Call your shots!

[Sawfish]

I'll bite. Put in for G3 as first choice (LOL); G38 (late season X-10) second; and D14 Third. Have a decent shot at G38, but looking to get D14. Bought a B2 Second Tag. Looking for a 3 X 3 and a 4 X 4. Will kill them both with a Handgun.

Drew the D-14 tag to go with B-2. Killed a 4 x 3 Blacktail on Sunday in B-2 with an Encore 25/06 pistol. So far, I am half right, but the hard part is ahead. Two weekends left in D-14. I will be using my Encore 30/06 pistol, and will try to find some of Bigshot's leftovers .

 

[sjsmallfield]

Congrats Sawfish! The neck on that thing is huge!!

 

[Muleys 24/7]

Nice buck sawfishsawfish

 

[bigshot]

Drew the D-14 tag to go with B-2. Killed a 4 x 3 Blacktail on Sunday in B-2 with an Encore 25/06 pistol. So far, I am half right, but the hard part is ahead. Two weekends left in D-14. I will be using my Encore 30/06 pistol, and will try to find some of Bigshot's leftovers .

View attachment 6931

lol there is plenty left in D-14, good luck. Congrats on your buck looks like a heavy brute, also good looking handgun!

 

[Sawfish]

lol there is plenty left in D-14, good luck. Congrats on your buck looks like a heavy brute, also good looking handgun!

I had a chance to weigh this one whole (145 lbs.). I have hunted this area for nine years, and this buck was the smallest (body size) that I have killed there. Over the years, they have ranged from 160-178 lbs.. The severe drought has taken away one of their mainstays i.e. raiding the rancher's alfalfa crop. There is also heavier competition for the acorn and manzanita from the increasing number of bears in the area. This is the first year that I have really noticed the deer following the various acorn crops as they drop in their respective areas. Looks like something similar is happening in D-14.

The D-14 bucks have been evading me so far, but I have one more weekend left! Provided that I can stay away from the OHV and motorcycle riders, woodcutters, dog walkers, etc.. (LOL). This is one of a pair of stainless Encore Pro-Hunters. This one in 25/06, and its brother in 30/06. The only difference other than caliber is the scope and grips. The 30/06 has Camo laminate wood and a Burris LER 2x7 scope. The 25/06 has natural laminate wood, and a Burris 3x9 LER scope. Both will group three shots under a dime at 100 yards.

 

[Sawfish]

This is a PS to my previous post, Thanks for all the comments. The only things showing over the bitter brush thicket were his head and neck, so I wound up shooting him in the neck at 75 yds.. I was using a 115 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip at 2,818 fps.. He turned a complete flip and never moved. During the butchering process, I found the blue plastic tip of the bullet, and two small chips of lead. The rest of the bullet exited through a single hole, with no evidence of fragmenting or explosion. The neck is a pretty rugged piece of a deer's anatomy, and this settled the question (for me at least) about the toughness of the newer BT bullets. I have had the same results with the 150 BT in my 30/06 Encore.

 

[bigshot]

sounds like the Nosler bullet perform perfect, good to know.

 

[Sawfish]

sounds like the Nosler bullet perform perfect, good to know.

I had some bad experiences with the older version, so I stayed away from them for a long while. When I started shooting the 25/06, I thought that I would give them another try. That was a good decision. Especially at the closeout/factory seconds prices on the Nosler Forum.

 

[Never in Doubt]

Some nice bucks here, congrats guys!


I never filled my second tag. Passed on several bucks and never found the big one I wanted. Can't wait until next year!

 

[Sawfish]

Never filled my second tag, either. Have an iffy January hunt planned out of state, but have to work on filling my bear tag first!