Daniel ’ s First Buck !
Daniel ’ s First Buck !
By Daniel Cantrell
This year I went on a hunt of a life time with
my family . It was a youth only controlled hunt for any mule deer . I got blessed and harvested an amazing 4x4 buck .
Last year I got this same hunt and shot a very nice doe . This year I wasn ’ t sure if I would draw it again because of recent changes in available tags . This year there were only 50 either sex and 50 doe only tags . Last year , there were 100 either buck or doe tags . Thankfully , me and my sister drew tags . When it came time to go on the hunt we planned it to be a family affair . One of the ways I got ready for the hunt was fixing up my rifle . I chose to use our bull barreled DPMS 308 . It has a Leupold CDS scope with a turret designed specifically for the Hornady 165 grain SST ammunition we planned to use . After a lot of practice shooting at various ranges we were finally ready for this hunt .
When we finally made it to the location we set up our camp and got ready to go scout out the area . When we were scouting we saw five doe and one spike , but it was a day before the hunt was open so we couldn ’ t shoot them .
The next morning , while it was still dark , we went up to a location we had scouted the year before . It was a little hide about 300 yards away from a rocky canyon area . We sat there for about two hours glassing and did not see anything . Next , my dad looked over at the other hill side to see if anything was bedded down .
Surprise , he saw two bucks and one doe lying under some Sage brush on another hill side . When I first saw them , I saw a very nice 3x3 buck standing broad side to us . Suddenly , my dad said look a little to the left . That is the one you want because it is the biggest . I got my sights on him , and slowed down my heart beat . My dad ranged him and I dialed in my great Leupold CDS scope to 450 yards . We waited for the buck to stand up and when he did , I slowly pulled the trigger and saw the bullet contact the buck . It was a solid and well placed hit . Dad said that it was a double long shot . The buck started running ; when it stopped I pulled off another great shot at 475 yards away . That shot dropped him and he died right there . The previous year , when I shot my first Muley doe , my dad gave me a Buck knife . It made short order of field dressing this fine buck !
It turned out to be a wonderful hunt . The good Lord blessed me to make a couple of great shots and harvest a wonderful Muley . It was even more fun to have my family there to help me out . I couldn ’ t have done it without them .
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