2013 Adirondack Buck

[Coachdad]

You guys are real nice,,, and I hope you don't get the impression that I'm bragging. Several of you asked to see the story of my 235 pound buck, so here is comes...

This is a picture the 8 pointer I got in 2013. I blanked out my face because I don’t want the locals to recognize me and start hunting on my property while I’m not there during the week.

Saturday Morning November 09, 2013 (Sunrise 6:42 Sunset 4:40) (Wind from the west 7 mph)

The goal was to shoot a 6 pointer or better. (The week before I passed on a total of 8 deer and I missed a coyote also looking for a 6 pointer or better.)  My plan was to set up my climber overlooking the saddle below the plateau where I saw 3 does and lots of sign the previous week. I would sit there for the first 2 hours and then work my way up the mountain to the plateau.  I marked a good tree the week before that I planned to use in the morning. A friend of mine also went out in the morning. He was going about 2 miles west of me.

It was a cold morning with temps in the lower 20’s.

I got to my tree  around 5:45 (sunrise was around 6:42). It was a nice tall straight tree that allowed me to go up about 35-40 feet and gave me a birds eye view of the hill. There wasn’t much going on, saw a few squirrels running up and down a cherry tree. Then around 7:50 I saw a deer up the hill to my right. I looked closer and I could see 2 small does running from east to west along the saddle, about 100 yards to the north of me. Behind them was a larger doe. Just as she came into sight, I could see a huge buck chasing her about 20 yards behind her. It didn’t take me long to see that it was a big buck (he looked like a 10 pointer).  He had a very dark coat compared to the does and he looked as big as a horse.  They were pretty high on the hill, and heading in the direction that would take them behind a few blow-downs getting them out of sight.  Since they were all running, as soon as the Buck presented a good shot, I yelled out “mmmerp” in order to stop him. They ALL stopped  in their tracks and I shot at the buck. But it looked like I missed him!  All 4 deer just stood there (they didn’t know where the shot came from). So I quickly chambered another round and shot again. He just stood there again. At this point I’m wondering why I’m missing and trying to tell myself to relax, and shoot straight. So I quickly chambered a third round, and as I looked through the scope, I saw him stagger, so I didn’t shoot. He dropped in a couple seconds and tumbled down the hill.  Once he started rolling, the other 3 deer started running down the hill too. They took off to the south.

I called my friend on the radio and told him I had a “big buck down”. I told him that he was a 10 pointer the size of a horse. He offered to come right over and help, but I told him the rut is on and he should stay in his stand and hunt.  I knew that I could drag him downhill to my property and then get the ATV for the rest of the way to camp.

Since I was in my climber it took a while to get down, I couldn’t wait to see my buck, but I kept telling myself; “take your time he’s not going anywhere”.

As I finally walked up to him I noticed that his neck was huge, and then I saw that he didn’t have any brow tines.  He is a large 8 pointer without any brow tines (he should be a 10 pointer).  I’ve never shot a buck without brow tines before.

I checked to see if I hit him both times.  He did in fact have 2 bullet holes in him. They were both right behind the shoulder about an inch apart.  I’ve never shot a deer and have him not jump and run, let alone be shot 2 times without moving! (Very strange)

Dragging him out of the woods wasn’t too bad since it was mostly downhill. I got him to the edge of my property, left him there and got the ATV. When I tried to get him on the back of the ATV, I couldn’t lift him enough to get him on. After about 20 minutes, I realized, I wouldn’t be able to lift him on. So I decided to try winching him on. I ran the winch cable around a sapling, over the ATV, and hooked it to my drag rope. I started winching him up from the side of the ATV. The sapling broke just as his head crowned the ATV rack. So then, I dragged the deer behind the ATV, ran the winch over the front rack, over the seat and over the back rack. As I winched him up onto the back rack, his antler stuck into my arm (through my sweatshirt). Once I stopped the bleeding, I started winching again.  His head finally got on the back rack, I tried to lift his body, but couldn’t. So I winched him some more. As I winched him, his antler stuck into the seat of the ATV and put a big gash into it! So now I had to back him up to get the antler out of the seat. I winched him and twisted his head onto the seat. I finally had enough of him on the ATV to allow me to lift his hind legs on. Loading him on the ATV ended up taking about 45 minutes!  I tied him on the rack and slowly made my way back to camp.

My friend got to camp about an hour later. We decided to weigh him. We couldn’t believe when we hoisted him up the scale read 235 lbs. We put him down and tried again to confirm. At that point we figured the scale was wrong. So we decided to verify it by weighing my friend who said he weighed 205.  The scale was correct.

