Her first

Daughter got her first deer.

Setup

I’m overbusy these days and I knew spending many mornings and evenings in a deer stand for whitetails was just not going to happen due to lack of time. Still, I wanted to get something. A little time in the field. A little meat in the freezer.

So I thought, how about some exotics (since they can be hunted all year round)? I’ve never had but have wanted to try the meat of axis, red, sika, and/or fallow deer. Everyone tells me they’re better than whitetail, with axis being the best. So for the past some months I’ve tried to make time to go out to DB Hunting Ranch to harvest an exotic but just wasn’t able to make it out… until now. DB works well because the prices are reasonable, it doesn’t have to be a huge time investment, and I have yet to leave the ranch empty handed. No, it’s not hunting in the truest sense, but it’s not like going to the grocery store either. You still have to work for the opportunity. Daughter knows too… she’s been out with me a few times before, so she has some perspective.

The original plan was to do a stalk hunt for a red deer hind (doe, female). Then since Daughter wanted to go with me, originally she was going to just be along for the ride, but since she’s been out with me before but had yet to bag anything well.. I asked if we could get her something. No problem. The plan was to sit in a stand for her, because for a first time that would work out a lot better (could sit, rest the rifle, easier to manage  the excitement and nerves, etc.). I was going to have her get some doe like a sika or a fallow or whatever trotted across. Then after a few hours in the stand, we’d stalk for a red deer hind.

But it didn’t work out that way.

What Happened

As soon as we got into the stand, critters came out. It was dark, 5:30 AM or so (sunrise at 7:00), but thanx to having my Sniper Hog Light on the gun we were able to watch things. Lots of deer, some rams too. But being so dark and with only red light, we couldn’t tell for sure what everything was. But we watched them and really enjoyed how much the new Leupold VX-R 3-9×50 scope worked (yes, my prior 6.8 rifle problems, I’m 99.99% convinced now it was due to a busted scope). That thing really is crisp and gathers light wonderfully.

6:30 and the sun was rising enough we could start to make things out without the light. Most of the deer had left, just a few rams and one sika doe. The rams were beautiful, but we had no interest because I’m to understand they don’t taste very good and we’re out for food. Daughter kept wanting a buck because there’s nothing to put on the wall with a doe. I was generally against it due to cost and that we’re here for meat… but, I also knew that for a first time, there’s nothing like a memento. So I did some math in my head and kinda figured that if an opportunity presented itself, I’d probably let her take it.

Well, that sika doe just kept hanging around… so I told Daughter to put the glass on it and get ready. We watched for maybe 10-15 minutes and couldn’t get a shot for some reason or other: ram walks in front, whitetail (too young to shoot) walks behind, doe walks behind a tree, you name it…. and just when the doe was close to a perfect shot, something would always happen to blow it. Oh, it was frustrating! I was afraid that she was going to run off or get run off by the rams, but while she’d trot away, she never left our field of view… just never gave us a shot.

But then….

Out walks a fallow buck.

Me: “If you can get a shot, you can take it.”

Daughter: *quiet squeal of joy*

But of course, the buck was completely obscured by other things, just like the sika doe had been.

After a couple of minutes of waiting… 2 more fallow bucks walk in from stage right, and the first buck walks over to meet them. They formed basically a “choo-choo train” line. I mean, 3 bucks in a row, all perfectly broadside. About 45 yards away.

Me: “Pick one. Go for it.”

Unfortunately, they kept walking towards stage right, and Daughter could only pivot so much more to her left. I made some kissing noises to try to get the bucks to stop. They did. GO GO GO!

The 6.8 roared.

I watched the middle buck rear up… I watched the whole thing, knew he was hit. He took off. I kept my eyes on him to see where he went, but he didn’t get far… ran into a large bush, kept running against it, relaxed, reared up, flipped onto his back (NO! I hoped no antler damage), then that was that. We waited for a bit tho… because oddly, after the gunfire many critters ran off but the other fallow bucks didn’t run very far at all; in fact, one of them was right next to his fallen friend and hung around him for maybe 10 minutes or so trying to figure out what was up with his buddy.

While he waited, that sika doe came back to the area.

“Daughter, hand me the rifle.”

I glassed her. She was perfectly broadside. I let it fly. Hey… opportunity was knocking, I answered the door. No, it wasn’t the red deer I wanted, but that’s fine… just leaves me something to try for on another day.

I wanted to wait a little bit longer, who knows what else might present itself… but Daughter was done. So we left the stand and went to see everything. Oh, little girl was happy.

