Just got back from deer hunting (warning - dead deer pics)

Just got back from a deer hunt in New Brunswick, managed to bag a nice 8 point whitetail. Shot him at 9:05am, Saturday November 7th with snow on the ground, he came in at 210lbs dressed.

Shot went through the front right shoulder ball joint, completely shattering it, and then on through the lungs. Deer ran maybe 30 yards and died.

I only brought two rifles, one was a 1913 production Ross M10 in .280 Ross and the other was a 1940's era Husqvarna Mauser 98 that originally came to me in 8x57, but I had it re-chambered to 8x63 Swedish pushing a 200gr pill at 3000fps. This brute came along on the day I was carrying the Mauser, thought to be honest, I would have preferred to shoot him with the Ross - oh well, maybe next year.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCN0951-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCN0954-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCN0949-1.jpg

Congtatulations Claven2! -

Holy cow, deer get HUGE up in 'them thar parts'!

My son and I each killed a doe with bows and arrow last week. I was his first deer. It was a good sized Texas doe, but it looks like a little puppy next to that thing!

(The antlers are just in his dream)

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1024x768-1.jpg

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Originally Posted by Claven2

Just got back from a deer hunt in New Brunswick, managed to bag a nice 8 point whitetail. Shot him at 9:05am, Saturday November 7th with snow on the ground, he came in at 210lbs dressed.

Shot went through the front right shoulder ball joint, completely shattering it, and then on through the lungs. Deer ran maybe 30 yards and died.

I only brought two rifles, one was a 1913 production Ross M10 in .280 Ross and the other was a 1940's era Husqvarna Mauser 98 that originally came to me in 8x57, but I had it re-chambered to 8x63 Swedish pushing a 200gr pill at 3000fps. This brute came along on the day I was carrying the Mauser, thought to be honest, I would have preferred to shoot him with the Ross - oh well, maybe next year.

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Claven,

I hunted New Brunswick some years ago (Nictau / Riley Brook areas) and to be honest your whitetail are some of the biggest I have ever seen. They are tough to find and it's hard work but my best friend (now deceased) got a 12 pointer that dressed at 280 lbs. He fell down a ravine which required a come-along to get it out. I was stunned and simply shocked at what I saw. I thought it was a mule deer!

Yours is certainly no slouch either. My gosh! :super:

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Originally Posted by cafdfw

Congtatulations Claven2! -

Holy cow, deer get HUGE up in 'them thar parts'!

My son and I each killed a doe with bows and arrow last week. I was his first deer. It was a good sized Texas doe, but it looks like a little puppy next to that thing!

(The antlers are just in his dream)

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1024x768-1.jpg

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cafdfw,

I have the utmost respect for you bow hunters, that's tough! :thup:

Hi Claven,

congrats to this nice deer. Good shot. Will taste good in a sauce with red wine, spices and some bavarian Spaetzle. :-)

Regards

Gunner

Thanks Ramboueille.

It's just an acquired taste and takes a lot of practice and preparation. I've been bowhunting only for about 20 years and my son wanted to start this year.
Two of my old time archery buddies and I taught him all we could about bowhunting and practiced with him over the summer. A lot has to be learned from experience. There's a strange adrenaline when a deer is 20 years away and you swear they'll hear your heart beating, not to mention drawing a bow undetected. It's great he was able to get a deer his first season.

Now, if I saw a whitetail in Texas the size of Claven's I'd probably fall out of my treestand!

Harlan,

i am not sure who of us reach the ground at first after seeing that deer!
O.K. i will be the first with my 104 Kg i am falling a bit faster! LoL.

Regards

Ulrich

Thanks guys, this ol' boy is slightly bigger than average for what I see when I hunt NB, I live in Ontario where this a lot more whitetail, but for some reason they seem to be a bit bigger over in NB along the coast. Some of them get really big... my brother last year missed a 12 pointer that he thinks would have dressed north of 270. I saw the tracks and it's not hard to believe he's close in his guess about weight.

