How I spent my summer levergun safari part 2

[rjohns94]

Friday was fast coming to a close after the excitement of the animals that other levergunners and guests had successfully put down. There were foxes, rams, bison all in the meat cooler. We loaded my bison on to the trailer after 86er and I had field cleaned my trophy. Richard came by to say that the Neelgai we had talked about but not seen all day was spotted on the other side of the ranch. There are about 15,000 Neelgai in Texas, one beautiful golden female was on this ranch. They are elusive beautiful animals, native to India, member of the antelope family and I quickly got my Wild West Guns Co-Pilot in .457 mag and we rushed to the opposite side of the ranch to beat the fading light. I had heard all day how tough these animals are and how hard they are to put down, often requiring many shots and lots of tracking. I was trying to gather my thoughts, to calm down after the rush of the success on the bison and to picture in my mind the anatomy structure of this incredibly beautiful animal. My first glimpse of this golden Neelgai was at 70 yards and the golden hue of the raised neck hair, the black and white of the ear bands and leg bands all popped against the fading light. I put the reticle on the behind the front leg chest area and readied myself for the slow trigger pull. Before two ounces of pressure were put on the trigger, I changed the sight picture, going for a high shoulder/spine shot. The roar of the slick WWG take down levergun pierced the night air. The 350grain Grizzly bullet at 2200fps passed through spine of the target and she fell in her tracks, spine broken and both lungs pierced. The bullet moving off into the night to fall harmless well beyond the Neelgai. Again I offered her some grass, my prayers of thanks to my God and the four directions of wind. This beautiful animal will grace my trophy room floor as flat rug, much like a Zebra and as I look upon her in the future, I will remember with humbleness, the blessings of this night. She will grace my home where ever it may be, and my table. What an amazing night of beautiful animals. Here is a picture of her:

[Tycer]

Beautiful!

[RKrodle]

That is a very beautiful animal. There is no doubt the amount of preparation that rjohns94 puts into his hunts. He knows the anatomy of the animal and is very capable with his choose of rifles. And, a great guy to be around. I enjoyed hunting with you.

[dr walker]

Rjohns94 that is great, beautiful animal. Thanks for sharing a memory and photos.

[Griff]

Again, congrats on your success. Preparation pays off. Great looking animal.

[piller]

Very nice!

[Ysabel Kid]

Preparation pays off.

+1 - Big Time! Mike is now our poster-boy for preparation! Awesome shot!!!

[alnitak]

This Nilgai was truly magnificient! Her cape was so beautiful ... the richness and depth of color was exquisite. His shot was amazing in the fading light of day from 70 yards. As Richard, the owner of the ranch said, "In 24 years, I've only seen that animal drop like that twice." He also commented any number of times how tough an animal the Nilgai is. He was almost speechless with disbelief when she dropped. What an absolutely perfect shot! Here are some more pics that may show the colors a bit more:

[RonEgg]

Nice stories, Mike, great shot! How did you like the #1 German post scope? You got the first kill with that rifle, congratulations.

Ron

[rjohns94]

Ron, The rifle performed flawlessly and was used on the Longhorn also. I am still getting used to the post but as you can see, I have the rifle shooting exactly where I want it and it will be on many hunts in the future. Thanks again for making it work for me.

mike