Highland Lofts
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- May 1, 2019
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Congrats to all 4 of you!! All 3 of those bucks are nice bucks and time spent in the woods with family is a trophy in itself.This was the first weekend of Illinois firearms deer season.
On opening day, son #1 connected with a nice 9 pt that we have had trailcam pics of for four years. We nicknamed him "Big Ray"View attachment 873738
While he was tagging his buck, another shooter trotted right up danger-close.
Saturday was rainy and cold. I spent the entire day hunting and stalking a big buck in my woods. I saw him but didnt get a shot. It was a cold and rainy day with intermittent rain and sleet.
Sunday morning was clear and warmer. #3 son and I headed out to separate stands. #3 son agreed to sit in his brother's climber where he had taken "big ray" the previous day.
By 8 am #3 texts me that he had killed a nice buck. He was 1/4 mile from the road and needed my ATV and wagon to haul out. I was a little disappointed because I was seeing deer in my location, and hated to leave. #3 is only 17yo and I wanted to congratulate him and help him get his buck out to the truck, so I climbed down and walked back to my ATV and headed to his location.
While we were taking pictures and tagging his buck...View attachment 873766
Mitch clearly said in a low monotone voice....DAD...THERES A BUCK...GET YOUR GUN...
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My H&R was leaning against a tree at arms length from Mitchell. Now Mitchell is only 17 but he is 6'5" and 275lbs. He reached over in one smooth motion, and grabbed my gun by the muzzle and swung the butt around to me. I took the gun and shouldered it and fired at the buck that was unwittingly on a collision course with us.
My aim was true. After a short garden hose blood trail we found my buck nearby laying on the weeds as if he had been carefully posed for photos.
Neither of our bucks are huge, but we had great fun and it was a beautiful day with time to take good care of out harvest. We dressed and processed both deer ourselves in our shop the same day. I will make one of my signature antler mounts as a keepsake and mancave decor.
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.and I said my aim was true
....View attachment 873774I apologize for all the pics...but we are a pretty happy family of hunters.
Btw #1 sons wife took an 8pt of her own saturday while hunting with her father in Hancock county.
Our freezers are full of venison!
You are right!Congrats to all 4 of you!! All 3 of those bucks are nice bucks and time spent in the woods with family is a trophy in itself.
Whats the info on the guns? They almost look like savage slug guns?
How did those accutips perform? My buddy shot a doe about 30yards away with a 12ga Accu tip (I think 3'') and it slung blood and stuff everywhere. Ohio used to be a shotgun only state and I used a Mossberg 500 with cantilever scope mount and Nikon 2-7-32 slug scope with Hornady SST. I hit bone with one and it turned into a grenade so I went with lightfields hybrids and then they allowed us to use straight walled rounds and now the slug gun sits with dust on it. I came close to buying a Savage 220 butYou are right!
Son #1 bought a savage LH220 20 ga bolt action slug gun with a 3x9nikon bdc, a few years ago.(he still grumbles because the LH gun isnt available in camo)..
After seeing his groups and successes with it...#3 wanted one too. He just bought (like 24hrs before he killed the buck) a savage 220 20ga camouflage with Nikon 3x9BDC. In fact, he hadn't fired it until he killed the buck. #1 mounted his scope and sighted it in for him while he was in school Thursday.
My slug gun is a H&R 12ga with a Burris 1.75-4x shotgun scope and a Allen ammo sleeve and sling.
I am impressed by the Savage guns. They are light and accurate. The 220 feels very much like a rifle.View attachment 873832 View attachment 873833
I dont have much experience with the accutips....How did those accutips perform? My buddy shot a doe about 30yards away with a 12ga Accu tip (I think 3'') and it slung blood and stuff everywhere. Ohio used to be a shotgun only state and I used a Mossberg 500 with cantilever scope mount and Nikon 2-7-32 slug scope with Hornady SST. I hit bone with one and it turned into a grenade so I went with lightfields hybrids and then they allowed us to use straight walled rounds and now the slug gun sits with dust on it. I came close to buying a Savage 220 but
I think it’s $225 for a rug with skull in and open mouth. But I won’t get it until probably May of next year. The guy is super backed up. But he does good work.That's a healthy looking 'yote, it'll make a fine rug for sure. What will you get charged for that?
I think it’s $225 for a rug with skull in and open mouth. But I won’t get it until probably May of next year. The guy is super backed up. But he does good work.
I like to keep it real so let me tell you about the cluster leading up to my shooting the buck. I didn't have a round in the chamber when we were glassing for deer and elk, so as I exited the truck for this shot I pulled the charging handle back and tried to ease the bolt forward to feed a round so as not to make a lot of noise. Well that didn't work well at all, and the double feed that followed (from me pulling the bolt back with the magazine inserted) only compounded the problem. I could hear one of the two guys I was hunting with quip that the deer would be a year older by the time I got to shoot him .
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<*(((>< said:Do you have forward assist on your AR10? What capacity magazine do you have in there?
<*(((>< said:Love you last picture looks like a lot of areas we have to hunt in Idaho, but Idaho's landscape is so diverse for hunting as is yours in Montana.
Small buck? He's bigger than a 3 year old buck from our area.
Part of why my new builds are all going to be be side chargers. I also like to be able to pull it back slightly check the chamber then reseat with out having to move around.I've been contemplating switching my hunting AR15 to a side charger as I feel it will give me better control when trying to be quiet and chambering a round.
What rifle is that? Congrats on the deer.My Thanksgiving started off with me in a tree stand at 5am. At 7am I was fortunate enough to have 4 deer moving down from the bluff 50 yards from my stand. These two moved into my shooting lanes. Dropped the bigger of the two button bucks and they scattered. The 2nd one stopped at 70 yards giving me a shot just before he hit the thick stuff. It was all over in like 5 seconds lol. I really enjoy taking game with old rifles And filling up the freezer. View attachment 874582 View attachment 874579
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