My buck above was shot at about 80 yards free-hand, I was standing on the ground at the time and called him in with a buck grunt. The scope is a Bushnell Elite 3200 2-7x33 in steel Leupold rings.

Claven,

That is a nice buck. I think I've maybe seen one in my life that was bigger. maybe not. Show him some respect, cook him well!

jn

Nice! Shot with a 8x63mm Swedish? Why wouldn't you use something unusual like a 30-06? :p

Hi jn,

do you mean this?

Regards

Gunner

Gunner, that dish looks wonderful!

This is a bit of spill over from the deer rifle recommendation thread, but I finally got a picture sorted- only took about two hours and I'm not sure what I did, but here goes:

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSC00958-1.jpg


No damage in the body cavity due to a shot a bit forward of the shoulder- not my best hit on a deer, but it was plenty effective- I'm still a bit in awe of this tiny cartridge!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jmoore

Gunner, that dish looks wonderful!

This is a bit of spill over from the deer rifle recommendation thread, but I finally got a picture sorted- only took about two hours and I'm not sure what I did, but here goes:

No damage in the body cavity due to a shot a bit forward of the shoulder- not my best hit on a deer, but it was plenty effective- I'm still a bit in awe of this tiny cartridge!

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Kee Rhyst! You shot somebody's horse. :thup:

jmoore,

that is a good deer ! The .223 Rem. gives a heavy wound shock. Here is 6.5mm the minimum caliber wich is allowed to shoot at deer`s. Here is a good idea for this.

Regards

Gunner

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy

Nice! Shot with a 8x63mm Swedish? Why wouldn't you use something unusual like a 30-06? :p

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I know, I know... next year I'll bloody the .280 Ross for sure!

Last year's deer was taken with a .30-06 though... :o Using a Ruger No.1A light sporter with farquarson forestock, load was a 150gr Nosler Partition in '69 Lake City brass, 49gr of H4895 - deadly.

Mmmm... more yummy looking food.

Our hunting property has a caliber inventory (on deer) of :
44 mag(revolver-several!)
35 rem
8mm Mauser (G43 and a 1938 SS short rail G98 rework)
303 (1937 No3T)
300 WSM! oy! what a mess- not mine
308 (M1a)
6.5 Carcano (Oswald style)
223 55, 62, 75gr (55gr is my favorite so far- haven't tried the 75gr myself)
and probably several others that escape me right now 'cuz I/ve been up 23 hours straight.
Waiting their turn (that I know of): 25-35, 25-06, 45-70, 6.5 Dadeteau, 577 M1863, 44-40(rifle), 30-30, 375 Win - Took a 30 carbine a few times but just couldn't pull the trigger.
We (4 of us) sometimes try to find the oddest things with which to hunt, if nothing else just to learn the weapon. Plenty of sight seeing, occaisionally some actual forensic study .

Sure wish there was a 280 Ross about- had a rifle, no ammo. Now, ammo, no rifle .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gunner

Hi jn,

do you mean this?

Regards

Gunner

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Gunner,

looks a lot better than moose! Get some squash and Indian corn with that, you have something!

later

jn

jmoore,

that is an good arsenal of hunting guns. Hunting with revolvers or bowhunting,wich Harlan and his son do so successfully isn`t allowed over here. Hey, with a .45-70 and a heavy bullet you will push the deer out of his coat. The Carcano must be yours and for the reason that you are a reloader, i believe that it will be very accurate. Our gunsmith has two of the Carcanos ( long rifle M91 and Moschetto cavallery M91 ). We tried both to shoot with factory ammo and the result was, that if you want to hit the target at 100 yards, you have to hope it will be so kindly and move into the shot. I use a 6.5x55, .303Brit, .30-06 and a .308 Win. Our shooting distances are not so long, normally between 80m and 150m. Only at the huntinggrounds in the mountains we have distances up to 700m.

Best Regards

Gunner

Jon,

thanks for the tipp . I`ll try it .

