Of course on Friday evening I only saw bucks. Ian got in from Houston around 12:30am and we celebrated till 3:30am. Needless to say, the only things we killed that morning were our livers! After getting up about 8:00am we stalked around a couple bottoms, thickets, and pastures with no luck. We both had to head back Saturday evening and were beginning to think that once again it wasn't going to happen. Our goal...Tag out - which would mean 8 deer between the two of us in one evening hunt. You think that's impossible but not in the Hill Country. This is the most densely populated area for deer in Texas and we normally see 8-20 deer every morning or evening hunt.
We headed to the stands early and were settled in around 3:00pm. We didn't get our "Limit" but we did manage to put some meat on the ground. It doesn't make for the prettiest pictures but I like head shots (AKA shooting doe in the face) when the deer are really close so there's no tracking job and no meat loss. It's a special technique, but when performed correctly and responsibly it's hard to beat. I dropped the first doe in her tracks at 40 yards with my trusty Remington Model 7 in 7mm08. Ian neck shot the first one that came by him but she got up and took off. It can happen and sucks when it does, but its part of hunting and a sacrifice to the hunting gods. Neck shots are usually extremely effective but the deer should be facing directly at or away from you, not broadside or quartering. This way you either hit neck vertebrae or nothing instead of a non-fatal wounding shot. Ian learns fast and dropped the next doe 20 minutes later with a shot to the skull. I had no other activity so I walked down to a field just before dark and was able to drop another doe about 150 yards out. It was right at dark and I put the crosshairs just below her back quartering away and squeezed. Flash of orange + boom + thump + no deer in scope = dead deer, deer down. Total 4 shots, 3 deer. Decent result for the 1st annual Slickhead Shootout!
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