ALMOST

[sixshot]

Got in close on 3 bucks tonight just before dark but they busted me just before I could get a shot. I had my 5.5" bisley 41 magnum cocked with my left thumb between the frame & hammer & was carrying the gun in my left hand only as I was trying to close on the bedded bucks. They were in some very tall grass & all I could see were horns, one was a real dandy, I've been seeing him off & on for a couple of months but this was the first time I've seen him since the season opened. It closes Tuesday.
I might have been able to get a shot into one of them at 40-45 yds as they ran straight away from me but that's an iffy shot they were running in a straight line, I just didn't dare break the shot. The big boy was in the middle, nice heavy 4X4 with very good brow tines for a mule deer. I doubt I can find them tomorrow & it's suppose to rain & snow the next couple of days, oh well. That's the price we pay to play with a six gun. Now I'll get to switch to heavy 41 loads for an upcoming cow elk hunt.


Dick

[bigbore5]

Ad they say, it's called hunting not just shooting. I've had some really nice bucks bust me plenty of times. It's a little disappointing, but I always enjoy the hunt anyway.

[x101airborne]

Thank you for not taking that rear end shot. Your ethics say a lot about the man you are. Thank you. Sounds like a great hunt.

[kings6]

Ah!!! The notorious “Croc creak” struck again!🤣

[x101airborne]

Oct 23, 2023 7:39:38 GMT -5 kings6 said:

Ah!!! The notorious “Croc creak” struck again!🤣

Thats funny right there I dont care who you are!

[contender]

Those of us who hunt,, know the feeling. As I like to say; "Maybe next time."

Good luck on the elk.

[bearskinner]

It’s a bit disconcerting when you can’t get a shot, while handgun hunting. It won’t change my mind and get me to use a rifle. For me, it makes me stronger in my handgunning beliefs. It’s the pursuit, and challenge of the Handgun that makes it all that much sweeter. Sixshot is a Master, there’s a big one going down soon.

[sixshot]

I might have actually got busted by a "field lion", that's a feral cat!! About 5 minutes earlier I spotted the field lion sneaking along a ditch bank & then it disappeared & might have alerted the bucks, not sure.
Anyway I've trained my Croc's to be very quiet so I don't think that was the problem in the grass I was stalking in, guess we'll never know, I still got busted. Sometimes it's best to wait them out & let them stand but I didn't have my normal second scoped gun or my backpack. You make a decision & live with the consequences, and I don't own a rifle.

Dick

[bigbrowndog]

I feel ya, Dick. Last week I had 3 stalks spoiled by rifle hunters on opening day of pronghorn season. Sadly one of them was by trespassing hunters, they hopped a fence from public into the private land I was on. Wy. F&G got a text from me with a pic taken thru binos of them and the truck they were in. The other two were folks that had legal passage through the private land to get to other landlocked property,…..Governor of Wyo. ranch.

Good luck on the cow elk.

Trapr

[seminolewind]

I know how hard it is to hunt deer on the ground, so anyone having even occasional success is a great hunter in my opinion, especially with a handgun. I would imagine most of Dick’s kills have been with both feet on the ground. Hunting from a treestand or climber has it’s own challenges, but the odds of getting a good shot at a deer are much better, if suitable trees are available in a travel area.

[kings6]

Before I turned both shoulders into hamburger I hunted with recurves and self bows. My favorite hunts of these types was spit and stalk for desert mule deer. I don’t think any is tougher than putting a buck into his day bed then peeling the boots off and slipping the second pair of socks on and stalking within stick and string range waiting however long it takes for the sun to hit them and make them slowly stand up. Often times my patience ran out before the deers shade did and I’d resort to SLOWLY bending down, picking up a small pebble then tossing it towards the buck and quickly grabbing the string to shoot! I’ve watched my buddies do this Laurel and Hardy routine through my binos when it was my term to do spotting and giving arm signals and it looks like a cartoon clown slowly bending over gently tossing then grabbing a bug out of the air that was trying to crawl in their ear. No wonder it seldom worked for us!

[kings6]

In and don’t ask me how I learned to tie a ribbon of surveyors tape to the sage brush I left my pack and boots under!🥴

[junebug]

Oct 23, 2023 14:22:31 GMT -5 kings6 said:

In and don’t ask me how I learned to tie a ribbon of surveyors tape to the sage brush I left my pack and boots under!🥴

My take is, it was a long walk back to the truck LOL.
We all knew the limitations we were placing on ourselves when we chose to handgun hunt and gladly accepted them. And I don't begrudge the animals winning the chess match. We live and learn, fail get back up and try again. We pursue what is for the most part a solitary sport, with no one looking over our shoulders judging us but ourselves. We know if the shot is there or not, ethics makes us choose the proper course of action. Well done Dick!

[lobo]

Hate to hear you got busted on the mule deer, but best of luck on the cow elk hunt!!!!

Chris

[bigbore5]

Oct 23, 2023 14:20:22 GMT -5 kings6 said:

Before I turned both shoulders into hamburger I hunted with recurves and self bows. My favorite hunts of these types was spit and stalk for desert mule deer. I don’t think any is tougher than putting a buck into his day bed then peeling the boots off and slipping the second pair of socks on and stalking within stick and string range waiting however long it takes for the sun to hit them and make them slowly stand up. Often times my patience ran out before the deers shade did and I’d resort to SLOWLY bending down, picking up a small pebble then tossing it towards the buck and quickly grabbing the string to shoot! I’ve watched my buddies do this Laurel and Hardy routine through my binos when it was my term to do spotting and giving arm signals and it looks like a cartoon clown slowly bending over gently tossing then grabbing a bug out of the air that was trying to crawl in their ear. No wonder it seldom worked for us!

This kind of hunting seems so foreign to us Good Ol' Boys in the South! The concept of seeing a deer that far away just doesn't happen in our woods and thickets.

Prior to my move to the NC Foothills, much of my hunting deer involved waders in the swamps of MS and LA.