Best Regards

Gunner

Well, we're swap and trade folk, not all the above weapons are in our collective hands any more. It seems, though that some of the favorites sort of stay within an extended fraternity, so one may own the same rifle multiple times. Keeps expenses down, and can be its own form of entertainment. We try to keep in mind that we don't really own these bits of history, we're just their caretakers for a while. Still, this stuff was made to be used!

Jmoore,

that is a good thing. We do here lent our guns each other in our shooters group. You can minimize the costs and have various option to shoot. And as you said it is a really good form of entertainment!!!

All the best

Gunner

Reloading is DEFINITELY where it's at... I can't remember the last time I carried non-reloads in the field. I get more fps, more impact energy and better bullet performance form my reloads than I ever did from factory ammo :)

Heck, if I had hit this brute with, say, factory .30-06 round, I would not have had the confidence that the bullet would have made it completely past the shoulder ball joint (I hit it directly on the ball & socket joint, the thickest bone on a deer's front end) and on into the lungs where the real show-stopping took place.

Hitting the ball joint was a bit of an accident, I usually prefer to hit slightly higher to clip the heart and also hit lungs, but shooting free-hand under pressure, you sometimes move off mark by an inch or two... but when reloading you plan for the worst ;)

The only time I deer hunted with my father, I spotted something loping towards us. My first thought was, oh that's the farmer's Shepherd dog. No, it was a young legal buck. Since it was late in the day and the weather wasn't on our side for the next week, I took the shot. Down he went. Truthfully, I prefer the taste of the young ones and does that aren't all bulked up for the rut and taste like testosterone.

And Claven, why did you have to use such an overpowered, odd ball, back of the ammo locker, gunstore salvage cartridge? Is it because all your buddies have one?

Hi Claven,
wich kind of bullet do you use? I`ll try the Hornady Interlock, Lapua Mega and some of the Brenneke`s ( TOG, TIG....).

Regards

Gunner

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Originally Posted by Maple_Leaf_Eh

And Claven, why did you have to use such an overpowered, odd ball, back of the ammo locker, gunstore salvage cartridge? Is it because all your buddies have one?

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LOL, I'd be surprised if there were more than 10 guns in all of Canada chambered in 8x63 Swedish, and probably 7 of them are browning machine guns ;) I have a fetish for difficult to source, odd-ball cartrides that are interesting :) And yes, 200gr 8mm bullets at 3000fps are perhaps more overpowered than necessary, but I'd rather overkill than underkill!

A couple years ago I had a custom run of 8x63S dies made and Andy (see thread above) sold off the sets that he and I didn't take, so there are some dies floating around, probably all in Canada. Personally, I have a couple thousand milsurp berdan empties that I clean up in small batches, anneal, and reload using RWS berdan primers (I have a small stash, maybe 1000 primers). This latest batch, I just used normal 200gr Speer 8mm bullets.

I also have a couple thousand rounds of ball, but don't tend to run that much through my nice bolt gun! :)

There's a lot to be said for expressing yourself fire-power wise through the use of unique rounds :super:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gunner

Hi Claven,
wich kind of bullet do you use? I`ll try the Hornady Interlock, Lapua Mega and some of the Brenneke`s ( TOG, TIG....).

Regards

Gunner

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I'm a HUGE fan of Nosler partitions, but Nosler 8mm bullets are hard to find, so I often just use normal Speer soft spire points. For the .280 Ross, I also use speer because Nosler's don't swage up in size very well due to the copper web partway up the projectile.

Claven,

thanks for the reply. The Mega from Lapua is a good bullet wich is twice as big as before, when it hits the body. Normally the deers dont move after a hit by this bullet.

Regards

Gunner

Out here in Kaliforniev condor country we have to use lead free bullets. The Barnes X and such types are about all that work. It is amazing that there has never been a case of a condor dyeing or even getting sick from ingested lead but that was the reason for the lead ban. We spend 13 million per on a prehistoric bird that wants to die. Fish & Game is just now realizing that they are losing revenue because of it.

The bullets won't sight in the same so one needs to sight in for lead free and also when hunting out of state sight in for lead. Oh, and the lead free bullets don't kill as well because of the lack of expansion so the wounded animal issue has cropped up too. I guess that is one way to feed the condors!

