What was your most memorable shot of the 2001 season.

[willametteriveroutlaw]

I was wondering while were in the down time, what was your best shot (or worst) or most memorable of the season. Deer season was a little rough for me this season, I missed a hundred yard broadside shot on a doe with my wilamatte tag, A 300+ on a blacktail buck that could have fit a baby grand piano in its rack. But I did manage to connect on respectable 3 point at 60 yds. My most memorable shot was on a widgeon at tillmook bay. We had about 80 or so working when my partner called out take em!! I hit my safety and caught the trigger on the way up. My gun barked, My ribs hurt, and a drake widgeon dropped. I also got my first triple on quail this year. (all flying) Anyone else got any interesting stories?

[lightline]

The shot that I will remember is the one on a 270 to 290 class bull at 30 yards. My arrow hit a twig.My volcabulary was severly limited for quite some time.

[Joe]

455 yard shot (range finder afterwards) at a bighorn sheep right as he stepped over the ridge. My two buddies who were watching through binoculars said "YOU MISSED". I said I dont think so! He ran about 100'.... Dead Ram!

[lightline]

Joe:Great job, How big was the ram and what unit?

[Joe]

Well actually it would have been great if I hit him the first shot when he was 253 yards away. :blush:
We laid in the rocks over 3 hours waiting for a good shot but every time he stood up and we got the vidio camera on he would lay back down. When I finally shot he stepped down off a rock just as I touched off and I shot over him (figured that out from the vidio later). My partners did a good job off hiding their disgust at that point.

I intended to keep my shots under 300 yards but since I was unsure if I hit him the first shot I had to try again once he stopped running. As I am primarily a Bowhunter I really wanted to stalk closer in the first place but my partners talked me out of it.

I was hunting the East Beattys Butte #2 hunt.

The ram was 8 years old and unbroomed (which is what I wanted) but he only scored 147 5/8 due to having only 12 3/4" bases. That is fairly common in that area. We knew there were higher scoring rams around but my main goal was to kill a mature (unbroomed) ram and not worry to much about the numbers.

I sure hope that is not my last sheep hunt! It was much more fun than I could imagine. BTW they taste good to. :grin:

[ 03-03-2002, 10:01 PM: Message edited by: Joe ]

[Snake9t9]

Well, My most memorable shot of the '01 hunting season wasn't one I took. It was a shot my 12 year old daughter took while duck hunting, just her and I, at Ridgefield NWR.
It was one of those clear and sunny days. Not much flying, but a good time none the less. This was my daughter's, Natashia, second duck season and she had yet to knock down a bird. Mainly because she has been real timid to just throw the gun to shoulder and shoot. Up to this point ,birds would come in and the shooting would start but she would just kinda stand back and watch, then tell me after the fact that "things just happen too fast for her to react". I figued that it would all come together for her in good time and she would get the hang of it.
Boy did she ever! About mid day I was getting kinda "antsy" due to lack of action, But figued if we waited out the birds long enough I could get at least a couple of birds to decoy.
Low and behold just about the time I was ready to hang it up, a lone wigeon drake decoyed in and flared over the decoys. I excitedly told Natashia, "Take em'!" and she just couldn't get the safety off and the gun to shoulder fast enough. As the drake started to climb up away from the decoys I squeesed the trigger twice before he folded. Once again she was kinda disappointed that she had missed the chance to take her first bird.
About the time I was climbing back into the pit blind, I caught a glimps of motion out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look and saw a hen spoony about to do a high speed fly-by of the decoys. Even if I had wanted to take a shot I could not have due to the position I was in and the fact that my gun was now empty.
still focused on the incoming hen I called for Natashia to take a shot! I didn't expect her to get a shot off, let alone actually kill that duck... It was doing mach 10, low on the water, right to left across the front of the blind. A dificult shot even for a seasoned duckhunting vet.
But I'll be damned if she didn't throw the gun to shoulder, sweep through that bird and fold it up like a peice of waded newsprint! A proud moment for dad and daughter to share. And wouldn't you know...the first question after getting in the truck that day was "Dad...when can we go again?" :tongue: :grin: :tongue:

[BlueWater]

Oh the Pain!
I Walked up on a big bull at 30 yards pulled up, put the cross hairs on his shoulder and fired. I am thinking at the time yippy skippy dead bull.
Butt.....after giving him the standard 20 min to "go down" I followed his tracks found blood about 40 yards from where I shot him. Then nothing nota and zip. I and two others from my party tracked him for two days. He was gone and never to be seen again. :depressed:
I know I hit him because I saw him hunch up after I shot. This is the first bull I have lost after a shot. I hope it never happens again. It realy bothered me in my gut for a long time (and still does) that I sent an elk into the winter as a cripple.

BlueWater.

[Tacklebuster]

The trip I will never forget was elk hunting with my buddy last season. We were hunting the Trask unit Spike only hunt that we hunt every year. We had done some scouting and watched and tracked the movements for some time. We had rehearsed a game plan on a scenerio that would work if it happened during season.

The scenerio happened and we went to work. The elk went down a steep thick draw and I was fast on their butt pushing. My buddy was supposed to be waiting at the end of the draw with rifle in hand. I pushed the elk for half an hour getting tore up by thorns and Devil's thorn. I hear the elk hit the end of the draw and hoofs hit gravel road.

I think to myself hum... this is pretty strange, by buddy was supposed to be sitting at the end of the draw but now I hear feet hit gravel road. Maybe there were no spikes in the heard and he let the others pass. Then I hear a loud report and think BINGO, spike down. I wait until the smoke clears and step out of the brush.

There was nobody on the landing so I thought the animal ran out to the road. When I stepped out unto the road, here lies a nice spike elk but with one thing missing, my buddy! Instead I found a blue Chevy pick up with 2 drunk dudes high whooping it up. I scared the **** out of them when they saw a bloody, tired, mad dude in camo step out of the brush.

To make a long, sad story short..... My buddy was not in the place he was supposed to be. He was wondering around somewhere else while I pushed the herd of elk out unto a road where 2 lucky dudes were driving thru drinking beer Next year I'm the shooter [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]

[ 02-28-2002, 07:58 AM: Message edited by: Tacklebuster ]

[Big Smizz]

I ended a long drought without a deer this year. We were hunting the Desolaiton Unit in NE Oregon. In the late afternoon I looked up on a bluff and watched a doe and a fawn prance around for about 20 minutes. I waited knowing there could be someting else with them. There was. A nice little forkie stuck his head up and I could only see him from the middle of his neck up, facing me. I squeezed off at about 75 yards. One shot right through the juglar and he never moved again. I had venison for dinner last night.

[horseskull]

30 yard complete pass through on my first archery 5 pt bull elk.
In 2000 it was the ram that I killed after 10 days of hunting.

[Dogfish]

10 yards shot on my elk (shotgun slug), 26 yard shot on my deer(muzzle loader), my first double ever on geese last weekend that ended with my dog's most difficult retrieve ever, twice across a BIG ditch, didn't see birds fall, I stayed on my side. All memorable.