First blood for the .204 and the Minaska
Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 7:18 pm
Prior to last weekend I had not killed anything larger than a prairie dog with my new Douglas barreled Savage .204 Ruger.
Baptized the .204 and the new Minaska Ultimate One big time.
Song Dog,
Lovin' the Varget and the 40 grain Bergers.
(copied from my post on another forum)
Sunday:
First stand. I started the call and decoy. Had it on top of a round bale in a burr field, err, I mean hay field.
Didn't even get my glove back on and I look up and there is a coyote staring right at me. Clearly busted me moving. Of course my rifle wasn't pointed the right way, so I just froze. He stares at me for a long time, then looks at the caller and back at me again. Did this a couple of times then starts to trot. I thought he was leaving so I swung the rifle on him. When I found him in the scope I saw that he was still coming in, oblivious to what I had just done. Don't know if it was good camouflage or that the call was more than he could bear............
Went on to the next stand and saw this on the way. The only muley buck I have seen out there in 21 years.
After taking a few pictures, we began to believe the buck was dead. He wouldn't move, even when tooted the horn. Hoier got out and chucked a rock at him, 'cuz we were sure he was dead. I thought I saw his antlers twitch for a second, but he did not even move when the rock almost hit him. Right when we were taking off he got up and trotted off.
Started out this morning on a whitetail hunt. Unfortunately the creek bottom was crawling with people so I traded the 6mm284 in for the .204 and swapped the blaze orange for camo.
Three dry stands. Called in a gray on the fourth, but he came in at 19 minutes and circled like a cautious cat. Ended up popping out 17 feet in front of me, which was under my bipods. When I corrected he busted me and I missed due to a rushed shot.
Next stand had one gray slink in like a weasel. Had a tough time seeing him through the light snow that was falling. DRT. After about five minutes of second guessing the shot, I paused the caller and stopped the decoy. I set the remote down and looked back up. Lo and behold there is another gray bouncing sideways towards the decoy, all arched up like a house cat. I was surprised since it wasn't even on.
DRT.
Found them to be lying about five feet apart. The shot was nearly right at 100 yards.
One more dry stand and then a three mile hump back to the truck. All in all, over seven miles on the Meindls today for a couple foxes. Had a blast.
Oh yeah, had a small hawk of some kind shorten the tail on my topper.
Baptized the .204 and the new Minaska Ultimate One big time.
Song Dog,
Lovin' the Varget and the 40 grain Bergers.
(copied from my post on another forum)
Sunday:
First stand. I started the call and decoy. Had it on top of a round bale in a burr field, err, I mean hay field.
Didn't even get my glove back on and I look up and there is a coyote staring right at me. Clearly busted me moving. Of course my rifle wasn't pointed the right way, so I just froze. He stares at me for a long time, then looks at the caller and back at me again. Did this a couple of times then starts to trot. I thought he was leaving so I swung the rifle on him. When I found him in the scope I saw that he was still coming in, oblivious to what I had just done. Don't know if it was good camouflage or that the call was more than he could bear............
Went on to the next stand and saw this on the way. The only muley buck I have seen out there in 21 years.
After taking a few pictures, we began to believe the buck was dead. He wouldn't move, even when tooted the horn. Hoier got out and chucked a rock at him, 'cuz we were sure he was dead. I thought I saw his antlers twitch for a second, but he did not even move when the rock almost hit him. Right when we were taking off he got up and trotted off.
Started out this morning on a whitetail hunt. Unfortunately the creek bottom was crawling with people so I traded the 6mm284 in for the .204 and swapped the blaze orange for camo.
Three dry stands. Called in a gray on the fourth, but he came in at 19 minutes and circled like a cautious cat. Ended up popping out 17 feet in front of me, which was under my bipods. When I corrected he busted me and I missed due to a rushed shot.
Next stand had one gray slink in like a weasel. Had a tough time seeing him through the light snow that was falling. DRT. After about five minutes of second guessing the shot, I paused the caller and stopped the decoy. I set the remote down and looked back up. Lo and behold there is another gray bouncing sideways towards the decoy, all arched up like a house cat. I was surprised since it wasn't even on.
DRT.
Found them to be lying about five feet apart. The shot was nearly right at 100 yards.
One more dry stand and then a three mile hump back to the truck. All in all, over seven miles on the Meindls today for a couple foxes. Had a blast.
Oh yeah, had a small hawk of some kind shorten the tail on my topper.