Bill,

it seems that you have the same green idiots as we have. In Thüringen you also have to use the lead free bullets for the same reason and at all lakes where you can hunt ducks and goose you have to use steel shot. We made a study that the lead is getting a "white cover " (some kind of corrosion )that will cover the lead in a way that makes it impossible to get out of the white cover. But the green`s have a good lobby here.

Regards

Gunner

Gunner,

You didn't tell me Deutschland had become as bad as Kalifornia!
Maybe you should just move to Texas! There are lots of German towns such as Münster, TX and many other towns are still mostly German. You can hunt with about anything here and milsurps are easy to find! :thup:

Of course BMW's cost a lot more over here. ;)

Bis später,
~ Harlan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill Hollinger

Out here in Kaliforniev condor country we have to use lead free bullets. The Barnes X and such types are about all that work....... Oh, and the lead free bullets don't kill as well because of the lack of expansion so the wounded animal issue has cropped up too....

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Bill, list:

A couple years ago I shot a moose with a 220 grain X-bullet from an 8x57 mauser. Behind 47 gr of 4895. This is a load that splays the primer out of the pocket a bit, and that is somewhat hotter than max 220 gr. loads in the '06.

I shot him head-on in the brisket. he jumped and took off. It was at the top of a drainage - I followed the blood, then searched the whole drainage looking for him. Didn't find him so I went back up to where I shot him. I found him about 25 yards away, he doubled back and I missed him in the brush, first time.

I dressed him out on the spot, found the bullet under the hide, right side, about the last rib. It had expanded to about 1/2" is all. I could have hammered the point back together and used it again.

I never did find that animal's heart. It was a clean kill.

I used the X-bullets because my brother gave me 20 of them. Idaho, you can use lead for big game. I used copper because I had some.

I'm not certain if the bullet was at fault. At first I thought it maybe was designed for use in the 8mm Rem mag. I realized later that I had primed those shells with some of the large rifle magnum primers I bought during the **last** primer panic, when Bill Clinton was prez. I gotta get a chronograph.

Anyway, Bill, list, copper bullets are probably OK. they will definitely stay together going thru a shoulder, even on an elk or a big bear. As far as expansion goes, that's another matter. This year I used jacketed lead bullets in my 7 mag and my 30-40.

Bill, moderators - I'm glad you're cutting the hunters some slack on this site. Hunting with milsurps is an american trAdition. Back when a Model 70 was $100, you could buy a Krag for $10 and take an elk just fine. Milsurps are the people's hunting rifles.

jn

Guten Morgen Harlan,

that is not the badest idea! Can you reserve me a plot about an hectar or so?
The BMW isn`t a problem i`ll bring it with me. When did we go hunting? Hey and not to forget i need a bow. Can you please order a bow for me, and let it deliver to my new adress !:super:

See you soon:wave:

Ulrich

Hi Jon,

the massive copper bullets can be good, but over here we have some troubles with it. This kind of bullets makes only a hole as big as the bullet diameter. So that on our short distances you have to place the shot at an immediately deadly point. O.K. that is the purpose of any hunter but here we(the gouvernment) have divided the forests in several plots. Every plot is the property of an hunter. So the problem is, that if you shoot a deer and he is not falling down and jumps over the border to the other plot it is now the deer of the other hunter and it is not allowed to hunt over your border. That is the reason why the hunters here dont like the copper bullets.

Best Regards

Gunner

Guten Morgen, du auch, Ulrich

Nothing is impossible until you've tried it! :lol:

Harlan,

good answer:super::super:

Ulrich

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jon_norstog

Bill, moderators - I'm glad you're cutting the hunters some slack on this site. Hunting with milsurps is an american trAdition. Back when a Model 70 was $100, you could buy a Krag for $10 and take an elk just fine. Milsurps are the people's hunting rifles.

jn

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Hunting topics are completely within the rules in the Watering Hole forum :) Please feel free to indulge your inner Jeremiah Johnson.

