Utah Rifle Deer

[mfllood3800]

I have completed my LE Bull archery in Utah, my General muzzle deer in Utah and have another Utah General deer with a rifle for my wifes tag.
During the muzzle hunt I spotted a very nice 3 or 4 pointer I will be glassing up, hoping he makes it thru the rest of the muzzle hunt season.

This will be her first hunt.

I have a nice Rem .243 for her to send down range.
I bet if we get on the big guy, and if she is able to pull the trigger,she gets hooked.

I hope to get some pics of him to post up here soon.

I wonder how many RokSliders have wives who hunt with them?

She cant back pack hunt with me, hates the cold, and doesn't know if she can kill an animal. She loves to eat elk, and helps butcher everything I get, so she is in favor of getting meat.
I just hope this goes well for her emotionally as well as physically.

 

[MuleyFever]

My wife packs in with me, and I let her shoot whatever buck she wants. She usually wants the first one she sees so we can go home.

 

[mfllood3800]

Muley Fever- yep
She even wants me to do that.
If I spend more than 3 days on a hunt, she asks what is taking so long
lol

I expect her to see a buck pull up on it, and not fire.
I really don't know if she has it in her
Time will tell

 

[mfllood3800]

Which ever moderator edited this thread- thank you

 

[JustHunt]

Have you thought about having her shoot a larger caliber?

A .243 will kill a deer dead just like any other gun, if the person behind the trigger does their job. Being her first time, ide imagine she may be a little nervous and buck fever may get the best of her. I don't know of anything that would turn a first timer off from hunting more than shooting an animal and having it flop all over the place requiring a follow up shot. Yeah, a large caliber kicks hard at the range, but she'd never feel it when shooting at a live animal. Just my 2 cents...

 

[mfllood3800]

Justhunt.... I believe the .243 is more than enough, as I don't believe she will shoot anything further than 1oo yards with confidence. I will get her to the range and see how she does with it. I had a friend 2 years ago use it. I also had him shoot my 30-06, which he asked to use the .243 instead. He dropped a nice buck at 50 yards with one shot.

I agree if she has to follow up with another shot, that would end it for her. Even if she sees it die, she might be done.
I got her a 380 Ruger, and after shooting it, she said she wanted a 9mm. So she may surprise me and shoot the 30-06.

I appreciate your input and concern.
Odds are right now, we will go out and see deer, and never have to clean the rifle afterwards. But she has always surprised me with what she can do when she reaches deep inside.
truth is, I am fine either way.
I really think if she saw the big one, she would be more juiced up to shoot it, rather than, say, a smaller cute little buck.
I know she would be fine with out doing me, if she can actually pull that trigger....

I just want her to do what she wants.

 

[JustHunt]

At 100 yards or less, she will be fine. I didn't know people STILL made goals of trying to get in close after hearing and seeing all this long range shooting craze the last few years! Good on you guys.

 

[mtnrunner260]

One thing I'd say that seems to have helped my wife with the "killing of such a beautiful animal" is
Being able to shoot a couple hundred yards. Being able to see those big Brown eyes doesn't help.
Not having to rush the shot but also not sitting there forever. Basically enough time to go through shot process and execute, not minutes to give them time to get into their own heads. With a side Note of her shot process will likely be like 5x longer than yours. Repeat saying SHOOT! Won't do any good.
Awesome on you and her for going out and good luck.

 

[robby denning]

Which ever moderator edited this thread- thank you

It was me. Both of you were going sideways


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[mfllood3800]

At 100 yards or less, she will be fine. I didn't know people STILL made goals of trying to get in close after hearing and seeing all this long range shooting craze the last few years! Good on you guys.

Yes I tried to get into the long range set ups, but I am an archer at heart and still close the distance automatically. I cant help it. My muzzle hunt was at 20 yards.

But for her I will let her decide when to shoot.

 

[mfllood3800]

One thing I'd say that seems to have helped my wife with the "killing of such a beautiful animal" is
Being able to shoot a couple hundred yards. Being able to see those big Brown eyes doesn't help.
Not having to rush the shot but also not sitting there forever. Basically enough time to go through shot process and execute, not minutes to give them time to get into their own heads. With a side Note of her shot process will likely be like 5x longer than yours. Repeat saying SHOOT! Won't do any good.
Awesome on you and her for going out and good luck.

