Blackpowder smoke cloud question

Share your tales (tall or otherwise) of hunting adventures.

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BFD
Posts: 2789
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:36 pm

Re: Blackpowder smoke cloud question

Post by BFD »

coolhand,
Yes, it was too far forward for my tastes. It was in front of the heart but it drilled bit holes in both lungs. I"m no disappointed however, I made that shot in failing light, with iron sights, and seated in a snowbank, freezing my butt off. It was a nice shot by my standards.

My point is that no matter what the wizards say, and I'm sure they are whispering to you, no one has a solution that will work every single time. Not to mention, your ability to see, much less hit a humerus from 100 yds in that sort of brush will be somewhat limited and broadside shots are not always possible.

But anyway, unless you can turn a deer into the equivalent of what happens to a prairie dog hit by a hot .220 Swift bullet, you just can't know. I've seen the damnedest things happen, like bullets that failed to exit a springbok (which makes a texas whitetail doe look like a monster on steroids), and then the same bullet penetrates a perfectly heart shot Eland (bigger than a bison). The former went about 20 ft, the latter about 60 yards. A warthog that was ideally hit spouted blood like a garden hose under high pressure, but traveled 90 yds. Elk that have dropped on the spot, and pronghorns and deer shot just as well with the same gun that did not.

I killed a nice sized Iowa whitetail buck out back with a head-on shot just above the heart with a flintlock and roundball. Knocked that deer over backwards like it has been hit by a Mack Truck. Impossible for that to happen. Even in Hollywood that doesn't happen, but there it was.

So, use enough gun (you are), shoot well, hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.

Brent
jackrabbit
Posts: 1792
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:04 pm
Location: Carpenter Wyoming

Re: Blackpowder smoke cloud question

Post by jackrabbit »

Elk are the one for me that I never seem to get a DRT. I had a bull go close to three miles with two holes through the lungs and another go 3/4 of a mile with a big hole through the heart. The only way to guarantee they won't go anywhere is either a head or spine shot.
Good discussion, thanks, Cody
BFD
Posts: 2789
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:36 pm

Re: Blackpowder smoke cloud question

Post by BFD »

Yup, I spined a couple myself. Both did the DRT, but the second didn't stop at there. She slid downhill in the snow until she dropped in a 3 ft wide, 3 ft deep creek bed. What a PITA!
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