[ApexerER]

Awesome story and beautiful buck...Thanks for sharing. The buck I shot this past season (in my avatar) did basically the same thing as your buck. Broadside, about 75 yds through the woods. I shot at him 3 times and couldn't understand why I was missing. I did the same exact thing...told myself to relax..squeeze the trigger....the 4th shot he dropped like a sack of potatoes.....I hit him in the spine on the fourth shot. The other three were all right behind the shoulder in a nice little group, all about an inch apart and he never even flinched. This was with my Browning BAR .308 shooting Hornady Ballistic Tips 165gr....I switched ammo!

 

[Coachdad]

21 minutes ago, ApexerER said:

Awesome story and beautiful buck...Thanks for sharing. The buck I shot this past season (in my avatar) did basically the same thing as your buck. Broadside, about 75 yds through the woods. I shot at him 3 times and couldn't understand why I was missing. I did the same exact thing...told myself to relax..squeeze the trigger....the 4th shot he dropped like a sack of potatoes.....I hit him in the spine on the fourth shot. The other three were all right behind the shoulder in a nice little group, all about an inch apart and he never even flinched. This was with my Browning BAR .308 shooting Hornady Ballistic Tips 165gr....I switched ammo!

 

That's a beautiful buck in your avatar.

 It is a relief to see that someone had the same thing happen!!!

 An interesting similarity is that I use a .308 with Hornady SST 150 Grain  bullet (with the red plastic tip) but they are handloaded. Is that the same one?

[ApexerER]

14 minutes ago, Coachdad said:

That's a beautiful buck in your avatar.

 It is a relief to see that someone had the same thing happen!!!

 An interesting similarity is that I use a .308 with Hornady SST 150 Grain  bullet (with the red plastic tip) but they are handloaded. Is that the same one?

Same bullet....Just 165 Gr

[NFA-ADK]

Very VERY nice buck!!!   

Congrats on an awesome deer, he is a stud! 

 

[Buckmaster7600]

Heck of a buck, every buck I have ever shot in the ADKS has been an adventure of some sort or another. All but 1 has ended with a drag of over a mile and never downhill. 235 is a giant especially that late in the year.
This is my ADK buck from this year, he weighed 226 and was killed on the 18th of November.


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[moog5050]

Great story and buck!

[wolc123]

That does sound like a sweet spot you have there, especially considering the downhill drag to your camp.  The heaviest one I killed in the Adirondacks dropped dead in the middle of a swamp and I had to drag him on level ground and up hill over a mile before it thinned out enough to get my father in laws ATV up to him.   I am guessing he weighed a bit over 200 field dressed because that is what I weigh, and I could lift myself off the ground while his rear end remained partly on the ground, tied to the opposite end of a rope and pulley in my father in laws barn.  We struggled a bit to get him up on the rear rack of the ATV, but not as much as you did there.    

[Coachdad]

16 hours ago, ApexerER said:

ame bullet....Just 165 Gr

LOL... Hornady should send a warning that says... When using this bullet, if you think you missed,,, you didn't. Just  wait a few seconds the deer will drop. :-)

Seriously... I've been using the SST's for at least 10 years, and several guys who I hunt with also use them. This was the only buck who did that... As I think about it.. The Hornady bullet did it's job... The deer was dead within 30 seconds.

[Coachdad]

14 hours ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

Heck of a buck, every buck I have ever shot in the ADKS has been an adventure of some sort or another. All but 1 has ended with a drag of over a mile and never downhill. 235 is a giant especially that late in the year.
This is my ADK buck from this year, he weighed 226 and was killed on the 18th of November.


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Buckmaster... That's a great buck. He's a 10 pointer? The big guys are never close to the camp are they? Another point is that a mile on the GPS as the crow flies, and could end up being several miles of actual dragging.

Yeah,,, every buck has his own story doesn't it. I keep a hunting log in order to capture that story and remember it for years to come. 

[Coachdad]

Hi All - thanks for the kind replies. It sure is fun hunting in the Adirondacks, and I'm glad to make contact with all of you since we share that bond.

The funny part of that hunt was the debacle of trying to get him on the ATV. It  left we with a scar on my forearm and a ripped ATV seat. If I was thinking clearly at the time, I would have just towed him back to camp with the ATV.  

