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Some of the guys at work found out I was a hunter and became interested enough to ask questions. I showed them pictures and told them stories and soon, I could tell they had the bug. I knew of a large piece of land that would accommodate us and we set out to form a group to share hunting camp now and forever...
Guy A bought a camper trailer. Awesome investment that I had never used before. Figured it would be way more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.
Guy B is a tactical sort who owns nothing but AR15s and pistols. He decides he will buy a rifle to hunt with. Of course, he knows more about guns being a Marine than the rest of us combined. I tell him that a light rifle chambered in a flat shooting cartridge is the ticket for the canyons were the mule deer live. Of course I know nothing and NO MILITARY uses a 270, so it can't be worth a damn. 14 lb M40 clone it is!
Guy C is the only one who has ever hunted and he's hunted every year since he was 12 (now 35). But he's never seen a legal deer. More on that later.
So, we spend the summer getting gear together, tailoring loads for each rifle, and got everyone to shooting ok. Guy C is still a bit awkward, so I decide A and B can stick together and I'll help C. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take them to the area before the season, so their first look would be the evening before opening day.
We get to the farm and I go forward as the one who knows all the people and has our access figured out. I called ahead and spoke to everyone who owns the property and permission was affirmed. As I walk up to the house, I see 6 camper trailers with 3 to 5 people sitting around each. That's a lot of people.
I talk to the farmer and he says that he forgot his nephews were coming in and it might get crowded. He suggested we hunt from the bottom of the canyone and come up, since his nephews and their families would be coming from high ground. I get the idea that we will set uo down below in the dark and let all the yahoos push deer to us. Excellent.
We have a great night and get some sleep in a wonderfully warm camper trailer. This is heaven. The morning comes and Guy A realizes its 20 degrees outside. He borrows long johns and a beanie and gets dressed. As we get ready to leave, everyone but me pulls out a pistol.
"What are you huys doing?"
ABC in unison: "Getting a pistol ready"
"Why?"
ABC: "Bears and cougars"
"So, you're gonna fight a bear or cougar with a 9mm and not use your rifle that packs 3000 ft lbs of energy at the muzzle?" (Secret, never once seen bear or cougar sign in this area)
A and B realize thats a good point, C keeps his 6-shot single stack 9mm.
After an hour of hiking in the dark where there are cacti....Guy C realizes he's lost his pistol. I hand A and B a chem light and tell them C and I will be back. Found the gun all the way back to within 100 yards of camp where it fell out of the "holster". I'm pissed at this point.
We hike back and find A and B. All together, we climb 500 feet into the rimrock just before daybreak. The farmers nephews must have gotten drunk because they were starting late.
We hear the ATVs start up a thousand feet above us. We set up shooting sticks and rifles and prepared for the mass heard of deer thay would be pushed down to is. Soon, buck comes over the saddle on the ridge across from us. Guy C had drawn first shot, and was struggling to get still. Guy A was freezing to death because he had sweat so much on the hike and he was soaked, sitting in the high desert with a nice 20 degree breeze. Guy B was being a real trooper, but pretty sure he was pissed too because he had a clear shot.
When the buck first came over the ridge, he was about 320 yards away and we couldn't count enough points on him. He came downhill towards us and stood broadside at 110 yards. I'm looking st him with a spotting scope and he is a small 3x3. I tell him to shoot.
Guy C must not have realized the deer was now 210 yards closer. First shot sails over the back and thebm buck takes off like a bat out of hell.
Dejected.
Defeated.
Dumbazz.
Guy C blows a gimmie on the first legal deer he has ever seen. After 20 minutes of b!tching about it, a 3x4 comes over the same ridge! This time, the deer holds up on the ridge where Guy A and B can't see him. Only Guy C can see him. He gets steady, and I check the wind. Its pretty much still. The buck is broadside and motionless. At the crack of the rifle, the deer looks uphill to see why rocks are falling. He then walks away. As he walks around a clump of rocks, he gets put down by a drunk nephew.
"What happened?!"
Guy C: "The gun is off! I held perfect!"
"You were steady?"
"Yes!"
"You had the first dot behind the shoulder?" (using Leupold LR Duplex with BDC dots)
Silence....
"Isn't 300 yards the second dot?"
"Not if you're zeroed at 200!"
EPILOGUE
Guy A sold his trailer, not before nearly freezing to death. Plans on moving to AZ.
Guy B blamed it all on me that he didn't get a deer. Hasn't gone since, or shot his M40 clone.
