19 replies to this topic

[Desert Fox]

Leaving for Texas in the AM with a quick side trip to Oklahoma to hunt whitetail. I haven't hunted at all this year so I'm looking forward for this one. See you guys next week. DF

[BullsEye]

Good Luck! That sounds like a lot of fun. Make sure to post pictures when you can.

[Desert Fox]

Got one this afternoon. Story will come later. More hunting to come.My 300 Weatherby Accumark found it's mark.Barnes 180 grain TSX exit wound.

[Rob]

Desert Fox...don't know why you had to drive/fly so far.Your rifles can shoot that far with just a little more elevation from Palm Springs to Texas.Nice work. We all seem to expect this level of excellence from you and your superior Ballistic Science.

[BullsEye]

VERY NICE! Congrats looking forward to some more pictures and a story.

[Desert Fox]

Thanks Guys. This morning hunt started pretty bad for us. We hit a doe at 50MPH and shattered the front end of my friend Z71GMC. The bumper took the brunt of the impact and luckily no damaged to the radiator, A/C condenser and transmission cooler. We patched the bumper and the light together and continued on. Frank shot a small buck with his black widow and another buddy shot a doe. The wind came this afternoon so we call it a day. We will be heading to Dallas area in the morning and plan on hunting Oklahoma by the weekend.Here's more pictures of the hunt.

[Desert Fox]

Rob, You made me blushed buddy. Actually, I'm embarrass by my tracking ability. I thought I lost this deer. It was an easy shot, just a tad over 150 yards. I hit the deer solidly but the 180 grain TSX is way too much bullet for even a Texas whitetail... It just punched right through with very little blood trail. I decided to use this bullet since it's the only load I had worked out for this rifle. This blood came out of the deer after it was hit. There's no other blood trail to follow so I had a hard time finding it. The deer went into some thick wooded area.I found the deer just before it got really dark. I took me about an hour of looking since I had no idea which direction it went. Turned out the deer collapsed just about 50 yards from where it was standing when I took the shot.

[Rob]

DF:Is this the first instance of having "too much gun" for the Fox?Or is this a simple case of just too much bullet in the right gun?Great adventure photos...I could almost hear the cussing while the temp bumper fix was being made.Have fun guys...I'm off to that "three letter word" place....J...O...B

[spearodafish]

I miss whitetail hunting...nicely done, even on the road kill

[yotekiller85]

It seems so easy to kill those dumb whitetail.

[Bennie]

Nice pictures! Congrats on your hunt. We need to do a study on what bullets will work reliably out of a a really fast 30 cal at short and long distance. Hard to find one that will do it all????

[Desert Fox]

Bennie, Barnes TSX is fine. This was a case of too much bullet and too much gun for the intended quarry. My ballistic program estimated the impact energy at 3,200 ft/lb. at 150 yards. That's just way too much for such a thin skin animal like deer. A buddy of mine recovered a 168 grainer from a California mullie 2 years ago after traveling the whole length of the deer from the chest to the abdomen. The range was 200 yards. The result was dramatic according to him. I took picture of the recovered bullet and it perfectly mushroomed. The deer dropped in it's track.

[Desert Fox]

It seems so easy to kill those dumb whitetail.

I don't consider whitetail dumb. Actually it's quite the contrary.

[Desert Fox]

