My First Deer

[smtimelevi]

Today I went on my second deer hunt. Shot my first deer, was a 10 point buck. Not bad for my first deer. Got him with my 30-30. He was chasing a couple doe in an open field and me and my friend were hiding next to a tree on a fence line. I saw him and set my rifle on a fence post and followed until he decided to stop. It was just long enough for me to take a shot even though there was some mesquite tree branches in my line of sight. I was shocked, it was a perfect shot. Iron sights a little over 100 yds. once we opened him up I discovered it was a heart shot.


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[Teamless]

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It may be better to post your pictures rather than have us log into Gmail

[Dan20703]

Congrats but can't see the pics.

[smtimelevi]

Sorry I guess I cant figure it out.

[speedsix]

...seems you figured it out just fine in the field, though, congratulations and good eatin'!!!

[smtimelevi]

http://s1141.photobucket.com/albums/n58 ... hoto12.jpg

http://s1141.photobucket.com/albums/n58 ... hoto11.jpg

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[i8godzilla]

Nice! Congratulations. What part of the state?

[The Annoyed Man]

Wow, that's a nice one! For your first buck you actually bagged a trophy too. I'm as guilty as the next guy of falling head over heals over whatever the latest high-zoot rifle happens to be and just as caliber obssessed as anyone else; but the humble .30-30 has probably bagged more white tails than any other caliber in history.

And with iron sights, no less! Good job. I gotta tell you that with my eyes, that buck will need to be the size of a pickup truck for me to take the shot with iron sights at 100 yards. When I first bought my M1A 2 or 3 years ago, I was able to consistently hit a 10"x10" steel plate at 200 yards with it, with glasses on and using the National Match iron sights that came installed on the gun......but that was a steel plate, without heart or blood or bone. I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to take a shot like that on a live animal with iron sights, unless my own survival was at stake.

Getting older sucks. Anyway, congratulations. I'm envious.

[RoyGBiv]

Nice buck. Congrats.!

There's something a bit "ghostly" about that second pic.
It looks like that deer is passing through you... I like it.

FYI... if you want the images to show up here as photos, within your post, all you need to do is copy the link from Photobucket that has the IMG tag... It looks like you copied the link form the address bar at the top of the page. That will get you to the correct photo in photobucket, but it won't cause the photo to show up inside your post here...

I won't post your photo here in case you didn't want to do that... but... the code would look like this...

[img]Insert-link-here[/img]

From your photobucket page... here is the link...Copy this one and paste it inside your post if you want the images to show up here instead of the link.

[puma guy]

Very nice deer! You are now officially hooked by the gods of hunting, having been given such a trophy so early in your hopefully long hunting career.

[smtimelevi]

Nice! Congratulations. What part of the state?

Just a little south-south west of San Antonio. About 5 mi east of La Coste near the medina river.

I put about 60 rounds through my marlin before hunting season started. I was using paper plates as targets between 75-100 yds with the iron sights. I was confident with this rifle before I took it in the field. It was strange to me how calm and calculated I felt when I made that shot. It was like I had been doin it for years. Now if only I can do that everytime I hunt in the future,lol. Although I have been shooting for a long time I've never shot anything bigger than a rabbit until this deer.
Patience really paid off too. I passed on a few smaller bucks and some decent doe before I saw this guy and just knew I had to take the shot if the opportunity presented itself.

[smtimelevi]

Wow, that's a nice one! For your first buck you actually bagged a trophy too. I'm as guilty as the next guy of falling head over heals over whatever the latest high-zoot rifle happens to be and just as caliber obssessed as anyone else; but the humble .30-30 has probably bagged more white tails than any other caliber in history.

And with iron sights, no less! Good job. I gotta tell you that with my eyes, that buck will need to be the size of a pickup truck for me to take the shot with iron sights at 100 yards. When I first bought my M1A 2 or 3 years ago, I was able to consistently hit a 10"x10" steel plate at 200 yards with it, with glasses on and using the National Match iron sights that came installed on the gun......but that was a steel plate, without heart or blood or bone. I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to take a shot like that on a live animal with iron sights, unless my own survival was at stake.

Getting older sucks. Anyway, congratulations. I'm envious.

Funny you say that. Right before I saw this buck there hadnt been anything closer than 150 yards and was telling my hunting partner I might need to look into a scoped rifle. Let me tell you inside 100 yds there's nothing humble about that 30-30. It was a quick kill and I was able to put the round exactly where I wanted. It was somewhat challenging with iron sights. I'm not surprised I hit the target Im just shocked that it was a heart shot. Once I opned him up during processing I realized I had hit the heart. That wound channel was very straight despite going through a bone and turning everything in its direct path into jelly. No unnecessary meat damage and an exit wound the size of about a quater.
It will definitely be my hunting rifle for anything under 300 lbs and closer than 125 yds. I'm still new to all of this but as of now I dont know if I would even fire on something outside of 150 yds in case it wasnt a quick kill and I need to shoot again or give chase.

[puma guy]

Wow, that's a nice one! For your first buck you actually bagged a trophy too. I'm as guilty as the next guy of falling head over heals over whatever the latest high-zoot rifle happens to be and just as caliber obssessed as anyone else; but the humble .30-30 has probably bagged more white tails than any other caliber in history.

And with iron sights, no less! Good job. I gotta tell you that with my eyes, that buck will need to be the size of a pickup truck for me to take the shot with iron sights at 100 yards. When I first bought my M1A 2 or 3 years ago, I was able to consistently hit a 10"x10" steel plate at 200 yards with it, with glasses on and using the National Match iron sights that came installed on the gun......but that was a steel plate, without heart or blood or bone. I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to take a shot like that on a live animal with iron sights, unless my own survival was at stake.

Getting older sucks. Anyway, congratulations. I'm envious.

Funny you say that. Right before I saw this buck there hadnt been anything closer than 150 yards and was telling my hunting partner I might need to look into a scoped rifle. Let me tell you inside 100 yds there's nothing humble about that 30-30. It was a quick kill and I was able to put the round exactly where I wanted. It was somewhat challenging with iron sights. I'm not surprised I hit the target Im just shocked that it was a heart shot. Once I opned him up during processing I realized I had hit the heart. That wound channel was very straight despite going through a bone and turning everything in its direct path into jelly. No unnecessary meat damage and an exit wound the size of about a quater.
It will definitely be my hunting rifle for anything under 300 lbs and closer than 125 yds. I'm still new to all of this but as of now I dont know if I would even fire on something outside of 150 yds in case it wasnt a quick kill and I need to shoot again or give chase.

You have illustrated the importance of shot placement. More importantly you have also demonstrated one of the most important rules of hunting ie. is it an ethical shot. The thoughts going through your mind as you judged the distance and capabilities of your weapon and your abilities as a shooter is perhaps the most important rule of hunting besides being absolutely sure of your target and what lies beyond it. If you have taken the Hunter Safety Course you surely paid attention and even if you didn't kudos to you for your ethical thought processes.

[smtimelevi]

I never did take the hunter safety course. I did spend some time in the AIr Force and my father spent some time shooting with me as a boy. It was hunters awareness more than anything. I didnt want to shoot and miss scaring away the deer for who knows how long or have a maiming shot and have to chase the animal. He was too close to another persons property fence for that.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

Might want to take the Hunters Education Certification.....its the law.