Guy C decided to continue hunting on his own. He was later cited and fined for killing an elk, thinking it was a deer.
Me?.....
Hunted alone the last few years.
Guy A bought a camper trailer. Awesome investment that I had never used before. Figured it would be way more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.
Guy B is a tactical sort who owns nothing but AR15s and pistols. He decides he will buy a rifle to hunt with. Of course, he knows more about guns being a Marine than the rest of us combined. I tell him that a light rifle chambered in a flat shooting cartridge is the ticket for the canyons were the mule deer live. Of course I know nothing and NO MILITARY uses a 270, so it can't be worth a damn. 14 lb M40 clone it is!
Guy C is the only one who has ever hunted and he's hunted every year since he was 12 (now 35). But he's never seen a legal deer. More on that later.
So, we spend the summer getting gear together, tailoring loads for each rifle, and got everyone to shooting ok. Guy C is still a bit awkward, so I decide A and B can stick together and I'll help C. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take them to the area before the season, so their first look would be the evening before opening day.
We get to the farm and I go forward as the one who knows all the people and has our access figured out. I called ahead and spoke to everyone who owns the property and permission was affirmed. As I walk up to the house, I see 6 camper trailers with 3 to 5 people sitting around each. That's a lot of people.
I talk to the farmer and he says that he forgot his nephews were coming in and it might get crowded. He suggested we hunt from the bottom of the canyone and come up, since his nephews and their families would be coming from high ground. I get the idea that we will set uo down below in the dark and let all the yahoos push deer to us. Excellent.
We have a great night and get some sleep in a wonderfully warm camper trailer. This is heaven. The morning comes and Guy A realizes its 20 degrees outside. He borrows long johns and a beanie and gets dressed. As we get ready to leave, everyone but me pulls out a pistol.
"What are you huys doing?"
ABC in unison: "Getting a pistol ready"
"Why?"
ABC: "Bears and cougars"
"So, you're gonna fight a bear or cougar with a 9mm and not use your rifle that packs 3000 ft lbs of energy at the muzzle?" (Secret, never once seen bear or cougar sign in this area)
A and B realize thats a good point, C keeps his 6-shot single stack 9mm.
After an hour of hiking in the dark where there are cacti....Guy C realizes he's lost his pistol. I hand A and B a chem light and tell them C and I will be back. Found the gun all the way back to within 100 yards of camp where it fell out of the "holster". I'm pissed at this point.
We hike back and find A and B. All together, we climb 500 feet into the rimrock just before daybreak. The farmers nephews must have gotten drunk because they were starting late.
We hear the ATVs start up a thousand feet above us. We set up shooting sticks and rifles and prepared for the mass heard of deer thay would be pushed down to is. Soon, buck comes over the saddle on the ridge across from us. Guy C had drawn first shot, and was struggling to get still. Guy A was freezing to death because he had sweat so much on the hike and he was soaked, sitting in the high desert with a nice 20 degree breeze. Guy B was being a real trooper, but pretty sure he was pissed too because he had a clear shot.
When the buck first came over the ridge, he was about 320 yards away and we couldn't count enough points on him. He came downhill towards us and stood broadside at 110 yards. I'm looking st him with a spotting scope and he is a small 3x3. I tell him to shoot.
Guy C must not have realized the deer was now 210 yards closer. First shot sails over the back and thebm buck takes off like a bat out of hell.
Dejected.
Defeated.
Dumbazz.
Guy C blows a gimmie on the first legal deer he has ever seen. After 20 minutes of b!tching about it, a 3x4 comes over the same ridge! This time, the deer holds up on the ridge where Guy A and B can't see him. Only Guy C can see him. He gets steady, and I check the wind. Its pretty much still. The buck is broadside and motionless. At the crack of the rifle, the deer looks uphill to see why rocks are falling. He then walks away. As he walks around a clump of rocks, he gets put down by a drunk nephew.
"What happened?!"
Guy C: "The gun is off! I held perfect!"
"You were steady?"
"Yes!"
"You had the first dot behind the shoulder?" (using Leupold LR Duplex with BDC dots)
Silence....
"Isn't 300 yards the second dot?"
"Not if you're zeroed at 200!"
EPILOGUE
Guy A sold his trailer, not before nearly freezing to death. Plans on moving to AZ.
Guy B blamed it all on me that he didn't get a deer. Hasn't gone since, or shot his M40 clone.
Guy C decided to continue hunting on his own. He was later cited and fined for killing an elk, thinking it was a deer.
Me?.....
Hunted alone the last few years.