This has truly been a year to be Thankful for.

I got onto my first lease.

I got my first Whitetail (I'm from CA where it was mule deer only)

And I took him using my first semi-auto hunting rifle, a new Remington R25 in .308 I used Federal Vital-Shoks with the 165gr Sierra Gameking btsp's.

I got onto the lease late in the game, on October 20th. My section hadn't been hunted in a while and I had no idea what to expect when I filled the feeders and set the game cam. The dirt around the feeders indicated that there had been no activity in that area. Not a discernible hoof print to be found.

I checked the camera 3 days later and had over 200 pics. I doubled the interval between shots and have had both deer and hogs come to the feeder every single night. No kidding there.

After reviewing a week's worth of pics, I saw what I would consider a cull buck coming to the feeder regularly. I decided if the opportunity presented itself, I would take him out of the gene pool. His brow tines where small and out of proportion to each other and his G3's were stunted and out at the end of his main beams. His rack was much taller than it was wide.

Here is a narative of my Veterans Day hunt.

Veterans Day morning this guy came from behind my blind and passed in front of me about 12 feet away. Looked right at me, then tried to catch a scent, but I was down wind.

He walked off heading away from the feeder that had just gone off. About 10 minutes later, a little after 7, I see him coming back to the feeder. He had almost completely circled it before coming in.

He must have had his doubts as he kept looking directly at me in the blind. I had full camo on and a camo face net. I guess having the blind facing the rising sun is wrong on a couple of levels.

I eased the rifle up and clicked the safety off. Might as well have lit an M80 while I was at it. That buck heard it and took off. He was in mid-ar, quartering towards me, when I shot him. Entrance wound is right behind the left shoulder. Exit is farther back on right side (in photo) as he was quartering towards me. Not my favorite shot.

Got him in both lungs, but this little sucker made it about 250 yards. Took me an hour to find him as the blood trail at times either was non-existant or a full blown crime scene. Took me another 45 minutes to hump him out of the dense brush & prickly pear where I finally found him.

After field dressing, he weighed in at 101Lbs at the processors. Next time I'll just put that round through both shoulders. No more exploring the terrain for me.

Welcome to Texas hunting. Congrats on your buck.

Good Job man

Thx! I've been here for 2 1/2 years and after getting rained out 4 different times on hunts I was invited too, I decided I needed my own lease.

The Lord works in wonderous ways some times. The gate to my lease is 20 minutes from my home. I pass my processor going and coming. The guy I found on Craigslist to do the mounts lives on the same road my lease is on. I am truly blessed, even if my friends make fun of our little Hill Country deer!!!!

That's not a bad deer. Congrats on your first whitetail. 165 grain is a little heavy for our Texas deer. You might want to try a lighter bullet and maybe get a little better expansion.

Hey Chris!
I have killed quite a few deer with the 165g BTSP out of my handloads.. it wacks em good
shoot with confidence...

now, I will say that you certainly don't need that much bullet having killed a lot with generic 80g SPS out of 243s and 64g SPs out of 223s and 22-250s

but, the 165 in my gun does 1" groups at 300 yards all day long.. so, I will take that!

Howdy Charles. Or rather Mr. BW Pro Team Shooter!!! Very nice......

That particular load is not what I would normally have used. I bought the R25 to be my new pig killer. But I was impressed with the accuracy I got out of it at the range when I initially sighted it in.

I just completed a deal on here to trade my Ruger M77 MKII stainless/laminated in .308 for a brand new Ruger M77 MKII in .243 That will that be my new deer caliber since I am retiring grandpa's old Model 70 in .270 Plus if I can find some of the bullets Burt is so fond of, I may have my wife try whacking some hogs with it.

When are you headed out to Columbus? Oh, the wife said no hog lights before Christmas. Bah Humbug!!

Congratulations, great story.

congrats. welocome to texas and the texas hunting forum.

Thank you.

My wife and I felt our kind were a dying breed back there. We're both more conservative than many back there are now and we've always been outdoors people. We still have a 5 acre horse ranch back there (Yes, I know it's not a real ranch ), and will until the market comes around, but I don't see myself ever going back to live.

We love the people here & the state offers so many great things to do for people that love the wilderness. We feel right at home.

Hey man congrats on your 3 first...

I had 3 first once but it involved ALLOT of booze, a stripper, her girlfriend!!!

I wouldn't mind seeing that thread...with pics..

Congrats!! Being from CA you might want to explore the terrian a little more and thats not a bad reason to do so. Welcome to TX

Don't get me wrong. I'll know every little nook and cranny after deer season. I love it out there. It was just where he decided to give up the ghost. That was a long drag to a spot I could recover him at. Serves me right for taking a marginal shot when I know better. I have to remind myself sometimes to use the big muscle in between my ears.

I really liked heading out there before the time change. I could get home from work with enough time to put in 2 to 3 hours of work before sundown. I hate daylight savings time.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought californian's all drove Prius'. Yours looks more like an F250...which a mosquito killing, tree huggers nightmare!

I'm just teasin ya...Welcome, congrats on your firsts!

nice shooting, that gun is sweet

I picked up my euro mount on Sunday after dropping him off Friday evening. It was actually ready Saturday. Don't know what method he uses, but it's as white as white can be and CLEAN!
This guy was quick, did a hell of a job and the best part is he lives on the same road as my lease. It was $40 without lower jaw and $60 if it was still attached.

I'm going to thank the good Lord for lining up all my ducks for me......

Now to get to work on a buck worthy of a shoulder mount....

LOL Robert that's hilarious. I guess you gotta look the part if you're gonna hunt in the south. HAHA

Welcome to Texas and the forum, congrats on your accomplishments

Congrats on the deer and thanks for coming to texas....

great story, thanks for sharing

Congrats on all 3.
SWEET rifle.

Congrats on your success

Great story I enjoyed it and crongatulations. Welcome to the greatest state in the union.

Congrats on the firsts, welcome to San Antonio. Thats a good deal for a nice Euro, would you mind passing along your taxi's info along with a pic of his latest work.