In 2012 we discussed booking a hunt in Iowa after hearing all the hype it was a no-brainer and I pulled the trigger. In 2013 I applied for a preference point so I was assured to draw a tag for the second shotgun season in unit 4 in 2014. Dec 13 2014 couldn't get here quick enough. Now mother nature did throw us a bit of a curve ball for opening weekend as the high temps were in the upper 50's. Not exactly text book for killing a big buck. Opening day was above expectations as I saw 30 deer and passed 12 bucks with the biggest being a solid 130's 9 point but he appeared to be 3.5 years old and was given a pass. Day 2 started slow with only a couple deer spotted on the morning hunt.The low temps of 50 and highs of 60 weren't helping I'm sure. The afternoon was panning out any better but as light started to fade a couple does made their way across the cattle pasture and sure enough they had a nice buck following them. I studied him as long as possible with the binoculars before reaching for my gun. I gave him another look with the scope and decided it would be silly to let him walk even though it was only the second day of the hunt. He walked the same trail as the does so I knew 140 yards was as close as he was going to get and I hoped the Savage 220 bolt action 20 gauge was up to the task at hand. I settled the cross hairs right behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger as he stopped for a second. He turned and trotted about 20 yards after the shot and stopped and looked around. I was beside myself thinking I had missed. I jacked in another shell and settled on him again. This time he was quartered away hard so I aimed behind the last rib and squeezed the trigger again. Same thing this time he ran off back where he had come from. I was in shock I knew I had missed both times but waited about 15 minutes and climbed down to take a look. I stumbled around where the shots were taken and couldn't find any sign of as hit at all. I started off in the direction he had ran and after about 75 yards I stumbled on him dead in the cow pasture. I was a bit baffled but extremely happy. Turns out after skinning him both shots had found the exact spot I had aimed. I hear that is common for no reaction when deer are shot with a 20 gauge. I guess I will take accuracy any day over knock down power. Turns out he was a pretty massive 12 pointer and grossed 151 2/8 making him my biggest to date ... I ended my Iowa season on Tuesday afternoon by shooting a doe. She was 50 yards and did flinch at the shot but also ran about 75 yards before expiring. As the week went on the temps dropped and the deer sightings increased with 25+ common. That being said Iowa was all that and more for me and I (actually we all for 2016) and I know I cant wait !! Here he is ..
Nice buck and nice write up as well. I have had the same thing happen when I used to hunt with my 20 gauge. Nice gun for accuracy but some times longer tracking jobs. Beefie
Congrats again! I bought a preference point last year, trying to figure out what I want to do in '15 or '16
Why the H*** did this get moved to the water cooler???? This is whitetail hunting.....hence why it was in the whitetail hunting sub forum. If we can't share gun harvests here this is stupid!
I had something like this happen to me 3 years ago. I shot a buck out past 150 yards in an open field. The buck jumped after the shot but other then that he didn't act hurt he just took off running for the timber then all of a sudden piled up right at the edge. When I went up to him I had a hard time finding the bullet hole. It was tucked in right behid the front leg right where I aimed.