HaHaHa you must know me,
shoot, shoot now, he's broad side, hurry before he drops over that hill, shoot, shoot
good advice, I will try not to add to the pressure she will be processing.

 

[mfllood3800]

It was me. Both of you were going sideways


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree, I am sorry for my part, I just hate it when I get accused of doing something I didn't. I get bent out of shape at times from people who assume and then judge. I guess its the norm in our world today.
Again thx for cleaning my mud off the floor

 

[GeoHunter]

I'm in the same boat this year. I finally talked my wife into giving it a try. I've been telling myself over and over again so that I don't forget it on the mountain that this is her experience and that I need to let her make the decision to shoot or not. It's a very personal thing to decide to kill something, and everyone is going to react differently. Mostly, I just want to do my best to make sure she has a good time so she'll want to do it again.

She has also come to like having a freezer full of game meat, so hopefully that will help.

 

[mfllood3800]

My wife said what are we doing tomorrow- I replied we need to get the .243 dialed in for you. She replied "I cant shoot a deer, maybe an elk". I was like what ?? She loves elk, but doesn't like deer.
I respect that- she only is willing to kill what she is wanting to eat.
Now I have a situation.
I wish she would've made this more clear when I put her in for the draw, or maybe I should've been more investigative of her emotional position.

I still think if she sees a huge buck, rather than a cute little guy, she may squeeze one off.

 

[mfllood3800]

She said I will go out with you and you shoot it. I cant do this, it isn't fishing ( I help her get her limit when I am done with mine).
The worst end here would be she feels obligated now- I don't want that.

 

[Macegl]

I wouldn't make her go out if she doesn't want to. If she is willing to go, I would go into it knowing it will mostly be a good scouting trip with your wife during a great time of the year. If you see something and she gets excited that's great, if not, you found a good place for next year and made a donation for wildlife.

 

[UtahJimmy]

This might get long winded, but my wife is just getting into hunting and I'm loving her enthusiasm. Bear with me, quite a few lessons in this one!

She grew up around it (father is hunter, and very successful!) but never expressed interest. Last Jan/Feb ('16) she said she'd like to go, but didn't get here hunters safety done in time for UT draws. I didn't push as I wanted it to be her decision. Then April rolled around and she started doing the online HS. I had plans of removing a 45' pine from the backyard and didn't need her to be telling me to be safe, so I conveniently signed her up for the field day.

After passing, she had a fire burning. The instructor complimented her on the shooting portion, saying she was a natural. So now she's ready to go!

We (wife, FIL, myself) drew antelope doe tags for WY and I did my work to find some herds. We waited until middle of Oct so we didn't have to deal with the craziness of openers and the rut.

Having her father there made it pretty special and she was using a rifle her Grandfather gave to her a few months before his passing. We blew 3 different stalks the first morning, but got in on a few bedded down around noon. We crawled through sage and cactus and got setup about 120 yards away. Summer range time proved that she was deadly inside 200. The first doe stood up and fed directly away from us for 60 yards, then turned broadside. She wanted to wait for one of the other does to stand to take a closer shot. When the next doe did the same as the first, she decided she would take the first one.

180 yards...
1st shot - high over the back. Doe came closer about 5 yards as the exploding rock behind her scared her.
2nd shot - HIT! Not sure exactly where. "Great shot, rack another one and put her down" - me
3rd shot - Hit again but back. I could tell the wife was flustered. And I SCREWED up by not having more bullets in my pocket. I dug into the pack she was using as a rest and chambered another round. The doe had moved a little but my wife honed in on the wrong one. I told her it was the one on the right but she didn't believe me. I said "do not shoot the one on the left please" to which she replied "how do you know which one?" I had my binos on her and the third shot had unzipped her paunch. "Because her guts are hanging out, sweetie. Now put her out of her misery please." This was not how I imagined this experience going, but it was the situation we found ourselves in.
4th shot - High but spined, dropped like a bag of rocks. She had done it and exploded with emotion! It was such a neat experience to have with my best friend/wife.

