As I write this piece, it is still 107 degrees here in Arizona. Yet as July turns to August, my mind begins to wander even more towards deer season. While I enjoy hunting everything from bears to whitetail, one of my greatest loves is mule deer. I have always found them to be a challenging and rewarding hunt. They are almost magical in the way they appear and then simply vanish, even in relatively open terrain. Last season, I had the opportunity to take part in a special hunt in southwest Texas. If you might indulge me, I will share my story of chasing the grey ghost.
Spot and Stalk in Southwest Texas – Chasing the Grey Ghost
Southwest Texas is a ruggedly beautiful place. A landscape filled with a diverse and rugged terrain. It is known for its arid climate, rolling hills, deep canyons, and vast expanses of brush country. Elevations range from about 1,000 to over 4,000 feet. The terrain often requires hunters to be physically fit and capable of long glassing sessions and spot-and-stalk hunting. It’s a remote, wild, and challenging hunting environment that rewards patience, preparedness, and good marksmanship. For me, this is perfect. Don’t get me wrong, I have spent many a day in a blind, but chasing animals on foot is something special.
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This hunt was organized by Federal Ammunition. They had just released the new 7mm Backcountry, and it has the potential to be a game changer. Federal’s 7mm Backcountry is an entirely new high-performance, all-range cartridge that reinvents ammunition as we know it. It not only provides superior ballistics and terminal performance, but it does so through compact, shorter-barreled suppressed rifles.
7mm Backcountry
The 7mm Backcountry cartridge achieves all of this through its patented Peak Alloy case. Built of an advanced steel alloy that’s totally unlike the steel used in low-cost range ammunition, the next-generation, one-piece case design allows higher velocities over modern brass case ammunition. Now, for my reloading friends sitting on the edge of the chairs, saying, “But, but, but.” The answer is yes. You can reload with these cases. Federal has information covering this on their website.
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Because the cartridge is dimensionally smaller than its closest brass-case counterparts, 7mm Backcountry achieves these ballistic advantages through smaller rifles and an extra round in the magazine of most platforms. In developing 7mm Backcountry, Federal’s team of engineers set out to design a cartridge that answers a market need that seemed unsolvable—magnum velocity out of shorter barrels without increasing recoil. They did, but they produced true innovation, creating a new way to make rifle ammunition faster, flatter shooting, and more powerful. It gives us more power, which is particularly useful for the shorter rifles we want to carry on hunts.
King Hunter Rifle
My rifle on this excursion would be the Geissele King Hunter. This rifle is directly connected to Federal’s new 7mm Backcountry round. The King Hunter is built to optimize the performance of the 7mm Backcountry cartridge. With the high-pressure round delivering over twice the energy of 30-06 at 1000 yards, Geissele wanted to build a platform that could extract every bit of its performance.
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The action is based on the popular and eternal 700-long action to accommodate the 7mm round. The long-action bolt assembly features a floating bolt head for improved lug engagement and a roller-guided firing pin to ensure the most consistent ignition possible. Geissele has taken the extra step of coating the bolt as well. The bolt assembly features their Nanoweapon coating, which makes the action super smooth and incredibly corrosion resistant. Since this is designed as a hunting rifle, I found that to be a forward-thinking addition.
Suppressor Friendly
The barrel on my Gissele King Hunter was a 20″ stainless steel model with a Cerakote finish. The model I received for testing was threaded with a protective cap, but going forward, they will come with a muzzle device. It has a 1/8 twist, which, once again, has been optimized for the Federal 7mm Backcountry round. The choice of a 20″ barrel aligns with one of the 7mm Backcountry goals. To provide excellent muzzle velocity out of barrels that are more friendly to suppressors. People want shorter rifles so they can put suppressors on them. While a 24″ barrel may work great on the bench, adding a suppressor to the end becomes unwieldy and clumsy. Nobody wants to hunt with a six-foot-long rifle.
Geissele has partnered with Manners Stock to produce an OEM model for the King Hunter. This is Manner’s Long-Range Hunter stock, and it is a perfect fit. The stock has the Manners light adjustable spacer cheek system. This helps shooters to get a good cheek weld on the rifle. It also comes with a 3.5″ ARCA rail mounted in front of the mag well to achieve optimal balance. Of course, the trigger is one of the stars of the show. The Gissele King Hunter comes with the “smile-maker” super crisp two-stage Super 700 trigger.
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Heading Out
With my tools in hand, we rolled out just before dawn each day and headed for some high ground. As the sun broke over the horizon, we were already on binoculars and spotting scopes scanning the area around us. In short order, we spotted numerous good bucks that had me in chase mode. However, I was given one of two trophy tags in our group, so management deer were unfortunately off my list.
On day two, we repeated our search, and about a mile away, two monsters rolled over a ridge. We quickly grabbed our gear and started our pursuit. As is often the case, we lost sight of the two as we made our way. As we arrived at the base of the ridge, it appeared that the grey ghosts had once again pulled a disappearing act. Out of the corner of my eye, however, I caught motion and had my binoculars on it quickly. We had found the pair, and they were slowly making their way back towards the top of the ridge. The wind was perfect, and we began the debate over which one would become a guest of my freezer. The debate ended, however, when one of the deer decided it would be best to take off down a small canyon, leaving his partner alone.
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Time Slows Down
As many of you can relate, it seemed that time slowed down as I grabbed my tripod and set up my rifle. By this time, my would-be target had picked up the pace, and I grew nervous that he would make it over the ridge before I got a shot. I quickly got on my scope and started tracking him. My guide was feeding me range information, and the number kept growing. Both of us had the belief that our trophy mule deer had no intentions of stopping for a snack before he pulled a Houdini and disappeared over the ridge.
However, this beautiful buck did something I never expected. Just as he topped the ridge, he stopped. He had taken a moment to soak in the view in the most open and exposed area on the. Ridge. He was perfectly silhouetted against the slowly rising sun and looked nothing short of majestic. While I took a moment to appreciate the sight, I was quickly preparing for the shot. Before I could even ask, my guide whispered out the range “460 yards”. Part of me thought, “Oh crap, that’s a long way”, but I knew the rifle and ammo were capable.
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Long Range Performance
I had good data on the rifle and ammo performance from range time, and I knew it would be a very doable shot. At that range, my scope adjustment would be ridiculously minimal, and the bullet would still be flying at close to 2400 fps. Not a moment after I turned my turret, my guide excitedly whispered the phrase that they all do in this situation – “SHOOT HIM!!!”. Once settled back behind the scope I smoothly pressed the trigger to the rear.
I barely remember hearing the gun go off as I watched my mule deer on the ridge intently. I clearly saw the impact right where I wanted it, and the buck bounced up in shock. He turned in a circle once and ran away over the ridge. Like many of you, we know when the shot is good, and it brings a sense of relief and excitement. We waited briefly but knew it was going to take a bit to get to the deer, so we slowly made our way up.
Deer Down
I walked directly to where I had shot him and immediately had a blood trail. I was in tracking mode, scanning the ground for more. Then, calmly and cheerfully, my guide whispered, “There he is”. Lying not 15 feet away, near a bush, sat my target. We checked him and then rode the emotional wave that hits us after a successful shot. He was the biggest mule deer I had taken and was an older, thick ten-point.
The Grey Ghost
While I would like to say it was my hunting prowess that led to this success, it was a combination of things. A knowledgeable guide who was familiar with the area was invaluable. But the rifle ammo combination is what allowed this long-range (in my book) shot to be possible. It will go down as one of the most memorable hunts in my lifetime. As the season gets closer, I hope you are all enjoying the building excitement to get back out in the field. I look forward to hearing your stories.
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