Jon, the X Bullet doesn't seem to do real well on our small Columbian Blacktails, Mule deer, wild boar and small bear. They just zip through and have very little chance to expand. I am told they do a great job on large game animals though. I refuse to rifle hunt in Kaliforniev now. It's all about the bow now.

Bill,

My brother says that load chronos over 2600 fps in his Mauser. The bullet should have either expanded or gone out the other side. It didn't hit any major bone. I didn't have time to look for the shell, what with dressing the animal and all. Is why I'm wondering if one of those old primers maybe didn't light up the powder as it should have.

Gunner's post made me think about things. Here, it's commonly accepted that you follow a wounded animal wherever it goes, and it's yours. There have been nasty incidents in which hunters shot and tried to claim an animal another hunter had wounded and was tracking.

Gunner, you should come over to this country and hunt. The dollar is down!

jn

Hi Jon,

that is a dream from me. But at the moment there is no chance for me. But it will be sometime and then i will be happy if i can go hunting with such nice guys like you or Harlan.

All the best

Gunner

Gunner,

once you get here, buy a car. You can live in national forests - you got to change your camp site every two weeks is all. When I was younger I would hitchhike around the US every summer and I met lots of travelers from Europe who had bought cars here and were seeing the US very cheaply. Now, with the dollar so low, it is even easier.

Hunting in the US is all state-regulated, so you have to pick a state, then buy the licenses and tags. I live in Idaho, so that's where I hunt, but I like Montana, the way they have their seasons set up and all.

You might look at Canada too. I'm not certain about the scene there, I know rich Americans go up there to hunt.

Maybe I'll move to Montana. I kinda got myself talked into it.

jn

You might look at Canada too. I'm not certain about the scene there, I know rich Americans go up there to hunt.

Yes, rich Texans go to Canada to hunt and rich Canadians go to Texas to hunt! :lol:
(It's all good!)

Maybe I'll move to Montana. I kinda got myself talked into it.

Ahhhh, 'Montana'.
- Jon, If I had the means, it wouldn't be a very long conversation with myself to talk me into it! :thup:

Hi Jon,

thank you for the advices, but at the moment the business keeps me staying here. But one day i will make a trip to the States and then i hope i`ll find you and we can go hunting and have some fun.

All the best!

Gunner

Harlan,

i am not rich and i am not a Canadian, but i hope a bit of a normal German guy can go hunting at Texas too !

Best Regards

Gunner

BTW. we have problems with poachers here. We found the restovers of 5 deers and one complete with a few holes in it. The police said the bullets are from a AK 47!!! Hope to see those idiots in my scope.

Our poachers aren't the problem they used to be, it seems. Still get a few tresspassers, but the locals have more or less gotten the message, what with a policeman as one of our members and another who likes to do mag dumps w/ his registered full auto toys (generally not during the hunting season...!)

jmoore,

we have this problems since we have some thousands of russian emigrants over here.The most of them are good guys but some are not that kind of men that you want to have as a neighbor. This few guys do anything that you can normally see in bad movies like drug dealing, stealing and kill each other. Couple of years ago they caught such an guy wich was hunting with an crossbow and sold the deer to restaurants. Now they reached a new dimension to hunt with full autos. Some of our hunters are now afraid to go at their forest in the dark time of the year( winter). Lets see what happens!

Regards

Gunner

Congrats Claven2! That's a beautiful buck and I really like that you used a milsurp to get it. My go to gun for hunting is a Savage 99F in .243Win with Nosler Partitions but next year I hope to use a scoped Mosin for at least some of the hunt. (I always get two tags).

And Gunner you're welcome to come here to hunt (Manitoba, Canada). Years ago we had lots of German soldiers training at CFB Shilo. They left their BMWs behind in Germany but brought their Leopards and Marders. Our deer are plentiful and big!

dastier(fugawi on CGN)

Well, actually, the only thing milsurp was the cartridge casing which was a 1941 casing for a Swedish M1919 Browning.