We left Southern California Monday to met up with our friend Ken in Amarillo Texas the following Tuesday. We weren't expecting any hunting on Tuesday since we are not sure what time we will be able to hook up with him. Ken will be driving north from his home in Pottsboro just north of Dallas, 340 miles away. We got to Amarillo at around 11 AM and stop by Garden Mountain to get our tag. While at Gander, Ken called to tell us that there was a change in plan. He told us to drive to Hedley Texas as soon as we get our tag and meet with him. He will be waiting for us at the intersection of highway 287 and 203. Hedley is about an hour drive east of Amarillo. I was not involved in the planning of this hunt... It was all Frank and Mike so I have no idea what was in store for us. It was my understanding that we're going to hunt on a ranch near Wellmington, Texas which is farther east/We left Gander Mountain at around 1:30PM and drove towards Hedley. Ken was waiting for us at the intersection as expected. After a brief exchange of greetings and pleasantries, Ken told us that we're going hunting since it's still early enough. "Going hunting" Mike quipped "We're not ready! we just got here". Ken told Mike not to worry, we're just going to check a couple of feeders and see what we can find in them. "Great" I muttered to my self. "my Accumark has not been zero'd". I was planning on zeroing the rifle as soon as I get to Texas. These new batch of reloads that I brought for this hunt, although a proven load, was never been test fired to verify it's zero. It was reloaded using new cases and different bullet lot. Last minute decision to take the Accumark for this hunt left me no time to make that trip to the range. In any case, It's too late for that now. We're going hunting.Ken told us to follow him. We drove north on Highway 203 and immediately, I noticed that the place was becoming familiar to me. We've been here before. We're in the same place we were last year. Ken turned into the now familiar dirt road and after a mile or so, stop in front of a barbwire gate. He got out of his truck and asked me if I remember the place. I told him "yes I did". He told me to grab my rifle and get to the blind immediately because in an hour the feeder will begin dispensing corn and the deer will start coming. I grabbed my backpack and everything on it and my Accumark and hurried towards the blind's location. I remember the blind was in the middle of the cotton field just on the other side of the tree line that separate the two food plots. When I got there however the blind was nowhere to be found. The cotton field was now replanted with wheat. The corn feeder was not in it's original location either. There I was standing in the middle of field, scratching my head in disbelief, looking for this blind. The cows where looking at me as if to ask if I need help. I was ready to just find my self a spot to glass when I spotted the blind across the opposite side of the other food plot. I was totally fixated to it's previous location from a year ago that I walked right by it without noticing it.I hurried up, almost sprinting across two food plot to get to the blind. I climbed and settled in. I pluck 3 cartridge from my ammo carrier and inserted all three into the Accumarks magazine. I closed the bolt but elected not to chamber a round. I pulled my bino from it's case and began glassing the surrounding area. I saw no signs of deer. In the main time, I start checking distances with my LRF and took pictures of the area including my self. It was freezing cold inside the blind and a bit windy too. The temperature was hovering 30 degrees F.I was just ready to call Frank to ask him if he seen anything where he's at, when I noticed a buck came out of the brush from the left of the corn feeder. I noticed immediately also that it's a shooter. I grabbed the Accumark and ever so slowly cycled the bolt to chamber a round. The deer noticed my movement immediately and stop. It then nervously turned around and start walking slowly back to where it came from, stopping a few seconds just to look in my direction. I slowly pointed the muzzle towards the deer and at the same time brought the LPS in line with my eye. I never took my eye off the deer. As soon as the cross hair and the deer shoulder came in line and into focus, I applied steady pressure to the trigger. The Accumark went off! I saw the deer jump and kick signifying a hit and then it disappeared from view. I know it was a solid hit so I didn't bother to wait. I grabbed my rifle and a flashlight, since it's about ready to get dark, and went after the deer. I got to the spot where the deer was standing when I took the shot and found 2 blood spot and nothing else. It took me an hour to find the deer due to the absence of blood trail and also it was really getting dark. It traveled only less than 50 yards from where it was hit. The exit wound on the deer was so small, about the size of a quarter, that it did not leave any blood trail at all. By then it got really dark. The first quarter moon barely gave enough light so I decided to drag the deer closer to the feeder to wait for my friends. I found out that Mike shot a buck also.Here's the picture of Mikes buck at the butcher shopWe stop at the only restaurant in town and have dinner and to celebrate a successful hunt..

[BullsEye]

WOW. No time to unpack. lol. Just enough time to bag a buck. Congrats again.

[Desert Fox]

BullsEye, there's a side note to the story. Frank and I went to dropped our deer to the meat locker and proceeded to the only bank in town to withdraw cash from an ATM. Frank forgot his PIN number so he called his wife to get it. It took awhile for his wife to respond so we were just there, at the parking lot minding our own business, munching on hot Tamales when an older gentleman approached us and asked me to roll down my window. He introduced himself as sherif Joe. He asked me what we were doing. I told him that we're going to get cash at the ATM but my buddy forgot his PIN number so we're waiting for his wife's call. The sherif, in his Texas drawl told us that we were making the folks at the bank very nervous. I thought it was hilarious. Wellington Texas has a population of 2100. They're mostly white. I haven't seen an Asian nor a Hispanic person while we're there. So me and Frank, in a beat-up GMC with a California plates, stand up like a sore thumb LOL. Anyway, sherif Joe asked for our drivers license and run it though just to make sure we're harmless and apologize for inconveniencing us. That's when I noticed also that two of sherif Joe's possey had us box in in the parking lot. Sherif Joe probably thought there's going to be a bank heist so he came prepared.

[ROOSTERSGT]

Now that's my kind of town! They have cops and citizens who care enough to call and respond. Love it.

[BullsEye]

I had a similar encounter while in Alameda. I was staying with a buddy of mine but I was the only white guy in town we got some strange looks. No sheriffs but it was the rougher side of town. So enough time to bag some bucks and get into a little trouble. Glad sheriff Joe didn't bug you guys to bad. lol.

[Desert Fox]

Just got my antler last week.

[Desert Fox]

The cartridge is the 300 Weatherby loaded with 180 grain Barnes TSX, 84.5 grain IMR 7828.The rifle is Weatherby Accumark.Scope is Leupold LPSThe hunt was in the Texas Panhandle