2011 Hunting Season Contest

[Texican Hairless]

That's a nice ten. I'd make room for him on my wall! Good work!

[Stealthshooter]

That's a dang nice deer! Congrats!

[rugersr556]

nice buck. congrats.

[captain223]

My first Bobcat!
Well, it was a nice day about 63 degrees. I decided to go on one of my many backyard deer hunting adventures . I grabbed my climbing tree stand and my new 450 bushmaster and headed to a area of a thick spot of briars, probally had about 30 yards of visibility. After arriving on scene and setting up my gear, I got to climbing, trimming branches as I progressed up the tree. I reached about the 10ft.mark in my climb, a peskey limb from an adjecent tree kept snaging me as made my accent. I turned to trim up the limb, as I held the saw in one hand and limb in the other hand the blade passed through the limb and hit my index finger on my left hand. it began to bleed immediately. I finished my climb turned around and took a second to gather myself. And cut a strip of my shirt off to make a temporary bangage. I finally got comfortable. About an hour and a half passed,I haven't even seen a squirrl. Then I see this bobcat making its way up a game trail walking left to right I took my shot at about 20 yards and she dropped like a stone the 250 gr hornandy entered at the base of her neck and exited the left rear leg lodgeing in the dirt. score!! A trophy for the wall of the cave ! My buddies will never believe this, it was the first time I have ever seen a bobcat on my property. I made my way back to the house with my trophy. I gathered up my wife and oldest boy to do some bragging. My wife immediately laid claim to my bobcat telling me that I was to get it mounted and put it in the living room.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

[ http://i42.tinypic.com/ff38ea.jpg ] [ http://i43.tinypic.com/2lnz3nm.jpg ]
My first Bobcat!

Nice KITTY!! Welcome to the Forum, Capt!

[wildcatter]

[ http://i42.tinypic.com/ff38ea.jpg ] [ http://i43.tinypic.com/2lnz3nm.jpg ]
My first Bobcat!

WELCOME Captain!! Now, tell us the story and get a chance at winning some Brass..

..t

[Texas Sheepdawg]

Okay, here is my story, not twenty minutes old (9:00AM). I had just put a rifle in my safe, locked it, walked out of the gun room and locked the door. I was headed for bed when the dogs went nuts. I looked out of the kitchen window and a huge coyote was standing right there, on my pistol range, not twenty feet from my dogs just staring at them! I freaked! So I went back to the gun room... LOCKED!! Spent 30 seconds trying to figure out where I laid my keys, found them, unlocked the gun room and went to open the safe... LOCKED! ARRRGH!! Run the combo, get it open, pull out the 450 Bushmaster! Slam home a mag and cycle! Headed out the front door in stealth mode when I realized I was also in "Boxers Only" mode as well... A few seconds and swear words later, I have my camo coveralls on and I slip out the front door. As I ease around the house, I see the coyote has made his way to the south end of my pasture about fifty yards away. He is quartering away with his head down.... (By now, I am a bit excited....)So standing right there in the drive way, I settle the crosshairs on him mid torso.....BANG!!! I see white stuff fly up everywhere around him and he takes off like a bolt.....
Rats...I forgot. The bushy shoots about 3 inches high at 50 yards! Nooo!!I must have missed his spine by a knats mustache! The bullet had hit a cedar tree behind him and blew a good chunk out of it. Rats. I trailed him and not so much as a hair did I find. I bet he is off in some creek bottom a mile away, taking inventory of his body parts! That bullets' POI should have been right at his spine level but just a tad high. Poor cedar tree. Survived the drought only to get blown up. I would be willing to bet that Yote felt the sonic wave as that bullet grazed over his back.
Lesson 1. You gotta remember where your rifle is gonna hit at close range. Yeah, it's great knowing what it can do at 250 yards, but don't forget that you may get a 40-50 yard presentation.
Lesson 2. Maybe I needed to keep the 450 Bushy out this morning, instead of locking it down.
Lesson 3. You guys with Ross brakes might want to hear this....cuz my ears are ringing. I can now confirm and testify that the Ross Brake is a bit on the loud side. But man, I wouldn't trade anything for it! Hoo Yah! That was fun as hell!!

[wildcatter]

Yup, I'd say 'Ol Robin is in the running for the Brass, with a story like that. Now, you guys that haven't posted your hunting story here, had better review the first few post, to see what is at stake, for winning this contest and we'll be reviewing the stories, sometime through the first week of January..

..t

Ps.. But you'll have to try hard to beat TexasSheepDog's HOWLING good story, wherein he forgot to say, the yote bit him in the butt, before retiring from the ordeal..

..t

[Texas Sheepdawg]

Thumper is sitting right by the front door, on red alert now.... Had I not followed my normal 'safety routine', That yote would have been splattered all over my pistol range. I could have also used my Glock and shot him right there at the fence, but what fun would that be? Oh well. It was an Adrenaline filled morning and I had a heck of a time going to sleep after all that.

[9x19MdM]

I carried the 450B hunting today for the first time!

Between my work schedule, shorter days and the Christmas holiday, it was Christmas day before I had the pleasure to load up the truck with the portable range gear and head out to fire the first round and sight in the 450B. Sighting in went well with a couple of stove pipes which I contribute to the brass catcher.

100 yd - 3 shot group


Here in AR we have a Christmas Holiday three day gun hunt and the zone I hunt in is a buck's only with three points on one side zone, so when the flash of white and grayish/brown came into view I thought this was going to be meat in the freezer. I shouldered "thumper" and tried to peer over the top of my glasses so I could better utilize the optics. The deer stopped so it's head and neck were hidden behind some trees and brush which gave me second or two to compose my nerves. I steadied the cross-hairs and waited. A second or two later this older deer took a step forward and turned and looked directly at me. It was doe! She and her yearling milled around for a bit before continuing on their mission.

The weather was turning for the worse, the wind was picking up and the rain showers made it feel even colder! The doe and her yearling confirmed I was in a good spot, so I settled in for a wet, cold stay beside a tree. I forgot to put the foam sit pad in my backpack and decided the trash bag would better serve me as a moisture barrier from the cold, wet ground than the poncho in my pack.

I sat, scanning the brush in the little valley below me. The cold was starting to get to me, my breakfast was long gone and my stomach was complaining about it. I dug in my pack for one of the oranges, found it and started peeling it and savoring the aroma of the fruit. I thought about how deer might react to this new smell as I chewed on the sweet, juicy pieces. Just minutes after I finished the last slice, movement caught my attention.

I've been stomping around this area for over 40 years, I've seen foxes, skunks, opossums, armadillos, snakes, beavers, all types of birds, coyotes and even a few deer, but today I saw the first bobcat I've ever seen in the wild. It didn't seem to notice me and in fact was looking to head up the little hill directly towards me. I thought about trying to pull the dying rabbit call out from under my jacket and see what kind of reaction I'd get but I decided to let "thumper" do what it was designed to do. I flipped the safety off and centered the scope. The cold, rain and wind didn't seem to bother the bobcat, but when that massive Hornady slug tore into it's leg, it jumped and spun a few times and then sat looking at me. This was the first shot I'd taken while the 450B was not in the Caldwell Leadsled, so I don't if I pulled the 60yd shot or the bobcat moved a bit but the shot took out the hind leg. I took aim again at the center of the chest and squeezed off another round. This round found it's target!