JUST got in from TEXAS! 
Had a GREAT hunt! I got to the ranch, the Spires Ranch, a 30,000 acre cattle ranch, late Friday evening. I just BARELY had time to shoot my rifles ONCE before dark. One shot each from the ULA and Savage #IV and everything looked good, just the way it was before leaving 'Bama.
I was REALLY surprised at the accomodations! Talk about setting the TABLE!:
There were only three hunters in camp and two guides. One group was a father/son and then there was myself! So, I had my own guide the whole time! My guide was Randy Slaughter of Rio Brazos Outfitters. I've been on several hunts over the years and he is absolutely one of the best guides I've ever seen! He doesn't take no for an answer and is prepared for any situation.
After a supper consisting of steak and baked potato(this IS Texas, after all!) I got my crap(gear) together and situated and headed off to bed. Saturday morning came fast and at 5:00AM I quickly took a shower, dressed, loaded up the ULA, and off to the prairie we went. MOST of our hunting consisted first of glassing the countryside. It took me a while to get my "deer eyes" in gear but finially I was able to see deer. Of course Randy could see most of them WAY before I could. But as the hunt went on, at least I got better! The first place we went to all we could see is does. We probably saw somewhere close to ten or so. The countryside is mostly mosquite and cedar with a few bluffs and some rolling hills thrown in.
Next we went to this bluff overlooking a bottom. ON WAY we actually saw TWO shooter bucks! One REALLY nice one that we decided would be our ace in the hole if everything else failed. Randy got out his Leica spotting scope and I had my Swarovski 10X42s and we glassed the bottom.
While glassing here we saw two MORE shooter bucks(several does), one REALLY nice one and the other was the best I saw during the hunt and eventually killed. We were just "shopping" for now as Randy put it and moved on to glass some more areas. After going to several more areas and checking things out we decided to head back to that bluff where were could see where that nice buck was. By now the sun was up and we could see really good. There was the buck, exactly where we left him. This time we could see he had singled out a doe and was making every step SHE made! The two deer were moving in and out of the mosquite thicket on the other side of the open area. We decided to try to sneak in from the back side of that thicket and find a good place to rattle some.
After a LONG sneak in to get as close as we could to the buck we settled down and Randy rattled horns and used his grut call for a while. We did rattle in a buck, a good one, but not THE buck and passed. We eased out of the thicket and back to the truck and went to eat lunch. After lunch we AGAIN drove around some and did some glassing. In all the driving and glassing we did, I probably saw ten shooter bucks with two or three REALLY nice ones. but STILL saw nothing close to the one we had seen in the bottom. So about about an hour and a half before dark we head back to sneak up on this clearing close to where the buck was. We even used the grunt call some but saw nothing but does. At dark we get back to the truck for supper. All we could think about was how to get a shot at that BUCK! There was really only one way to him and that was the way we were trying. He had about a 300yd opening up wind on one side of him and the mosquite thicked on the other side and downwind. End of day one.
When day two came Randy and I talked and we realized it was for the most part a sleepless night for both of us. Randy decided that just after daybreak we would sneek all the way thru the thicket to the edge of the clearing where the buck and doe had been the previous morinng and evening and cross our fingers that we don't spook anything. We FINALLY get there without spooking any deer. We settle down in one place and see nothing but a few does. We keeping moving down the line glassing as we go to no avail. We keep moving until we are practically exactly where the buck and doe are moving in and out of the mosquite. Finally Randy whispers "I see him." He was still with the doe but was across the opening over 300yds away from us and moving parallel to the treeline on the other side away from us! Randy tries a a grunt call and nothing. Then tries a doe bleat and nothing from THAT buck but calls up another smaller buck! Finally the big buck and doe go out of sight into a thicket of cedars/mosquite about 500yds away from us! CRAP! And it's all ready 8:30AM! We DO see some does across the way and finally another buck on that same path going the opposite direction of the big buck. He is obviously scouting for receptive does. I keep looking at the area where the big buck vanished. In a couple of minutes I see a doe there and I tell Randy that I THINK I see horns! In a sec he is looking there as well and in another second we both verify that yes there is a buck there! The doe steps out a little and then the buck does too! YES it's the big buck! OMG...they start retracing their PATH! All of a sudden the doe breaks out in a run and the buck follows heading our way! When the deer are about 200yds from us the does veres off their previous path and begins coming right AT us in an all out RUN! Randy whispers to me "Chuck, get ready they're coming to us." OMG! I'm as ready as I can get! Randy says "Chuck, Im going to rattle these horns to try to get them to stop! Remember, that mosquite bush is 147yds away!" The deer pass the mosquite bush on the far side and are coming up the draw. Randy starts BANGING on the horns and the deer STOP then the doe starts running again. The buck is looking at where the noise came from but keeps walking. I have NO clear shot as this opening is covered up with sage and weeds all about three feet high. Randy whispers "shoot him in the neck!" But I don't have ANY clear shot! The buck takes THREE more steps and WHAM the ULA barks! At the shot the buck takes three steps back and the makes two despiration lunges forward and that's where he lay. Randy says "can you reload?" I'm all ready in the process with powder vial in one hand and 250gr PTX in the other. I tell Randy "look at my hand." I'm shaking like a LEAF! I manage to reload and Randy is shaking too! He hollers "Man, what have we DONE!?" We get up and there he IS! The shot was 54yds and he went maybe 10 feet after the shot. The was absolutely one of the best HUNTS I have EVER been on!
This pic about exactly where we were when I shot. I am taking this picture almost exactly where the buck was when I shot.
