I hunted all week very hard trying to get on a monster buck that I had the misfortune of snapping a cap at during muzzle loader season.
I spotted him Wednesday evening but could not get a good shot at him so I let him pass.
I woke up on Thursday sick, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and sore throat.
No way I could hunt with all the noise I was making so I stayed in camp trying every remedy I could to get better. Saturday I was not much better but it was a if it's brown it's down day so I hunted the morning on the pipe line right of way. You can see a long ways on the right of way and with all the racket I was making I needed some distance between me and the deer. A buddy who had already limited out sat with me in the pickup with the heater running and glassed the right of way in both directions all morning. Finally at 9:30 we spotted a large at deer which we thought at first must be a buck but it turned out to be one huge doe 123 lbs field dressed. We slipped out of the truck and down the slope to a ranged 387 yards where we ran out of cover. The wind was real light and in our faces I backed up against a sapling pine tree and adjusted my shooting sticks settled the rifle in and turned up the scope to max and set the AO. My buddy checked the yardage again and said "shoot her in the head don't waste any meat".
I looked over at him trying not laugh which would have started a coughing fit, and whispered "yeah right" He said "you can do it just take the shot"
I pulled out my dope sheet and adjusted the scope, settled into the stock put the crosshairs in the middle of her noggin and touched off the shot. The doe just dropped like a limp dish rag the impact was about an inch forward of my aim point ,but was still very effective.
I can't recall ever making a shot with that much pressure on me, my buddy was jumping up and down slapping me on back and whoopin it up like kid. In camp that evening he told the story many times sometimes with great embellishments I would have helped but my throat was raw and my voice very raspy
My friends and I toasted my doe and the shot, them with good whiskey and me with my Nyquil
Pat
