Mule Deer

[dtspoke]

Thought you guys might like some pics of a couple of mule deer we shot this fall.

The first is mine. Not real big and probably 3, but I was content with him especially since we were contending with highs in the low single digits and brutal winds.

This one was shot by my buddy who is also our COO. The pics don't do it justice. Gross almost 200.

 

[TexasCowPoke]

DTS, You shot a great deer, I'd take him most anyday. Your COO however, that is amazing- mass was outstanding. I'm out of superlative adjective, but I'll get back to you when I get a refill.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[dtspoke]

There are some pretty nice deer here and I'd originally planned on holding for 180+ which is very doable for me. I settled for this one because I had some work obligations.

My buddies deer was one of 4 we were looking for. The biggest is a deer I've seen once in two years but he was spotted two weeks ago crossing our road at night. He's still alive or I would have heard about it.

Anyway, that deer My friend shot was aged at 7+

 

[pokem]

Nice and thanks for sharing...

gonna go back and read your post again but I have a question. that buck aged at 7 years? how? where are you hunting? that is bad ass....

it's just being in Texas, I rarely hear of something aging out at 7 years.

thanks again dts

 

[dtspoke]

Originally posted by pokem:

Nice and thanks for sharing...

gonna go back and read your post again but I have a question. that buck aged at 7 years? how? where are you hunting? that is bad ass....

it's just being in Texas, I rarely hear of something aging out at 7 years.

thanks again dts

A 4 preference point unit in Colorado where our ranch is. We operate 40K acres and know where almost every hole is for deer to hide in, and it's a lot easier for deer and elk to get old in this country than in Texas.

The age structure in this unit was pretty messed up with a lot of deer getting killed young, but they restricted tags and we are seeing deer get a lot older.

Mule deer can't get that mass and size without age. This was probably his first mistake of his life and it was on a sub zero day two weeks from the rut. He got up and my compadre caught him moving at 400 yards. Closed the distance using terrain and shot him at 158 yards which is a minor miracle out here because most shots on old bucks and bulls are a little longer.

We don't shoot outside of 500 as a rule, but we push up against it sometimes (like on my deer this year). And 300 yard opportunities are pretty normal, we just hold off taking the shot if the conditions don't meet our criteria which are governed by 4 rules.

 

[pokem]

Originally posted by dtspoke:

Originally posted by pokem:

Nice and thanks for sharing...

gonna go back and read your post again but I have a question. that buck aged at 7 years? how? where are you hunting? that is bad ass....

it's just being in Texas, I rarely hear of something aging out at 7 years.

thanks again dts

A 4 preference point unit in Colorado where our ranch is. We operate 40K acres and know where almost every hole is for deer to hide in, and it's a lot easier for deer and elk to get old in this country than in Texas.

The age structure in this unit was pretty messed up with a lot of deer getting killed young, but they restricted tags and we are seeing deer get a lot older.

Mule deer can't get that mass and size without age. This was probably his first mistake of his life and it was on a sub zero day two weeks from the rut. He got up and my compadre caught him moving at 400 yards. Closed the distance using terrain and shot him at 158 yards which is a minor miracle out here because most shots on old bucks and bulls are a little longer.

We don't shoot outside of 500 as a rule, but we push up against it sometimes (like on my deer this year). And 300 yard opportunities are pretty normal, we just hold off taking the shot if the conditions don't meet our criteria which are governed by 4 rules.

that's bad to the bone... I am starting to work on long distance targets now in hopes of getting ready for some hunts up north.

if you don't mind, I might pick your brain once I have a little better idea if what I'm doing and what I don't understand and/or need help on..

 

[pokem]

dts, I actually have my first question. what is your set-up your using on a 500 shot? I have a Mark V .300 WBY MAG. My scope is currently low end but effective for our 100 to 150 yard shots.

I am currently researching which scope I want to upgrade to and just curious what you are using. Any advice would be greatly appreciated also.

 

[dtspoke]

I can tell you what I use personally, but there are a world of opinions out there.

This deer was shot with a 7 WSM on a Winchester M70 Extreme Weather chassis that was floated and has a Jewel trigger. It shoots hand loaded160 grain Barnes TTSX under .5 MOA consistently.

The scope is a Zeiss Duralyt 4-12x50 with a #6 reticle. The top of the post is right at 500.

I've got a .300 Win Mag, a .300 Weatherby, a .257 Weatherby, a 7 Rem Mag and a .338 WM all set up to shoot way out there with different bullets and optics based in application.

The guy in that pic can get out there pretty far with his .300 WM, but he spins turrets with his Swarovski. I use reticle.

 

[pokem]

dts, really appreciate you sharing... under .5 MOA consistently is a tack driver...

you wouldn't by chance be looking to unload her would you?... (lol... doesn't hurt to ask although I am also sure I could not afford her..lol)

that is a damn nice scope and obviously a nice set-up....

Once I get a little further into the waters on this I would like to hit you up and run a few things by you. Makes me feel better to have a few opinions before I start dropping coin.

 

[Jeff J.]

Originally posted by dtspoke:
I can tell you what I use personally, but there are a world of opinions out there.

This deer was shot with a 7 WSM on a Winchester M70 Extreme Weather chassis that was floated and has a Jewel trigger. It shoots hand loaded160 grain Barnes TTSX under .5 MOA consistently.

The scope is a Zeiss Duralyt 4-12x50 with a #6 reticle. The top of the post is right at 500.

I've got a .300 Win Mag, a .300 Weatherby, a .257 Weatherby, a 7 Rem Mag and a .338 WM all set up to shoot way out there with different bullets and optics based in application.

