We headed out of Midland around 1:45pm and was on our way to my friends lease that is somewhat around WestBrook I believe. I was only going to be able to hunt this afternoon so I was hoping that luck would be on my side!
The day before it had rained in Midland and we knew that the roads would probably be pretty bad in the lease as well. That came to be true and I didn't know it but when that Red Clay gets wet, it can get bad when they're are ruts!
My buddy told me that there are tons upon tons of Coyote's in the area and we drove past a lot of dead ones.
Once in the ranch and on the way to the blind we came across two coyotes that my friend had shot a week before and hung up on the fence to warn off other Coyotes. He said he popped over the hill and just saw tails everywhere! Counting over 30 of them walking away from him he saw a group of about 6 of them standing around each other so he put the Crosshairs of his 7mm into the group and downed these two with one shot. As you can see the bullet hit the left one near the spine and the fully expanded 140gr Ballistic Tip impacted the 2nd near dead center of his body.
About 20 minutes before the feeder had gone off we had a Large Bobcat come in off of a closeby Cotton Field to investigate a group of quail. While thinking whether or not I should take the bobcat or wait for a Whitetail I watched the bobcat run about 10 yards and stop. Then run 10 yards and stop. He quickly got out of sight chasing after his prey and playing around along the fence line.
Once the feeder had gone off my friend and Myself were constantly watching the feeder as well as the surrounding fence lines for Deer activity. It was now 5:15pm and the sun was beginning to drop. The Corn was down on the ground and the wind felt like it had picked up on an already windy day.
My friend had told me that the deer in the area are usually coming in really late in the afternoon and extremely early in the morning. This means that quality optics are the key to a successful hunt. This became true as a little after 6pm I noticed a small figured doe under the feeder that had appeared out of no where! I pulled up my Ruger #1 in anticipation to get her down on the ground. When all of the sudden my friend says that there is a buck coming from the right! Since the deer were rutting the doe took off running with the Big Spike hot on her heels. I couldn't believe that my opportunity for shooting a deer had faded so fast!
The deer were approximately 240 yards away with the buck having his head near the ground walking straight away. I had my crosshairs on the bucks rear contemplating whether or not to take a Alabama neck shot. I decided against it and they were out of view. Then my friend catches movement to our right again and says "Justin, there is that bobcat again!" I struggle to find it in the scope for a while and I got frustrated and pulled my head away from the scope and then my friend saw movement under the feeder! He said "Justin, there is a deer under the feeder and I dont know what it is but put it behind the shoulder as fast as you can!"
Before he could say that I was seeing sparks from the end of my rifle and the .280 had hit its mark. We walked down to the feeder to find a 2.5 inch by 4. inch piece of her heart laying on the ground! I told my friend that I do believe that the 140gr. Ballistic Silvertip had done its job! :-X
Her fur may look a little messed up on the one side because I had to drag her up to the road. Just looks like a huge cow lick though lol
It's impressive how far a deer can travel without most of their heart let me tell you! But she was about 45 yards behind the feeder and we got her home and off to the processor!
Happy hunting everyone and I hope ya'll enjoyed the story...as there will be many more!