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The 7 point buck taken October 5, 1997. I got to the stand at 6:30am, and was greeted by a porcupine not ten minutes later. I was about to replace my broadhead with a small game arrow when five does came up to the small pile of carrots I was using as bait. They stayed in the area for about 20 minutes, when a forkhorn came in and ran them off the pile. I decided to wait and not take this small buck, and was rewarded with this deer not five minutes later. He came down the same path the forkhorn had come, and when he put his head down to check the carrots I let one fly. It was a high double lung shot, he ran 150 yards before falling.

Another view of the 7 point buck taken October 5, 1997. The perspective in this picture makes him look huge, doesn't it. This deer won 2nd place in the local bow contest. I saw others that year, both dead and on the hoof, that dwarfed the first place buck. I suppose that's part of the magic of this endeavor.

140 lb doe, Nov 1992. Taken at 150 yards with a 150 grn Nosler Ballistic Tip handload. Sunny, mild, 5 pm. Hit in spine, dropped on the spot.

My best deer yet. 8 pt, 160 lb, taken Nov 21, 1994. 170 yard shot, 150 grn Nosler Ballistic Tip over a mild dose of Accurate 3100. This is a good load, very accurate (.75"), yet kind of mellow for a 7 Mag at 2950 fps. Sunny, warm (50F), 5:20 pm. Hit in lungs/liver, the deer went 40 yards.

I killed this deer not because he was a trophy, but because he had a terribly non-symetrical rack (left side a twisted 12", 3 points, right side a stunted 5" fork). He was servicing a doe before dawn, had to wait for shooting light to take him. Shot at 100 yards, 150 grn Nosler Ballistic Tip handload. Hit in the shoulder, he went about 60 yards. The damage done to the shoulder, and the fact that there was no bullet penetration to the lungs, make me believe that at the velocity this load travels (3000 fps)may be too much at 50-150 yards. Load development indicates a 160 grn Partition will go 3000 fps with a sufficient quantity of H1000 as the propellant.

DiverDucks and I examine the two bucks taken at Pine Ridge Prairie the during the 1995 season. New rules at the Prairie require the taking of large six point or better bucks, or does. This is an attempt to improve the quality of bucks at the Prairie. I'm convinced all Michigan deer hunters need to adopt a similar policy, if we want the herd to be better balanced between bucks and does. I've seen three monsters while hunting that land, haven't been able to take them. Two of them were in the hardwoods, one, a 10 point with at least a 20" spread, I had drawn fully on, but he never got closer than an obstructed 35 yards. Not wanting to wound such an animal, I didn't shoot, and DiverDucks had him 40 yards from his rifle blind two days later, but his rifle was leaning against the wall of the blind, and Muy Grande was gone before he got him in his sights.

This large doe was taken at 50 yards with my M1 Garand and a Federal Gold Match 168 grn load. Very accurate, but not the best deer bullet. This time it worked, but I'll get a 165 grn Nosler Partition load built up with IMR 4064 powder to simulate the Federal load but get a better hunting bullet working.

Yes, the wife hunts. Mrs. Shorthair with her first bow buck, a large six point. He had hung out around the Compound for a couple of months, we had seen him 5 times before. I was too sick to hunt that day, so she went out, by herself, and shot and recovered this buck while I slept. I got to field dress it, of course.

Two of the permanent bow stands set up in the hardwood stand on the Prairie. The old beech tree on the left has been used as a stand before, the carpet was hanging there when we bought the place. The ladder stand is about 60 yards to the northwest. This woodlot drops beechnuts every other year, which of course draws the deer in herds, not to mention the turkeys.

Send mail to the Shorthair Compound at:

shrthair@sprynet.com

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