yoderjac
5 year old buck +
For most of my hunting career, I've been a short range deer hunter. Bow hunting has been my passion. When I was young in PA I used a .30-06 but the places I hunted never offered a shot over 100 yards. When I moved to Northern Virginia, the military base and other areas I hunted were restricted to shotguns with slugs or buckshot. My muzzleloader didn't provide much more distance over a shotgun. So, 95% of my shots were inside 100 yards.
Things have changed. A few years ago, the county our farm is in began to allow rifle hunting. I was able to use my .30-06 again and looking toward retirement and possible hunting out of state, I got a .300 Win Mag barrel for my TC Encore.
Tonight opened my eyes to a a new caution regarding long range doe harvest. I was hunting in a box blind tonight. About 4:30 I had a deer step out into a field. I ranged it at 188 yards. I first glassed it with by binoculars to make sure it was a doe. I then dial my scope to that range, put it on full zoom and put the crosshairs on the deer. I was just waiting for her to give me a little better angle as she fed before I squeezed the trigger when a turn of the head caught my attention. I thought I saw a spike but wasn't sure. My Leupold was on 24X, max zoom. I decided to verify that it was a doe before taking the shot, but the deer quickly moved behind some brush before I could. The deer eventually worked its way my direction and I was able to verify it was a spike. I'm not talking a 3" spike. They were thin, but between 6" and 9". The deer was within 50 yards when I verified this with binoculars.
On our place, experienced hunters let young bucks walk and target 3 1/2 and older deer. I certainly wouldn't have been the end of the world had I shot that buck, but it got me thinking. What if I did not have a buck tag left? The lesson I learned is that, even with quality optics and good lighting, you can mistake a spike for a doe at long distance. I won't be taking long-range shots at does without a buck tag in hand.
Thanks,
Jack
Things have changed. A few years ago, the county our farm is in began to allow rifle hunting. I was able to use my .30-06 again and looking toward retirement and possible hunting out of state, I got a .300 Win Mag barrel for my TC Encore.
Tonight opened my eyes to a a new caution regarding long range doe harvest. I was hunting in a box blind tonight. About 4:30 I had a deer step out into a field. I ranged it at 188 yards. I first glassed it with by binoculars to make sure it was a doe. I then dial my scope to that range, put it on full zoom and put the crosshairs on the deer. I was just waiting for her to give me a little better angle as she fed before I squeezed the trigger when a turn of the head caught my attention. I thought I saw a spike but wasn't sure. My Leupold was on 24X, max zoom. I decided to verify that it was a doe before taking the shot, but the deer quickly moved behind some brush before I could. The deer eventually worked its way my direction and I was able to verify it was a spike. I'm not talking a 3" spike. They were thin, but between 6" and 9". The deer was within 50 yards when I verified this with binoculars.
On our place, experienced hunters let young bucks walk and target 3 1/2 and older deer. I certainly wouldn't have been the end of the world had I shot that buck, but it got me thinking. What if I did not have a buck tag left? The lesson I learned is that, even with quality optics and good lighting, you can mistake a spike for a doe at long distance. I won't be taking long-range shots at does without a buck tag in hand.
Thanks,
Jack