I took my SA TSP longslide 10 mm out for its first hunt last night. It's topped with a factory installed Trijicon MSR and co-witnessed iron sights. I'm shooting a 200 gr TCFP bullet from Missouri bullets. I have a local rancher that lets me hunt deer in order to preserve some of his hay crop. I got into position about 1/2 mile from a swamp around 4 PM. The place is thick with willows that grow in bunches 10'-15' high. The cattle graze in there, but you can't hunt in there because it's too noisy, and visibility is 20 yards at best. So I picked a spot on a spit of brush that was on the edge of a hay field, and gave me some visibility. A few minutes before 6 PM, I noticed a deer slowly walking towards me. He stopped about 25 yards from me and started raking a sapling. I counted 3 points on a side, and figuring he had brow tines, he was an 8-pointer!!!!! But I couldn't shoot due to the heavy growth. So I waited about 5 minutes while he cleaned his antlers for me. He then resumed walking towards me, and got to the edge of the clearing I was sitting next to, and stopped. He took a look at me, and raised his tail. He stood there a few minutes, then slowly walked into the clearing. He stopped about 15 yards from me, broadside. Nothing between us but air. Oh, did I mention that the rancher wants me to only shoot does? I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, because I COULDA shot him quite easily, I WOULDA shot him, but I SHAN'T. Disappointing, but still quite the experience.
