Barnes Bullets

Sue Knox

Huntress Spotlight
Sue Knox

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, I began tagging along hunting with my dad when I was two years old. As I grew, I found that I loved both the outdoors and the hunting that abounds in my home state. I was lucky enough to meet and marry an avid hunter, who continued to teach me the fine points for success. I began going out west and doing tourist things while my husband Clarence hunted with friends. Four years ago he took me on my first big game hunt in Wyoming, where I experienced the thrill of the chase for antelope and mule deer. We were both successful, and I was hooked! We have since hunted again in Wyoming and have made two trips to Colorado. While I’ve seen some fine animals and gotten a shot more than once, I have never really had the chance to hunt a trophy animal.

This past November we booked a hunt just south of Rifle, Colorado, where I got my chance of a lifetime. We’d been hunting for three days when I set up on a gas well at the foot of the hills. At first I thought, “what animal would want to come near the noise and the men working at the well?”-but when we pulled in, the deer just looked up and went right back to browsing. The sun came out, and just before 9:00 am we spotted a really nice buck chasing a doe about 200 yards off to our left. Unfortunately, the deer were on the other side of a fenced field that wasn’t our rancher’s property. It was off limits to us.

That big, old buck hung around for over an hour and even jumped the fence into shooting range-just once. He immediately went behind a rise, then crossed back over to the other side. When he finally ambled off, I told the guide to just leave me there for the day. I was sure the buck would come out later on toward evening. After 11 hours in the same spot, I had to give in and leave for the day.

The next morning, the guide asked where I wanted to set up. The gas well was my choice! When we got there, the guys running the well, had turned out their big lights early to give me a better chance to set up. My husband and guide said they’d stay for awhile, then take my husband to another area if he decided to leave. Just as it got light, my guide Lance gave me the nod and I snuck over to the side of the well. I could tell the deer was a big-bodied buck as he followed a doe up off the road below. I could see his antlers, but not enough to judge them, so I relied on my guide’s opinion.

He said something like, “any hunter who didn’t take a shot at this one shouldn’t be hunting.” That was good enough for me. I got him lined up and myself calmed down, as my husband used the rangefinder and said, “186 yards.” I steadied the rifle on top of a mound of dirt, and squeezed off one round from my 7mm-08 Remington.

My husband handloads all my ammo, and had used a 140-grain Barnes X-Bullet with 47 grains of Reloder 19 powder. I saw fire fly out the end of the barrel, then raised my head to see the buck stagger, put his head down, and fall about 40 yards from where he had been hit. The shot took out both lungs; it was a quick kill. When we finally went to get him, I was overjoyed with the animal’s size. He weighed 350 pounds. It took three men to get him into the bed of the truck. His horns were 4×4s with eye guards. They were nearly symmetrical and measure 27 inches wide and 24 inches high.

This was a shot of a lifetime and a memory I will have for years to come. I shoot nothing but Barnes bullets, and have downed six whitetails, an antelope, four mule deer and missed one bull elk. The elk miss was not the bullet’s fault.

-Sue Knox

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