2020 mule deer & pronghorn
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:07 am
Used a twenty year old, but new to me, Ruger Number One rifle this year, a 7mm Rem Mag topped with a 3.5-10x Leupold.
Handloaded some 160 grain SPBT Sierra GameKing bullets over enough RL-22 to achieve 3050 fps with excellent accuracy. My final 3-shot sight-in/practice group at 300 yards measured only 1.5" - which pleased me tremendously.
In Wyoming we saw a group of bucks about a half-mile away on a ridge. Closed the distance, and stalked along the ridge towards them. A young buck saw me and I froze in place for a while on the steep slope. Eventually worked my way forward a bit and was rewarded with finding a fat 3x3 at about 150 yards. Used a modified sitting/kneeling position on that slope, steadied the rifle with the sling. Boom and down.
I hit a little far back, caught the back of the lungs, and sadly just a bit of gut too. Still it was an instant drop & kill.
Recovered the bullet from just under the off-side hide, nicely mushroomed.
I also tagged an antelope buck, but the shot resulted in a pretty ugly wound, so... I didn't even take any photos of that animal. The steaks though, are excellent!
Since then I've been chasing pheasant, chukar and quail here in Washington with the new bird dog. He's doing pretty well.
Hope everyone enjoyed some good time afield in 2020. I know I'm looking forward to more adventures this year!
Regards, Guy
Handloaded some 160 grain SPBT Sierra GameKing bullets over enough RL-22 to achieve 3050 fps with excellent accuracy. My final 3-shot sight-in/practice group at 300 yards measured only 1.5" - which pleased me tremendously.
In Wyoming we saw a group of bucks about a half-mile away on a ridge. Closed the distance, and stalked along the ridge towards them. A young buck saw me and I froze in place for a while on the steep slope. Eventually worked my way forward a bit and was rewarded with finding a fat 3x3 at about 150 yards. Used a modified sitting/kneeling position on that slope, steadied the rifle with the sling. Boom and down.
I hit a little far back, caught the back of the lungs, and sadly just a bit of gut too. Still it was an instant drop & kill.
Recovered the bullet from just under the off-side hide, nicely mushroomed.
I also tagged an antelope buck, but the shot resulted in a pretty ugly wound, so... I didn't even take any photos of that animal. The steaks though, are excellent!
Since then I've been chasing pheasant, chukar and quail here in Washington with the new bird dog. He's doing pretty well.
Hope everyone enjoyed some good time afield in 2020. I know I'm looking forward to more adventures this year!
Regards, Guy