10 minutes and the manager says lets take the one on the right. He is an older mature deer. He looked like a solid 8 or maybe a 10, I was not positive. I ranged him at just over a 100 yards. I took my time, put the cross hairs right at the top of his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I saw him hunch up a little and then take off into the underbrush. The manager says I head the bullet hit him. We message the trackers and then head up to where the buck was standing. We start looking around and again we can not find any blood. I am thinking what the hell is going on.
The trackers get there and we show which way the deer went. They follow the tracks pointing out where they could see the deer turn but still can not find any blood. After another turn or two one of the trackers yells found him. Talk about a sense of relief. We head over that direction and find him piled up next to a tree with broken branch laying across him. First thing I did was look for my shot placement. Sure enough there was an entrance hole right in the middle of his shoulder. I hit him right where I was aiming. He was standing broadside when I shot him. The weird part is there was also an exit hole but it was 4-5"s back near the back of the rib cage. So we have an entrance and exit hole but not one drop of blood could be found. As soon as we moved the deer and its body shifted, blood started flowing out of the exit hole. It was then I started looking at the rack. We have all heard about ground shrinkage but this was the opposite for me. The rack looked a lot bigger than what I thought it was. It turned out to be a beautiful 11 pt. I was estatic. The deer in my neck of the woods are a lot smaller. We load the deer up and head off to the processing shed.
(part 1 of 2)
