Shara Bastian
Shara Bastian
I have hunted for many years. I grew up in a family where hunting provided us with food for the coming year. Antler size was not a big deal—we were just trying to get food for the table.
When I married a self-proclaimed “huntaholic,” he wanted me to be a little more conservative with the deer I shot. He and I have taken some great deer over the years, but nothing over the 30-inch mark.
In 2008, I put in for a limited-entry tag here in Utah. My husband said he knew I would draw, because I have all the luck. Well, I did draw a tag. Excited about receiving the successful letter in the mail, we began to prepare for my hunt.
I started shooting his .300 WSM loaded with 180-grain Triple-Shock boattails. This load gave great accuracy, and I was comfortable shooting it out to 300 yards. We only had three days to hunt, so the pressure was on. The first day was spent glassing and searching for big bucks, but nothing we saw got us really excited. Day two started out the same, with lots of little bucks and a few decent bucks, but no monsters. In late afternoon we came upon this buck that had two does with him. My husband and his friend Cade Tebbs tried to get me set up on the buck, while trying to not freak me out about how big he was. To our disappointment, I missed a shot at 250 yards, and the deer went over the hill.
The next morning began our last day of the hunt. Luckily, we spotted that buck again at first light. After a two-hour stalk, we were 150 yards from the deer, watching him feed across a hillside. I fired two shots, and the buck went down.
I had no idea how big the deer was until we came up on him. Duke and Cade were more excited than I was. He was a massive 3×4 with a 31-1/2-inch spread. More importantly, he was bigger than anything my husband has taken!
I will never forget the ups and downs of this hunt, and the great trophy buck I took with your Triple-Shock bullets. Duke uses them for all his hunting loads. As a family, we have had great success with all the Barnes products we use. Thanks again for your part in getting my buck of a lifetime.
—Shara Bastian
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