We called the folks to come get us. Jake cleaned things up. And I’ll drop them off at the processor’s after a couple of days of soaking.

We’re going to get the antlers mounted, and since the coat was so pretty we’re going to get the hide soft-tanned so it could go on a bed or a couch or something. Might take up to 3 months before we see the hide (maybe a couple of weeks for the antlers), but didn’t cost much and should make a nice memento. And so, little girl… next time we’re getting does.

The fun part? Youngest is now starting to show interest in shooting and hunting. He asked when he gets to go. Going to have to enlist the help of their grandfather and uncle to take these kids into the field more… I can’t do it all.

Gun Geek Corner

Now for my fun.

The rifle is an AR-patterned rifle chambered in 6.8 SPC. The upper is from Wilson Combat (16″) and the lower is a Rock River Arms lower with their sweet 2-stage match trigger. The scope is a Leupold VX-R 3-9×50 on a Larue LT104 mount. The ammunition is Wilson Combat’s 6.8 SPC 95 grain Barnes TTSX.

This is not the first animal I’ve taken with this rifle, but it is with this particular setup.

I had my faith in the 6.8 shaken because numerous hunts and range times were showing odd behavior. Heck, the whole reason I took that water buffalo was because the 6.8 failed. But it turns out, it was the scope… or at least, I’m now 99.99% sure of it based on all that I’ve seen and experienced since then with that rifle and scope, including today’s performance. But after seeing today’s performance? Man… my opinion of a few things has really improved.

First, the scope is awesome. The picture is so crisp, so clear. The light gathering ability is wicked awesome. That night “ccoker”, of TacticalGunReview, and I did a bunch of scope comparisons? It was amazing how well the Leupold stood up against scopes that cost 3-4x as much. I will say, I’m still not sure I like the “Ballistic Fire-Dot” reticle in this context… but I think I need to have it out a few more times before I really pass judgment. I did find my eyes liked the dot being 1 setting above the lowest setting, else the dot was too bright and got in the way (in the early morning light). But all in all, I’m very happy with this scope.

Second, the 6.8 performance was awesome. The rifle worked well, did it’s job. Worked well for daughter, in terms of feel, trigger, etc.. A little heavy, but that’s part of why I wanted to use a stand, so she could have a rest.

But where things really impressed me? The ammo.

I’m a huge fan of Barnes bullets. The TSX’s are awesome and perform so well. But ever since they introduced the 95 grain TTSX’s specifically for the 6.8 well… I read a lot about the performance, and have been itching to try it for myself. The trouble has been that this bullet was only available as a component, so you had to handload. Well, I’ve not had time to get back to the reloading bench to work up a load. I was hoping a factory would produce something. Finally, Wilson Combat came out with a load that measured up to the performance handloaders were seeing. I bought a few boxes. Zeroed things in. And finally got to try.

They knocked the stuffing — literally — out of these 2 deer.

This is the left side, entrance. Daughter shot him in the shoulder. Massive trauma.

And here’s the right side, the exit wound.

Of course, skin peeled back. The actual external holes were small, which is typical of the Barnes (T)TSX bullets. But internally, massive damage. The vital organs? there wasn’t much left on the fallow. On the sika? as soon as the chest was cut open so much poured out… things were truly liquified. Yes I know, a little gross to some, but such is reality.

Comparing this to what the 85 grain TSX does? There’s no comparison… the level of damage done by the TTSX is astounding. Compared to what I’ve seen a .308 Barnes 168 grain TSX do? It’s well… different, but seems almost the same. That’s one thing about these bullets: smaller ones do a lot more damage than lead (core) bullets of the same weight/size/shape. I am just floored at how well this bullet from Barnes and ammo from Wilson performed.

Unless context dictates I need another gun (e.g. nilgai hunting? moose hunting? elk at 500+ yards?), this is my rifle, this is my ammo.

Fin

So, a great morning.

Time with my Daughter.

Got to get away from the computer for a while.

Got some meat in the freezer, and it’s things we’ve never tried before but are looking forward to.

Got to finally get this configuration of rifle/scope/ammo out into the field, and the results were great.

I wondered about the perception of a young girl shooting animals and what some people might think, especially after she puts antlers and hides on her bedroom wall. What are her friends going to think? Well… I’ll tell you what I see.

I see a girl who knows how to take care of herself.

I see a girl who knows how to provide for herself, and her family.

I see a girl who’s not afraid to get a little dirty, and even do things that some may find distasteful… because sometimes life is like that.

I see a girl that knows where her food comes from, and understands other realities about life.

But most of all? I see that boys better watch out… because it’s not just her Dad they have to worry about.