Buck with the Flat Top

Yesterday was the opener for our Idaho deer season & good friend Tank Hoover joined me for a handgun hunt in endless thousands of acres of prime hunting country in south east Idaho. Tank arrived a few days early so we could practice eating burrito's, fresh french fries, cinnamon rolls, huckleberry & strawberry cheesecake, homemade biscuits & gravy, fried chicken, fresh mashed potatoes, fried potatoes & great chicken fried steak!
Finally Tuesday arrived (opening day) and we headed out before daylight & 3 minutes into the hunt we spotted several deer with a nice buck in the bunch but the doe's spooked before we could get a shot so we kept going to another spot I had picked out for Jeff & we ended up seeing quite a few deer & a few more bucks but didn't get a shot because of being limited on distance with my old model flat top 44 magnum & Tank packing a Bisley 454 with heavy 45's snuggled inside.
We came back to town for lunch & went to work on El Toro's Burrito's again (wow) came home for a nap & headed back out for an evening hunt about 5pm. Tank went back to the same spot where he had seen several deer earlier & I decided to go to another spot but ended up with too much sun in my eyes so about 5:30 I decided to move across the grain field about 200 yds & get into the Quakies a little bit. It was the right decision because about 20 minutes later a deer came out of the trees about 250 yds from me & started feeding. At first I thought it was a doe because it blended in with the trees but as it fed towards me I could see it was a fork horn buck.
I had my 357 Maximum set up on the rear of my 4 wheeler in case I needed to take a long shot & needed to use a scope but as the buck got closer it looked like I would be able to use the iron sighted flat top. I eased the 44 out of my Barranti cross draw & slowly raised it up onto my leather covered rest. As the buck got closer he started to get a little bit goosy & I could tell he knew something wasn't right.
He was too close to range & was starting to move slightly to my right but still almost straight on. If he moved anymore to my right I was going to be in trouble because it would be hard to move the gun without him seeing me move. I guessed the range at 50 yds & made a little grunt to stop him. He faced me straight on but his body was just a bit to the right as I broke the shot. The 245 gr cast HP broke the right front shoulder & he whirled & ran about 30-35 yds & went down. I ranged to where he had been standing & it turned out to be 64 yds. The bullet had broken the right front shoulder & took out the right lung. I haven't skinned him yet to see what other damage was done but I'm very happy with the gun, the bullet & the results.

https://i.imgur.com/XinKkxE.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7XJ3ILx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/UfRtiwV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/EBdWQgS.jpg

Dick

Nicely done!

nice
can't wait for our season

Nicely done! i dont recognize that deer, is it a mule deer ?

I'm impressed
Good shooting!
Wide open country and you're using a handgun.

Very nice and jealous...cannot wait for our Nov deer season here in VT

Heck yeah!! I don't have a flattop but my old SBH has put more Bambi in the freezer than all of my other hunting arms added together!

I usually hunt with a climbing treestand, and I get in where it is thick and I pick a tree that has some shooting lanes for my rifle once I get up to height, but then I end up taking more deer sometimes leaning over the edge of the stand shooting straight down.

This tells me that my strategy for picking a spot for my stand doesn't need any improvement if they are walking right under it. Might as well leave the long gun in the truck!

Great story sixshot and good shooting! Did your buddy get one too?

Perfect eating size, well done.

All righty then. Nice muley for the freezer.
..

That"s some expansive ground you hunt( impressive) and a plan that works, good shooting !

My buddy hasn't got one yet but he will. He's a very fine shot with that Ruger 45. A few years back he hunted with me & we both took cow elk. I ran a buck his way this morning but it was cruising pretty fast & he didn't get a shot off. If you look real close you can see him across the canyon right in the bottom about 50 yds left of that Quakie patch. I probably threw 25 rocks in there before he decided to bail!

https://i.imgur.com/Eguijno.jpg

Dick

yep it's a mule deer.

and I also recognize that building.
I was just through there about a week ago on my way grouse hunting.

Good shooting Dick. That 4 wheeler looks way to clean, but you got more time to get more blood and mud on it. JW

What bullet did you use on him? Nice shooting by the way.

Nice Shot, Nice Gun....job well done. Happy for you.

The bullet was a Miha 245 gr cast HP that I powder coated. This is the second buck I've taken using this bullet with 10 grs of Unique, the other buck was 94 yds & I shot him through both lungs with an exit & he took about one step & dropped. I'll skin this buck Saturday & find part of that bullet, I'm sure the Penta portion sheared off after breaking the front shoulder & taking out one lung.

Dick

Congrats on your success, not only on your down deer, but your ability to take it.

I envy you guys that have the ability and confidence to hunt with a hand gun. I have owned handguns for 40 years, but never put the time in with them to have the confidence to use them for a primary hunting firearm.

Very nice, congrats. Much harder to do with a handgun.

Handguns certainly put some challenge in it but it sure is satisfying when it all comes together. The cataract in my right eye has gotten bad enough that I've started shooting handguns right handed and left eyed. I'm doing better but it still seems odd. Looking forward to deer season here.

Well done!

Congrats sixshot.

I never get tired of reading of your successful hunts, or seeing your great pics.

Thanks for sharing.

How many burrito's do you think will come from that mulie?

Prefect nice shooting,congrats

well if it all made into strips I figure about 120-140 Burrito's.

I had some back strap night before last & it was amazing! Just salt, pepper & some garlic powder & about 2 1/2 minutes on each side & BAM, it was something! I'll be making a bunch more jerky tomorrow, got to get it done the kids got a big bull elk today so the smoker will be smoking!
Lamar, show that buck of yours, it's a dandy!

Dick