Here are some photo's of the buck I shot this year. I had scouted two full days before the season and did not see very many good goats. I all fairness I did not cover the whole area because of its size. I did see a very good goat on the opener evening but I'm not sure this one was the one I saw that evening. Must be getting old.
My original goal was to kill an 80in buck and better the 79 7/8 inch one I took last year. I got real lucky and drew a tag in the special draw with no points. I told myself that I needed to hold out and look really look hard for a buck like that.
Well all that went out the window on the second day. I let myself give in to height. I never shot an antelope over 14 1/2 in and at 278yd I knew this guy would go 15in I had hunted this group of antelope for over 3 hr in some open grass lands that I thought I'd never be able to get close to them in. When I did see this buck again, I did not have the time to put the spotting scope on him. So I shot him. I'm happy with him, 15 1/4in and my tallest buck of the 10 I've taken. He had decent mass, a bit over 6in on the first two measurements and he carries his mass well to the end. His prongs suck with the left one missing 1/2 an inch.
I retrospect I did a lot of things wrong on this hunt, most of which was not following Mikes four 7s rule laid out in his book.
1. I needed to look at more bucks and cover more of the area before I shot.
2. Mass is every thing and a buck in the mid 14 inch range with great mass and prongs can break 80in
3. You need to look him over with your spotting scope before you shoot.
4. I had a week to hunt and I should have.
Oh well there's all ways next time.
The last photo was of the buck I shot last season. He scored 79 7/8in Great mass but a bit short at 13 7/8 inches. He is missing both his ivory tips or he would have scored a bit over 80.
My original goal was to kill an 80in buck and better the 79 7/8 inch one I took last year. I got real lucky and drew a tag in the special draw with no points. I told myself that I needed to hold out and look really look hard for a buck like that.
Well all that went out the window on the second day. I let myself give in to height. I never shot an antelope over 14 1/2 in and at 278yd I knew this guy would go 15in I had hunted this group of antelope for over 3 hr in some open grass lands that I thought I'd never be able to get close to them in. When I did see this buck again, I did not have the time to put the spotting scope on him. So I shot him. I'm happy with him, 15 1/4in and my tallest buck of the 10 I've taken. He had decent mass, a bit over 6in on the first two measurements and he carries his mass well to the end. His prongs suck with the left one missing 1/2 an inch.
I retrospect I did a lot of things wrong on this hunt, most of which was not following Mikes four 7s rule laid out in his book.
1. I needed to look at more bucks and cover more of the area before I shot.
2. Mass is every thing and a buck in the mid 14 inch range with great mass and prongs can break 80in
3. You need to look him over with your spotting scope before you shoot.
4. I had a week to hunt and I should have.
Oh well there's all ways next time.
The last photo was of the buck I shot last season. He scored 79 7/8in Great mass but a bit short at 13 7/8 inches. He is missing both his ivory tips or he would have scored a bit over 80.
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