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EUREKA!!!

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:17 pm
by Up In Smoke
At last! After having my Shilo for 3 years and a number of hunting trips with missed opportunities, it all came together for me on Sunday. The picture isn't what I had hoped for as I wasn't able to include myself in the picture on account of a problem with my camera not being able to activate the timer (my ugly mug would would have ruined the picture anyway :lol:) I should have went and bought myself a lottery ticket afterwards given the way this hunt ended. After hiking three miles I was just getting back to my outfit which was parked in an area used as a trailhead by snowmobilers, and was astonished to see this mule deer buck standing at the top of a steep embankment at the edge of the parking area approximately 70-80 yds away. I sat down and rested the rifle on my knee and had to make a somewhat rushed shot as he was about to disappear into some trees. The shot hit him high across the top of the shoulders which put him down but not killing him. As he struggled to get back on his feet, he did me a favor of sliding down the embankment to the parking area where I administered the coup de gras. Had to drag him out of the parking area a ways so as not to leave a gut pile in the parking area. Earlier in the day while on my hike I nearly had a chance at a very nice whitetail. I had walked up on him quite unexpectedly, and had him at 30 yds but could not get a shot at his chest area as he conveniently was standing behind a tree. I was about to go for a neck shot but he finally saw me and bolted. Anyhow, the rifle is a 45-70 Hartford. Load used was 500 grn. PP and Goex FF. One more week left in the season and I still have a whitetail antlerless and elk tag left to fill.

Image

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:59 pm
by Denali
Dandy buck! Congratulations and glad you didn't have to carry him far.

Mike

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 3:38 pm
by Don McDowell
Good job>

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 6:05 pm
by Up In Smoke
Denali wrote:Dandy buck! Congratulations and glad you didn't have to carry him far.

Mike
Even though the whitetail I missed out on was probably a nicer animal, I'm glad I didn't have to drag him off the mountain. It would have been about a 1 mile drag, though it would have been downhill. The outcome I ended up with was still much preferable!

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 6:55 pm
by Mike Johnson
Very nice. Congrats and thanks for sharing with us

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:32 pm
by Yellowhouse
I'm curious as to where most try to put their bullet on deer, heart-lung or the high shoulder shot. It seems that hunters of yore preferred the latter since it is, if nothing else, an anchoring shot. Seems like all these boiler room shots began in earnest with the advent of high velocity cartridges that depend more on shock and massive tissue damage. I'd like to hear your experience with rounds like the 45-70 and lighter at BP velocities.

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:14 am
by bobw
I don't care to hunt around others period, that makes "the anchor it shot" totally necessary. I use it on elk but deer and antelope I want a double lung pass through and the 30-50 yd run that results is of no consequence. Hard greasers you better bust bone,but soft pp leaves a significant hole thru the lungs. Do it anyway you want and come to your own conclusions. bobw

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:42 am
by Marathonman
Congratulations on your buck!

I don't think there's anything wrong with your shot placement. The meat processor I use cuts the ribs off antelope and deer and then throws them in the trash. There's not enough meat there to make it worth trying to save. The shoulder is ground into hamburger so a low velocity round placed there does little to ruin any great amount of meat. I've killed two moose with one double lung shot and they never went farther than 20 yards. You can kill any animal in North America with a stick by poking a hole in the lungs. It's a sure killer. Some animals like the big bears of Alaska really do make anchor shots worth taking. What you really want to avoid with shot placement is shooting at the middle of the animal broadside. That means a gut shot which can ruin the meat or worse yet a lost animal. I try to double lung but crowd the heck out of that front shoulder to avoid gut shooting at all costs. If I get some of the shoulder that's fine with me.

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 6:01 pm
by Up In Smoke
The high shoulder shot was the unintended result of my having to make a fast shot before he disappeared. As soon as I get him skinned out I will have a better idea of what the first shot did, but believe I may have actually just smacked him across the top of the back. In which case I may have lost some backstrap on him.

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 6:52 pm
by pete
[quote="bobw"]Hard greasers you better bust bone,but soft pp leaves a significant hole thru the lungs. [/quote]

Bob;
C'mon that's a bit of a slanted comparison. Why does it have to be a hard greaser? I shoot pure lead grease groove with no problem. :)

Up In Smoke;
Congratulations. I'm glad it came together for you because sometimes it seems like it never will.....I know about that. I've hit high like that before and always thought of it as a near miss but hey it's better than a near hit. :lol:

Re: EUREKA!!!

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:53 pm
by ironramrod
Congratulations on a very nice deer! It's hard to beat a decent ration of good luck, too. Additionally, Marathonman is dead on the money w/ his shot placement protocol. I suspect you'll be pleasantly surprised at the lack of damaged meat, when using these big bore rifles. My experience is that you just cut around the bullet hole and throw out a chunk about 2X larger than an apple core, and virtually no blood shot meat that I've seen on a fair number of deer. Good luck on your other licenses!

Regards