TasunkaWitko’s 2001 Deer Season

11 november 2001

shot a large mule deer doe from a distance of between 65 and 80 yards. location was approximately one mile east of buffalo, montana. attending were ronald, melissa, josef, micheal and william fischer. also of note, melissa was approximately 2 months pregnant at the time.

rifle used was a herter's model j9 in .308 caliber manufactured in yugoslavia circa 1968. scope was a sightron series 1 3x9x40 manufactured in 2001. ammunition used was 165-grain sierra game king boat-tailed soft point sitting on a federal premium factory load.

doe was the largest of a group of five and was standing broadside at time of first shot. first shot was high above the shoulder, and broke the backbone just past the base of the neck. second shot was point blank to the back of the head.

i started typing out the whole story, got almost done and the computer froze up or something, so i lost it. what follows is the reader's digest short version.

went out at 0630 this morning, hunted everywhere all day, but only saw 3 and they were on land that i could not hunt on. about 1330 i said the hell with it and decided to head home, maybe to go out tomorrow. as i was driving down the dirt road, almost to the highway, 5 muley does popped up on BLM land about 75 yards from me, walking, not running. remembering the laws of montana, i pulled into a turnout OFF the road to a gate, opened the door, got out and steadied myself, and fired, aiming exactly at the kill zone of the biggest doe.
yeah, i did use the pickup to steady myself, but i figured it is better to do that in order to maximise your chance of a good kill. i think in montana, there are no laws against this, as long as you are off the roads.

she dropped like a rock, but unfortunately was not dead. i had hit right behind the shoulder blade, but it was up high and snapped her spine. luckily i was close, so i was able to walk right and finished her off.....i would rather have missed than not killed her cleanly. my wife said at least i hit her there instead of blowing a leg off or in the guts or in the hams, but it doesn't change the fact that it was a 2-shot kill!

i had aimed perfectly, but as i drove home i thought hard about what had gone wrong. after going over everything, i think that there is a problem with the range i am shooting at. the 100-yard mark is slightly downhill from the bench (in fact, all the marks are slightly downhill from the bench, now that i think about it), and i think that it is causing me to shoot low there, so that i end up shooting high everywhere else. i ahd it set about 2 inches hgh at a hundred yards, but with the downhill angle i think i was actually shooting quite a bit higher. add this to the very close range (she couldn't have been past 70 yards away) and i think i came close to the bullet going over her back, and i wish it would have. she did die only a minute after i shot her, and my wife, a nurse, says she didn't feel anything below the injury, but i still think it could have been a lot better.

either way, i am going to be looking for a place to sight in where it is level at least out to a hundred yards!

looking on the positive side, she is a HUGE FAT doe and i am glad i got her. my kids had a great day out of it and learned a lot of important do's and don't's. and we have a heck of a lot of meat on the way to the freezer. i have one B tag filled and will fill the A tag in chinook next week, and i just might have a chance to go out there again to district 418 and get another doe.

the funny thing is that i was worried about getting out there later than THE CRACK OF DAWN and all year long i ahve been worried about boattail bullets which will shoot flatter faster farther and how to sight in for a 350-yard shot if i ahve to take oneand this and that, and just like every year it comes down to a deer just trotting along dang near right in front of me as i have just decided to give up for the day.......
go figure!

PS - this is the first time in my life i had been out hunting and gotten a deer without my father right there to lend advice and help out. seems every year for some reason (almost sundown, in a hhurry, starting to snow, getting dark and cold, etc) he always ended up dressing the deer too while i didn't do much more than hold the legs and roll them over! well it was an experience but i did it and did it almost right...close enough that there is no difference, but i think from now on i won't be splitting the pelvis...that was a mess and a half......

rick - looking back on it 6 years later, i am pretty sure i either flinched or jerked the shot when i took that one. i've had some time to play it over in my mind since then, and am pretty sure.

i remember that season well because it was some very beautiful country; the first time i had ever done any hunting away from areas i had known all my life.