[Buckmaster7600]

Buckmaster... That's a great buck. He's a 10 pointer? The big guys are never close to the camp are they? Another point is that a mile on the GPS as the crow flies, and could end up being several miles of actual dragging.
Yeah,,, every buck has his own story doesn't it. I keep a hunting log in order to capture that story and remember it for years to come. 

Nope he was an 8, 19" wide inside spread.


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[Buckmaster7600]

LOL... Hornady should send a warning that says... When using this bullet, if you think you missed,,, you didn't. Just  wait a few seconds the deer will drop. :-)

Seriously... I've been using the SST's for at least 10 years, and several guys who I hunt with also use them. This was the only buck who did that... As I think about it.. The Hornady bullet did it's job... The deer was dead within 30 seconds.

There are a lot better bullets than sst's I have used them in the past as well and found them to not expand very well at all. I used them in 308 30-06 and wasn't happy with either. I loaded the same bullets for my 300wsm and they expanded wonderfully. I think their jacket is a little too hard for the slower 30 cals. Any deer will die with a bullet through the heart but a bullet that doesn't transfer energy is a bullet that fails in my opinion.

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[ApexerER]

3 hours ago, Coachdad said:

LOL... Hornady should send a warning that says... When using this bullet, if you think you missed,,, you didn't. Just  wait a few seconds the deer will drop. :-)

Seriously... I've been using the SST's for at least 10 years, and several guys who I hunt with also use them. This was the only buck who did that... As I think about it.. The Hornady bullet did it's job... The deer was dead within 30 seconds.

My buck didn't die quickly....I actually wonder if I hadn't spined him on the fourth shot if I would have even found him had he bolted on the first shot. He expired as I walked up to him. Which was at least a few minutes later by the time I lowered my gun and climbed down. He was trying to get up after I spined him. With one shot through the lungs, I believe he would have went a long ways. I had three tiny entrance holes and three tiny exit holes with almost no internal damage. The only bullet that I could tell expanded was the spine shot. First and last time using the Hornady SST for me....

[Coachdad]

1 hour ago, ApexerER said:

The only bullet that I could tell expanded was the spine shot. First and last time using the Hornady SST for me....

What did you switch to?

 

[stubborn1VT]

Seems like you would be better off with a plain old soft point bullet.  Save you some $$ too. Over the years I have had great luck with Core Lokts, Silvertips, and blue box Federals.  The cheapest!

[Coachdad]

Thanks again guys...  I really appreciate the advice, it is something to consider.

I've had great results with the SST's over the years (even this deer that didn't move was dead inside of 30 seconds). The last 15 or so deer that I've shot have been with the SST's and other than this 235 pounder, they have been 1 shot kills that didn't go far. 

I went to the Hornady web site to verify that the SST is intended for deer. 

Core Lokts and Silver tips are  fine bullets I've used them in the past with good results.

 

[ApexerER]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 11:08 AM, Coachdad said:

What did you switch to?

 

I went back to the Federal Fusion 165gr....Never had any issues with them....

[ApexerER]

23 hours ago, Coachdad said:

Thanks again guys...  I really appreciate the advice, it is something to consider.

I've had great results with the SST's over the years (even this deer that didn't move was dead inside of 30 seconds). The last 15 or so deer that I've shot have been with the SST's and other than this 235 pounder, they have been 1 shot kills that didn't go far. 

I went to the Hornady web site to verify that the SST is intended for deer. 

Core Lokts and Silver tips are  fine bullets I've used them in the past with good results.

 

I switched for basically no other reason than I wanted to try them. They grouped tighter than anything else I had shot. Not that anything has grouped poorly. I am positive that the three shots through the lungs had no expansion at all. Pencil sized entrance and exit wounds. Maybe they had a bad batch go out or something. I don't know...I know a lot of people swear by Hornady....

[wolc123]

150 gr 30/06, Federal classic factory loads have always dropped them in their tracks for me.  The one this year, fired from 50 yards on a 6-point, traveled end for end from the back without an entry wound. It creased the top of the heart and blew a roughly 2" diameter hole out of the meat on the front of the neck, leaving a 3/4" diameter exit hole thru the hide up front.  The previous one, on a heavier, quartering away 8-point, fired from 300 yards, struck centered on the second last rib, traveled thru the chest, and lodged inside the opposite diagonal shoulder.   That deer showed no entry or exit hole and not a drop of blood on the fresh snow when I walked up on him.  I only saw where the bullet hit by looking inside the ribcage after I gutted him.  Fortunately he fell dead right where he was standing when I shot him.          

Edited February 3, 2017 by wolc123