I wrote this up the day after the hunt. Tyler said I could share it with you.
Tyler's 5x5 buck he got November 16, 2017
The short story...
A great hunting memory was made yesterday. Tyler who is an Iraq war vet made a great shot on a great buck.
It was 25 yards from the blind in the background of the photos and after about all that could go wrong, went wrong, the buck stuck around and Tyler made the shot.
The long, long story...............
The hunt started actually last Saturday, Nebraska's rifle opener with Tyler, his dad John, and myself getting into the blind and ready to go by 6 am, legal time was 6:36. I set Tyler's rifle on his rest and noticed the scope was still set at 10 power and I knew we had sighted it in at 6 power so I asked him if I could turn it back down to 6. He said yes so I turned the ring that moves the magnification on the scope. The whole scope moved. ^%$##$#@%$$@#%$# I believe is what I said and that we were screwed. I said I would run back to the house and get my gun and mount his bite/trigger pull apparatus to my gun. Tyler said no, just turn the scope so the cross hairs were vertical/horizontal and it would be fine. Who was I to tell a man who was trained to carry the SAW and other weapons. (I said a prayer to God asking for the gun to still be true and for a great buck to offer up a shot.)
We got that straightened out and turned our attention to the area the blind overlooked. It was an overcast day so the light was dull to start the day. John didn't have binocs but seemed to not need them as he was the first to spot deer. A doe, fawn, and big 4x4. Soon another bigger 4x4 joined the party but turned from the other deer and came our way. It stopped in the Apple orchard about 90 yards away. It stood in same spot but soon moved down the hill and out of sight. Our focus then went back to other deer. Another spike or forkhorn joined the crowd. I looked back to where the big buck had gone and he was back in the same spot as before.
I moved the gun to where Tyler told me to and eventually got it dialed in. He said okay and I backed away from muzzle and watched through my binos. Just as I backed away the deer started walking down the hill and Tyler shot. The buck jumped up as if startled and then stood there out of Tyler's view, looking around and then just continued walking down the hill having no idea what just happened. He never came back.
A few more spikes, forks, and doe came through but Tyler was holding for something larger. I had sent him pics of many good bucks that were frequenting the area we were overlooking so hopes were high one of those would show again. Alas, it was not to be that day as Tyler became ill and we left the blind at 1:30. Tyler was very disappointed in getting sick and the missed shot opportunity but I told him that I would take him whenever he was feeling better that week as I had all of rifle season off.
It took him until Wednesday to get feeling better so we made plans for Thurs as the wind was going to be exactly what we needed for that stand. Tyler and his wife(Emma) arrived at 1:35pm. The scope issue hadn't been resolved and I manned up and told the SAW wielder I was going to take his bite/trigger apparatus off his gun and put it on my wife's gun because it has it's safety on top of the gun. He said ok. We did the quick refit and made sure the trigger would fire and we were off to the stand.
Tyler's 5x5 buck he got November 16, 2017
The short story...
A great hunting memory was made yesterday. Tyler who is an Iraq war vet made a great shot on a great buck.
It was 25 yards from the blind in the background of the photos and after about all that could go wrong, went wrong, the buck stuck around and Tyler made the shot.
The long, long story...............
The hunt started actually last Saturday, Nebraska's rifle opener with Tyler, his dad John, and myself getting into the blind and ready to go by 6 am, legal time was 6:36. I set Tyler's rifle on his rest and noticed the scope was still set at 10 power and I knew we had sighted it in at 6 power so I asked him if I could turn it back down to 6. He said yes so I turned the ring that moves the magnification on the scope. The whole scope moved. ^%$##$#@%$$@#%$# I believe is what I said and that we were screwed. I said I would run back to the house and get my gun and mount his bite/trigger pull apparatus to my gun. Tyler said no, just turn the scope so the cross hairs were vertical/horizontal and it would be fine. Who was I to tell a man who was trained to carry the SAW and other weapons. (I said a prayer to God asking for the gun to still be true and for a great buck to offer up a shot.)
We got that straightened out and turned our attention to the area the blind overlooked. It was an overcast day so the light was dull to start the day. John didn't have binocs but seemed to not need them as he was the first to spot deer. A doe, fawn, and big 4x4. Soon another bigger 4x4 joined the party but turned from the other deer and came our way. It stopped in the Apple orchard about 90 yards away. It stood in same spot but soon moved down the hill and out of sight. Our focus then went back to other deer. Another spike or forkhorn joined the crowd. I looked back to where the big buck had gone and he was back in the same spot as before.
I moved the gun to where Tyler told me to and eventually got it dialed in. He said okay and I backed away from muzzle and watched through my binos. Just as I backed away the deer started walking down the hill and Tyler shot. The buck jumped up as if startled and then stood there out of Tyler's view, looking around and then just continued walking down the hill having no idea what just happened. He never came back.
A few more spikes, forks, and doe came through but Tyler was holding for something larger. I had sent him pics of many good bucks that were frequenting the area we were overlooking so hopes were high one of those would show again. Alas, it was not to be that day as Tyler became ill and we left the blind at 1:30. Tyler was very disappointed in getting sick and the missed shot opportunity but I told him that I would take him whenever he was feeling better that week as I had all of rifle season off.
It took him until Wednesday to get feeling better so we made plans for Thurs as the wind was going to be exactly what we needed for that stand. Tyler and his wife(Emma) arrived at 1:35pm. The scope issue hadn't been resolved and I manned up and told the SAW wielder I was going to take his bite/trigger apparatus off his gun and put it on my wife's gun because it has it's safety on top of the gun. He said ok. We did the quick refit and made sure the trigger would fire and we were off to the stand.