The guy in that pic can get out there pretty far with his .300 WM, but he spins turrets with his Swarovski. I use reticle.

Would this rig be adequate?

Remington 700 Sendero 26" barrel .264 Win Mag, topped with a Bushnell Elite 6500 4-30x50 Mil dot (yes, 4-30x!) zeroed at 200?

 

[TexasCowPoke]

Jeff, does she shoot pretty tight groups? Sounds good and that scope I'm thinking is at least adequate- I would think she would be good out to 500 with practice. That gr. bullet would you use with that for big Mulies?

tcp

 

[dtspoke]

That is a cool setup Jeff and yeah, way more than adequate. I really like the .264 and its underrated especially when hand loaded to its max. I shoot 120 gr Hornady GMX in a 6.5 Creedmore and they are awesome. I bet they'd shoot great in that .264. Personally, I rework the triggers in everything but a Vanguard S2 RC in .257 I have and a Cooper in .243.

Ive got a .338 Win Mag with that same Elite 6500 and its a really good scope. It's held up to a lot of recoil and its tight.

Technically what I shoot isn't considered long range, but for me that 300-500 yard distance is where stuff really starts to come apart and is dependent on a ton of factors which is why we have some rules for beyond 300. Also, I have a 500 yard range on the ranch so we can practice all year and get our rifles and optics dialed in. I put range cards on my rifles too so I can get wind dope and distance figured out in the field.

One thing is that I shoot a few 3x9x40/42 in my rifles and they work great way out there for hunting, so not everything I carry looks like the Hubble telescope, especially if weight is a consideration.

Last point, we focus on Maximum Point Blank Range instead of zeroing at a rounded off yardage distance. I use a 4 inch drop which gives me 2 inches rise for a 6 inch MPBR. In my .257 the MPBR is around with 110 grain Accubonds is around 331 yards, so I zero my scope at 249 which means I can hold on hair for any animal down to an antelope out to 330 yards.

When I get outside of that range I use a ballistic reticle or the post and duplex on my optics. I can get it tight out to 500, then wind gets to be an issue.

Elevation is physics, wind age is voodoo.

Anyway, a lot about a little, but it's pretty fun to mess with.

 

[dtspoke]

Originally posted by pokem:
dts, really appreciate you sharing... under .5 MOA consistently is a tack driver...

you wouldn't by chance be looking to unload her would you?... (lol... doesn't hurt to ask although I am also sure I could not afford her..lol)

that is a damn nice scope and obviously a nice set-up....

Once I get a little further into the waters on this I would like to hit you up and run a few things by you. Makes me feel better to have a few opinions before I start dropping coin.

Sorry pard, it's hard to find that rifle in 7 wsm and it's got a ton of work done on it.

There re are quite a few great shooting rifles out there that are .MOA out of the box. Vanguard S2 is an example and comes in a world of options.

 

[Jeff J.]

Originally posted by dtspoke:


Last point, we focus on Maximum Point Blank Range instead of zeroing at a rounded off yardage distance. I use a 4 inch drop which gives me 2 inches rise for a 6 inch MPBR. In my .257 the MPBR is around with 110 grain Accubonds is around 331 yards, so I zero my scope at 249 which means I can hold on hair for any animal down to an antelope out to 330 yards.

When I get outside of that range I use a ballistic reticle or the post and duplex on my optics. I can get it tight out to 500, then wind gets to be an issue.

Elevation is physics, wind age is voodoo.

Anyway, a lot about a little, but it's pretty fun to mess with.

I've got a Winchester Model 70 Classic Stainless with BOSS that I picked up for $400 used. Topped it with a Zeiss Conquest that I'd had just sitting waiting for the right rifle. Leupold rings required some shimming to get right, but sighting in was a 2-shot process.

Sighted in at 26 yards. Got to dead bull in 2 shots, then dropped back to 100. Hair over 2" high, which is close to expected. Shot the 264 from 200, but ran out of time to test the 270.

The 26-yard zero should result in a MPBR of right around 330. I'm looking forward to finding the longer zero and actual MPBR, but feel very confident in this setup for this weekend from 0-300.

 

[dtspoke]

Oh, and before it sounds like we snipe from the moon, I've got a cow elk tag for December and I'm using a Marlin 1895 guide gun in 45/70 Govt with buckhorn sights. It's a shooter out to 200 with 300 grain Barnes TSX.

Limits my shots but it's a super cool rifle.

 

[dtspoke]

Nice Jeff. Vinita?

 

[Jeff J.]

Originally posted by dtspoke:
Nice Jeff. Vinita?

Yessir. Had to give up our Sunday evening hunt for a baseball tryout, of all things. It initially was set for Saturday at 1 in Edmond, so it looked like I'd give up opening day. Rain forecast moved it to Sunday at 2. I'd gladly give up either option, but Sunday at 2 is better. It's with one of the top Showcase organizations in the state, so it's a fairly big deal.

 

[dtspoke]

Originally posted by Jeff J.:

Originally posted by dtspoke:
Nice Jeff. Vinita?

Yessir. Had to give up our Sunday evening hunt for a baseball tryout, of all things. It initially was set for Saturday at 1 in Edmond, so it looked like I'd give up opening day. Rain forecast moved it to Sunday at 2. I'd gladly give up either option, but Sunday at 2 is better. It's with one of the top Showcase organizations in the state, so it's a fairly big deal.

Am I so old that I think baseball was done by the end of September when we were kids? I played four sports and I don't remember any of them really overlapping.