CA A zone buck down

brushape

WKR
Joined
Nov 13, 2013
Messages
886
Location
rohnert park, Ca
This year has been a tough one to get out hunting between being a single father and an exploding business I haven't really had a much time to breathe. I made it out for one single short evening in July during archery and that has been it. I needed some time to breathe so when I saw the chance to take Monday off to hunt with my dad on his birthday I jumped on it.
Sunday about 8 I was leaving sf and got the call you don't want that my dad was on the way to the hospital and I would need to meet him there instead of the ranch, turned out it was just a kidney stone but he had the good news he had spotted some good deer he wasn't confident in taking a shot on and the pain from the stone had kept him from wanting any big stalks.
After just a short couple hours my alarm clock was going off and I was up and headed up the hill to a spot I have been itching to go since last August where you have a good view of a nice oak hillside at 300-500 yards and timber ridges on both sides and creek on the bottom. I had a good idea where the deer would appear so I set the gun on the bipod and rear rest and had the spotter ready before first light. Just like clockwork 4 bucks appeared in a grassy opening as the it got light, it took a few minutes to get a good enough judge to want to pull the trigger but with large back forks and the heavy bases is was pretty much a done deal. At 335 yards the 130 jlk from my 6.5 gap4s hit just in the pocket quartering away destroyed the heart and lunch and exited the far side elbow joint. With the light bullet and muzzle brake recoil was nonexistent and I watched the deer crumple and roll down the hill through the scope. The rest was history, Total time of hunt was 50 minutes from the alarm going off to pulling the trigger, including taking a shower and making a pot of coffee.

My dad passed his stone just as I got back so I hauled him up the hill to take some pics for me before I drug it out
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CaseyU

WKR
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Messages
731
Location
Reno, NV
Congrats man. That's a smoker blacktail! Those things are sure hard to hunt... Or maybe harder to see ;) not sure which it is. Gonna be some great meat looking at that meat!
 
OP
B

brushape

WKR
Joined
Nov 13, 2013
Messages
886
Location
rohnert park, Ca
Thanks sometimes they blow my mind, I have hunted up to 15 days without seeing a legal buck on this same ranch but in the last few years it has really started to get good and the massive amount of bucks we have passed up has really started to show, this is the largest taken out of this area in my life. I've seen bigger and found bigger sheds and dead heads in the last few years though


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Joined
Jul 30, 2013
Messages
3,431
Location
Humboldt county
This year has been a tough one to get out hunting between being a single father and an exploding business I haven't really had a much time to breathe. I made it out for one single short evening in July during archery and that has been it. I needed some time to breathe so when I saw the chance to take Monday off to hunt with my dad on his birthday I jumped on it.
Sunday about 8 I was leaving sf and got the call you don't want that my dad was on the way to the hospital and I would need to meet him there instead of the ranch, turned out it was just a kidney stone but he had the good news he had spotted some good deer he wasn't confident in taking a shot on and the pain from the stone had kept him from wanting any big stalks.
After just a short couple hours my alarm clock was going off and I was up and headed up the hill to a spot I have been itching to go since last August where you have a good view of a nice oak hillside at 300-500 yards and timber ridges on both sides and creek on the bottom. I had a good idea where the deer would appear so I set the gun on the bipod and rear rest and had the spotter ready before first light. Just like clockwork 4 bucks appeared in a grassy opening as the it got light, it took a few minutes to get a good enough judge to want to pull the trigger but with large back forks and the heavy bases is was pretty much a done deal. At 335 yards the 130 jlk from my 6.5 gap4s hit just in the pocket quartering away destroyed the heart and lunch and exited the far side elbow joint. With the light bullet and muzzle brake recoil was nonexistent and I watched the deer crumple and roll down the hill through the scope. The rest was history, Total time of hunt was 50 minutes from the alarm going off to pulling the trigger, including taking a shower and making a pot of coffee.

My dad passed his stone just as I got back so I hauled him up the hill to take some pics for me before I drug it out
dc10f5881539227ea4011b6b5361b0e5.jpg
2ff8db41159fe44cd367daec5181ca0a.jpg
908dccfcd4dbe0741efa1152faf9d353.jpg
3ac4f8f586e645f61a21d0b36ad621c6.jpg
7789ac250dd41fe9109ecf936628ae16.jpg
779526e447a14ebd5df1f170e7c30a60.jpg
674ebb21e9cb5465c73822d478048397.jpg
bef57ef2f6c3247aa4324e631a77a993.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

awesome buck, i cannot believe they are already all hard horned.
 

JPHuntingAUS

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 5, 2014
Messages
256
Beautiful buck mate, looks like some prime venison too 👍

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choovhntr

WKR
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
428
Location
Northern CA
Great buck! Congrats on making the one day count. One thing about blacktail... You never know what or when one(or a few) will show up. I've hunted them exclusively in A zone all my life until about 8 years ago and still think that a true trophy coastal blacktail trumps all others as far as odds go. Archery season is your best bet for any kind of pattern. Once the velvet is gone it's like roulette with them. To only have one day of hunting and a buck of that caliber to be there is awesome. Stoked for you.
 
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