Wolfgang
12-10-2015, 12:30 AM
Spent the whole week last week trying to find a suitable candidate to try out the Ruger 77/44 on here in Ohio. Finally on Saturday morning, out of the fog at shortly after 8:00 I noticed movement. It was a strain to see through the dense fog but eventually a group of five doe's wandered into an area about 75 yards from my stand that was comparatively clear. Four of them were big and the fifth was noticeably bigger than the others. The crosshairs settled in on the largest one and a 220 grain SWC out of a Lyman 429215 mold was zipping on its way toward her at around 1900 fps. It was one of those shots you remember because in the thick, wet air you could hear the bullet hiss through the air and the loud smack when it connected with its intended target. The big doe dropped on the spot and that was that. After taking a moment to make certain that she didn't regain her feet a self congratulatory cup of coffee and snack was consumed and it was off to check out my prize. After a few pics and finishing up the dirty work it was time to get back up into the blind to see if anything else wanted to show up. I went ahead and called in the deer to the ODNR and muddled through the agonizingly long phone check.
As the day progressed and the sun tried to burn off the fog, I sat in the blind and listened to shots going off here and there around me and daydreaming about backstraps wrapped in bacon cooking very slowly on the grill. After what seemed like a short time (time always seems to pass faster for me when I'm hunting) I looked at my watch and thought that it was about time to get down and go for a stroll through my friends 51 acre piece of heaven to see if I might kick anything up. I gathered up some things to get ready to take a walk and just before I got ready to climb down, I took one last look out of the windows as you never know. Good thing I did because coming across my front from west to east was a buck that had made his way up out of the creek bottom. He was about half way between me and the creek which was about 200 yards to my front. He wasn't at full tilt but he was moving along at a pretty steady clip toward a waterway that winds its way through the CRP ground toward the creek. I waited until he had made his way into a fairly clear spot and the little Ruger spoke again and once more the Thompson bullet found its mark and the buck dropped and never recovered his feet. I climbed down and made my way to him and the range finder told me he was 105 yards from the blind. I thanked God for letting me have another season in his great outdoors and I couldn't help but think about my ten year old getting two deer on the Saturday of Youth Season with a 77/357 right before Thanksgiving and now Dad had done the same during regular gun season with the only difference being the caliber of the rifles. All of the deer taken this year were taken with bullets made by me, loaded by me and ultimately at least one the second hunt, fired by me. Lot of satisfaction in that. Well, a few pics and I'll end this long winded post.
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Best to all and have a wonderful, safe holiday season and a Merry Christmas!
Wolfgang
As the day progressed and the sun tried to burn off the fog, I sat in the blind and listened to shots going off here and there around me and daydreaming about backstraps wrapped in bacon cooking very slowly on the grill. After what seemed like a short time (time always seems to pass faster for me when I'm hunting) I looked at my watch and thought that it was about time to get down and go for a stroll through my friends 51 acre piece of heaven to see if I might kick anything up. I gathered up some things to get ready to take a walk and just before I got ready to climb down, I took one last look out of the windows as you never know. Good thing I did because coming across my front from west to east was a buck that had made his way up out of the creek bottom. He was about half way between me and the creek which was about 200 yards to my front. He wasn't at full tilt but he was moving along at a pretty steady clip toward a waterway that winds its way through the CRP ground toward the creek. I waited until he had made his way into a fairly clear spot and the little Ruger spoke again and once more the Thompson bullet found its mark and the buck dropped and never recovered his feet. I climbed down and made my way to him and the range finder told me he was 105 yards from the blind. I thanked God for letting me have another season in his great outdoors and I couldn't help but think about my ten year old getting two deer on the Saturday of Youth Season with a 77/357 right before Thanksgiving and now Dad had done the same during regular gun season with the only difference being the caliber of the rifles. All of the deer taken this year were taken with bullets made by me, loaded by me and ultimately at least one the second hunt, fired by me. Lot of satisfaction in that. Well, a few pics and I'll end this long winded post.
155299155300155306155305155308155309155310155311
Best to all and have a wonderful, safe holiday season and a Merry Christmas!
Wolfgang