It was a good morning

I had a good morning.

How about you?

Details, for those curious.

Taken in Lee County, Texas, at the KR Training ranch, on Wednesday December 23, 2015, around 7:05 AM.

It was overcast, so despite first light it was still somewhat dark. Around 7:00 or so it was starting to just get light enough to be able to see well-enough, so I picked up the binoculars and started looking around. Looked south, nothing. Looked north… huh? Whoa! There’s already deer; they usually don’t come out this early. Just sitting maybe 125-150 yards away, eating. Very casual, very relaxed.

Wait. Are those antlers? Yup.

Lee County has the antler restrictions (must have at least 13″ inside spread). Hrm. Whoa… yeah, he looks to have the spread. Come on… lift your head a few more times so I can verify.

Yup.

Bye-bye.

Put 95 grains of Barnes TTSX squarely through the heart. He jumped but didn’t run. Quick, clean, ethical. Can’t ask for more.

Rifle is my usual: “franken-AR” with a Wilson Combat 6.8 SPC upper and a RRA lower (and their 2-stage match trigger), Leupold VX-R 3-9×50 with a LaRue mount, various little bolt-ons (e.g. Magpul CTR, ERGO grip, etc.), shooting Wilson Combat’s 6.8 SPC 95 grain Barnes TTSX loads. An excellent performer, once again.

He’s no monster buck, but it was a good buck – especially for Lee County. Got a decent yield of meat. Looking at his antlers and talking with Karl about it (Karl came out to the ranch today on unrelated business), it was a good harvest because while he doesn’t appear to have horrible genetics, he doesn’t seem to have ideal ones. So hopefully this will help in breeding selection.

Me? I’m giddy. I don’t get to shoot bucks all that often, and Karl was kind enough to let me shoot one this year (thank you again, Karl!). The weather was gorgeous (warm for this time of year: in the mid-60’s this morning). I’m happy I was able to get out, get away from the computer, enjoy nature for a while, and just clear my head a bit. In a way tho, I feel a little gypped! I was only in the blind (and the field, this entire season) a grand total of maybe 65-70 minutes – usually it’s hours, days. I was kinda looking forward to a bunch of time to just sit and clear my head, but hey… I can clear my head another day – while eating a venison burger. :-)  I actually debated last night if I should go out or not because so many things, but I knew if I didn’t I’d regret it.

No regrets. :-)