Walking up on the animal was a little tough for her, touching it was even worse. She felt like she had just killed our dog. Warm, fuzzy, dog sized creature whose life she had just taken. Add to that the chaos she went through, she didn't want to go anymore (we each had 2 tags). We head back to camp and celebrate/recount what happened with her mother.

My FIL and I head out for an evening hunt w/o her as she's still a little shook up. While we are gone she has a heart to heart with her mother and basically they decide together that my wife should give it another shot in the AM.

Next morning rolls around, we take our time with breakfast/coffee, and she's refilled with confidence. We get to 200 yards of a group of 11 lopes. She is setup but decides to let her dad take the first shot. Most scatter after one of their comrades drops, but one big doe whirls around and is facing us head on. I tell her if she feels comfortable to put that bullet right in the throat patch. She's shaking like a leaf but executes perfectly and that doe dropped in her tracks. Again, tears of joy!

1-shot kills are what we all strive to achieve, but we are human. It was an emotional ride for her but she was so proud of herself for not giving up. I was too and am glad I didn't push too hard. I have a tendency to be intense, but this was something I had to back off of.

On the ride home we discussed her future in hunting and she said she was in. I warned her that not all hunts would be as game-rich as antelope hunting. There will be days where we don't see game, but she didn't care.

Fast forward to this year and she has a UT gen deer rifle tag and my late season UT cow elk tag (I skipped this year so I could focus on her getting an elk), along with another set of WY lope doe tags. She's fired up to hopefully take a buck (she said she won't shoot a forkie but we'll see how that plays out!). Her pops also just gave her a new rifle which she's pretty damn excited to use.

In summary I close with this advice: Do YOUR best to make it enjoyable for HER. I would recommend discussing expectations beforehand. Like mtnrunner said, don't put added pressure in the heat of the moment by stressing her out. It's REALLY TOUGH to do, believe me! But DO let her kill a bigger buck than yours

I'm pretty nervous about the rifle deer opener as I've never participated in a rifle deer hunt, but I've heard stories... I let her know that ahead of time and she seems to be fine with it. We'll deal with events if we have to but hopefully things go well!

Good luck!

 

[mfllood3800]

Good story and advice- thx.
We will be riding around and viewing deer. I decided I will just cruise in the Ranger with her and see how she reacts. It will be our outdoor dating adventure series. I have a spot I know the bucks go through, where we can sit and glass and she can see it from afar and decide w/o being rushed. They travel a good 400 yards so she can decide then. The fall colors will be in full bloom, and she will enjoy that.

Yes the Utah rifle deer is a gauntlet. I've never seen anything like it, and only did it 1 time- crazy.

Doubtful she will shoot the deer this year, but being out there, hearing all the other hunters shooting off in the distance, she will be thinking about things for sure. She doesn't eat much venison. She loves elk.

Really odd thing happened when I got my Bull this year in archery- she was excited and emotionally detached. But when I shot my forky buck (granted it was a huge forky) she came to look at it when I pulled in and said, " awwww" Something about me shooting anything other than big old male species she gets emotional about it.

I am totally fine with donating funds to Utah Conservation this year as long as she does indeed go out with me. She gets excited like me, so who knows.
Either way we're gonna have a blast watching the army of orange racing on the roads like a Nascar race to get to a spike deer.

Thx again everyone for the insight.

 

[mfllood3800]

Took her .243 out and checked the hold over marks on the Leupold out to 400 yards. Video taped a shot at a milk jug at 400 and showed it to her. Told her this thing is super accurate. Just a tad high.
She then tells me her neighbor friend went out with her husband muzzle hunting, shot 2x's and missed.

She may be thinking harder than I thought

[video]https://www.facebook.com/marty.flood/videos/10211805474184908/[/video]

 

[mfllood3800]

So the wife says, Friday I want to go shoot my gun. I got all excited, I asked how come. She said cause I shouldn't just shoot it once and then leave it in my purse. My heart sank when I realized she was talking about her 9mm and not the .243. But hey, she is wanting to shoot- I'll take that