The last time I had my rifle in the field was 2003 (I
missed 2004 and 2005 thanks to OIF-3), but it was a great year to hunt.
Starting in 2002 I switched to the Cox Ranch lease near Sanderson TX, and in
2003 there had been plenty of food and water so horn production was excellent.
In fact, many of the hunters who have been on the lease for as long as 20 years
couldn't remember a time where consistently excellent horns were the norm rather
than the exception. In addition to the horns, there was a pretty decent
population as well, so it was an all around great hunt.
There's a high ridge line that I had gone to the year before which is seldom
traveled due to the difficulty in ascending (and corresponding difficulty in
getting anything you shoot back down), but it was where the big bucks could be
found so I decided to try it out. On the way in, however, Dad spotted a
beautiful buck down low and he spooked around the bend near where we were
planning on parking for the trip up. I thought maybe I'd see him later and
figured there'd be no way he'd still be in the low area when we got around the
bend. I was wrong.
I picked him up about 40 feet up from the base on the hill and frozen watching
us with a beautiful broadside shot. I bailed out of the truck with my pack
and plopped down for a prone rest while Dad glassed him and gave me a range of
167 yards. I was zeroed for 200, so I put the chevron where I wanted it
and sent one 168gr Hornady AMAX downrange. It struck him exactly where I
wanted it to (it's hard to miss with this rifle), but unlike times before the
animal broke and ran. That had NEVER happened to me before, so I hesitated
assuming that the rifle was off because I knew the shot had been a good one.
I was following the deer in the reticle considering what to do next when Dad
called the hit, and about that time the animal went down about 40-45 yards from
where he'd been shot. He started thrashing around pretty good, but due to
the vegetation I couldn't get another shot to finish him off quickly and he
expired perhaps a minute later.
Post mortem inspection showed a perfect shot, but once again the bullet passed
through and through with minimal apparent damage (entry / exit the same).
Inside, the heart and lungs were pretty much destroyed so my guess is that the
animal was fully oxigenated and working off of adrenaline since we has scared
him up just before the shot. Be that as it may, I think I'm pretty much
done with ballistic tips from here on out because they just don't seem to
perform like the SP rounds do.
At any rate, here's a picture of the last animal taken with the Dragunov.
I may use it again a few years down the road, but I have 2-3 other military
style sniper guns that I want to use first. This particular rifle now
wears synthetic fore grips, but it has yet to be fired again.....