Sniper finds monster buck in cross hairs

By: ERNIE COWAN - For the North County Times | Wednesday, November 16, 2005 11:11 PM PST ∞

As a police SWAT sniper and life-long hunter, John Russo knows the importance of making a good shot, but none was more important than the one he took during a Colorado deer hunt to tag the buck of a lifetime.

"I've hunted all of my life and bagged more than 50 deer, and this was by far the biggest deer I have ever seen," Russo said.

He was hunting near Gunnison with three current or former Escondido Police Department SWAT snipers and spotted the seven-by-eight monster muley buck while scouting for elk the day before the opener.

"We had both elk and deer tags, and while I was focused on elk, I had that buck in my mind on opening day," Russo said.

Late the following day, he spotted the 250-pound buck in the same area as the day before, about 1,000 yards away, feeding with five other bucks. He began stalking and closed to 120 yards to make the shot with his .300 Winchester Magnum.

The nontypical rack measured 196 on the Boone and Crockett Club rating scale, and though a score of 220 is required for the record books, there is no doubt that this was a buck to brag about.

Russo said the group saw herds of "hundreds of deer" while hunting, some with as many as 50 bucks in the group.

"They seem to have done a great job of herd management in Colorado," said Russo, who grew up deer hunting in Julian.

This is the fourth year Russo has hunted in Colorado. His group included retired SWAT sniper Sammy Reese and active officers Tim Kelly and David Bishop.

Russo said unusually warm weather in Colorado made for a difficult elk hunt, but Kelly did tag a five-by-six bull.

Local deer
Continued warm weather, combined with east winds, have slowed the deer hunt in San Diego County, but some hunters are managing to fill tags.

Paul Jones of Escondido reports he hunted the Palomar Divide Truck Trail with both buck and doe tags and was able to fill his doe tag after a "hard hunt." With Buddy Jim Florian, he hiked into an area where he has been hunting for 14 years.

"We didn't see any bucks," Jones said, "but I did manage to fill my antlerless deer tag."

Steve Turigliatto of Escondido said he filled his buck tag with a two-by-two buck taken on private land near Lake Henshaw. The D-16 hunt in San Diego County ends Sunday.

Dixon derby
As predicted by Escondido lakes and open spaces superintendent Tony Smock, the winning trout in last weekend's Dixon Lake Trout Derby came in at more than 9 pounds. All of the daily first-prize winners were more than 6 pounds.

Taking the Big Fish prize was Alfredo Lopez of Oceanside with a 9.67-pound rainbow trout.

Wayne Neikiak of Oceanside won the adult first-place category with a 9.16-pound fish, while Julian Schock of Oceanside reeled in a 5.68-pound rainbow to capture senior honors. Winning the youth division was Nathan Guerrero of Menifee with his 6.14-pound catch.

Smock said there were a lot of big fish caught during the derby, with many anglers coming in with fish between 3 and 5 pounds.

Smock said many trout over 10 pounds were planted prior to the derby, but none were caught.

Dixon Lake will receive an additional 1,200 pounds of trout on Wednesday.

Diamond Valley records
Big fish continue to make headlines at Diamond Valley Reservoir southwest of Hemet. Topping the lake's record books was a 20-pound striper caught by Greg Mahoney of Murrieta using swim bait with a two-pound test line.

Michael Vargas of Santa Ana reeled in a lake-record 2.7-pound crappie, using Powerworm bait.

Cooler fall weather has opened the trout bite, and starting last week the Mt. Lassen Fish Hatchery will deliver 2,000 pounds of rainbow trout every other week through May.

Ernie Cowan is the outdoor writer for the North County Times. If you have an outdoor story of interest, call (760) 518-8050, or e-mail to ernie@packtrain.com.

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