Had a GREAT hunt! I got to the ranch, the Spires Ranch, a 30,000 acre cattle ranch, late Friday evening. I just BARELY had time to shoot my rifles ONCE before dark. One shot each from the ULA and Savage #IV and everything looked good, just the way it was before leaving 'Bama.
I was REALLY surprised at the accomodations! Talk about setting the TABLE!:
There were only three hunters in camp and two guides. One group was a father/son and then there was myself! So, I had my own guide the whole time! My guide was Randy Slaughter of Rio Brazos Outfitters. I've been on several hunts over the years and he is absolutely one of the best guides I've ever seen! He doesn't take no for an answer and is prepared for any situation.
After a supper consisting of steak and baked potato(this IS Texas, after all!) I got my crap(gear) together and situated and headed off to bed. Saturday morning came fast and at 5:00AM I quickly took a shower, dressed, loaded up the ULA, and off to the prairie we went. MOST of our hunting consisted first of glassing the countryside. It took me a while to get my "deer eyes" in gear but finially I was able to see deer. Of course Randy could see most of them WAY before I could. But as the hunt went on, at least I got better! The first place we went to all we could see is does. We probably saw somewhere close to ten or so. The countryside is mostly mosquite and cedar with a few bluffs and some rolling hills thrown in.
Next we went to this bluff overlooking a bottom. ON WAY we actually saw TWO shooter bucks! One REALLY nice one that we decided would be our ace in the hole if everything else failed. Randy got out his Leica spotting scope and I had my Swarovski 10X42s and we glassed the bottom.
While glassing here we saw two MORE shooter bucks(several does), one REALLY nice one and the other was the best I saw during the hunt and eventually killed. We were just "shopping" for now as Randy put it and moved on to glass some more areas. After going to several more areas and checking things out we decided to head back to that bluff where were could see where that nice buck was. By now the sun was up and we could see really good. There was the buck, exactly where we left him. This time we could see he had singled out a doe and was making every step SHE made! The two deer were moving in and out of the mosquite thicket on the other side of the open area. We decided to try to sneak in from the back side of that thicket and find a good place to rattle some.
After a LONG sneak in to get as close as we could to the buck we settled down and Randy rattled horns and used his grut call for a while. We did rattle in a buck, a good one, but not THE buck and passed. We eased out of the thicket and back to the truck and went to eat lunch. After lunch we AGAIN drove around some and did some glassing. In all the driving and glassing we did, I probably saw ten shooter bucks with two or three REALLY nice ones. but STILL saw nothing close to the one we had seen in the bottom. So about about an hour and a half before dark we head back to sneak up on this clearing close to where the buck was. We even used the grunt call some but saw nothing but does. At dark we get back to the truck for supper. All we could think about was how to get a shot at that BUCK! There was really only one way to him and that was the way we were trying. He had about a 300yd opening up wind on one side of him and the mosquite thicked on the other side and downwind. End of day one.
When day two came Randy and I talked and we realized it was for the most part a sleepless night for both of us. Randy decided that just after daybreak we would sneek all the way thru the thicket to the edge of the clearing where the buck and doe had been the previous morinng and evening and cross our fingers that we don't spook anything. We FINALLY get there without spooking any deer. We settle down in one place and see nothing but a few does. We keeping moving down the line glassing as we go to no avail. We keep moving until we are practically exactly where the buck and doe are moving in and out of the mosquite. Finally Randy whispers "I see him." He was still with the doe but was across the opening over 300yds away from us and moving parallel to the treeline on the other side away from us! Randy tries a a grunt call and nothing. Then tries a doe bleat and nothing from THAT buck but calls up another smaller buck! Finally the big buck and doe go out of sight into a thicket of cedars/mosquite about 500yds away from us! CRAP! And it's all ready 8:30AM! We DO see some does across the way and finally another buck on that same path going the opposite direction of the big buck. He is obviously scouting for receptive does. I keep looking at the area where the big buck vanished. In a couple of minutes I see a doe there and I tell Randy that I THINK I see horns! In a sec he is looking there as well and in another second we both verify that yes there is a buck there! The doe steps out a little and then the buck does too! YES it's the big buck! OMG...they start retracing their PATH! All of a sudden the doe breaks out in a run and the buck follows heading our way! When the deer are about 200yds from us the does veres off their previous path and begins coming right AT us in an all out RUN! Randy whispers to me "Chuck, get ready they're coming to us." OMG! I'm as ready as I can get! Randy says "Chuck, Im going to rattle these horns to try to get them to stop! Remember, that mosquite bush is 147yds away!" The deer pass the mosquite bush on the far side and are coming up the draw. Randy starts BANGING on the horns and the deer STOP then the doe starts running again. The buck is looking at where the noise came from but keeps walking. I have NO clear shot as this opening is covered up with sage and weeds all about three feet high. Randy whispers "shoot him in the neck!" But I don't have ANY clear shot! The buck takes THREE more steps and WHAM the ULA barks! At the shot the buck takes three steps back and the makes two despiration lunges forward and that's where he lay. Randy says "can you reload?" I'm all ready in the process with powder vial in one hand and 250gr PTX in the other. I tell Randy "look at my hand." I'm shaking like a LEAF! I manage to reload and Randy is shaking too! He hollers "Man, what have we DONE!?" We get up and there he IS! The shot was 54yds and he went maybe 10 feet after the shot. The was absolutely one of the best HUNTS I have EVER been on!
This pic about exactly where we were when I shot. I am taking this picture almost exactly where the buck was when I shot.