The rifle is a commercial Husqvarna M98 with no thumb-cut, chambered in 8x63 Swedish.

Here's a great website about the caliber and the guns that shoot it:

http://www.8x63swedish.pridham.ca/

Just to fit in w/ the milsurps theme, the upper on my rifle is early M16, just changed the handguards and added an early Colt (USA) post reticle scope. The lower is just a utility mule. Military brass, also.

dastier,

thank you for your friendly offer. I think it will not last long till i pack my kodiak and row to your side of the pond ! :-)

Regards

Gunner

You're welcome gunner - what kind of rifle do you use to hunt deer in Germany? And Claven2 - no mater whether milsurp or not that still a nice buck!

Maybe we should start a new thread - what kind of milsurp have you hunted with!:beerchug:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jon_norstog

Bill,

My brother says that load chronos over 2600 fps in his Mauser. The bullet should have either expanded or gone out the other side. It didn't hit any major bone. I didn't have time to look for the shell, what with dressing the animal and all. Is why I'm wondering if one of those old primers maybe didn't light up the powder as it should have.

Gunner's post made me think about things. Here, it's commonly accepted that you follow a wounded animal wherever it goes, and it's yours. There have been nasty incidents in which hunters shot and tried to claim an animal another hunter had wounded and was tracking.

Gunner, you should come over to this country and hunt. The dollar is down!

jn

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Jon it used to be in Ohio you had a legal and moral right to follow a wounded deer. It was common courtesy to ask the next land owner and explain the situation and it was generally a given permission was granted. Alas in the last 10 years or so things have changed. Now if the land is posted you stay out. You can ask permission of the next land owner and if they say no you have the option of contacting the local game warden and he may talk to the land owner. If permission is denied at that point you can not follow. I lost a nice doe last year to this situation. It got over the fence that had the sign:

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT CROSSING THIS FENCE!

Now sometimes justice does prevail. A young fella of my aquaintance ran into this situation and the game warden went to the farmer and was told get off my property. The GW watched the downed deer the rest of the day and just before dark the farmer arrived with a tractor and got the deer. An hour later the farmer had a ticket for tagging a deer he did not shoot and lost the deer.

dastier,

i use my LE No4 MkI* with an old 7 power Kahles scope and a number 1 reticle. It works great with the right bullet. And there is enough power to shoot wildboars too. A friend is using an Argentino Mauser and a other one is shooting his Swede M38. And what do you use?

Regards

Gunner

M1A 7.62 X 51 with a Luepold Veri-X 3X9. I can do no wrong with that rifle!

Nice buck, we grow them big here in N.B.. The guy who's cutting up my deer,(sorry, 3 point, 135 lbs. but good eating) gave me a list of the bucks he had hanging for people.
These are field dressed weights:
265 lbs.
232 lbs.
216 lbs.
202 lbs.
Several from 200 lbs. to 180 lbs.
Unfortunately the deer population is severely down in N.B. this year due to two severe winters in a row and the fact that whitetails can't winter in a clearcut.

gunner,

I don't have a milsurp that I use right now (though one season I tried my Ljungman AG42B with its iron sights:p) but for the past two seasons I've been using a Savage 99F in .243Win with a low power Bushnell scope. I spot and stalk in heavy brush so its light and handy and being a lever action gives me quick follow up shots if I need it.

I don't want to ruin any of my milsurps by putting a scope on them so I'm thinking a repro Mosin Nagant with a PU scope. Or possibly scoping my Russian capture mixmaster K98. Its not worth much but I haven't fired it so I'm not sure if its a good shooter.

Its not a official milsurp, though it was entered in the US SCAR competition, but what I want to purchase is a RobArms XCR in 7.62x39mm and mount a EoTech 552. Add a G23 FTS 3x magnifier for the longer shots and that would be a slick rifle to spot and stalk with.

And legal! AR 15s are range guns only here.

Quote:

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Or possibly scoping my Russian capture mixmaster K98. Its not worth much but I haven't fired it so I'm not sure if its a good shooter.

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You may find you like that K98k, I have three of the capture rifles and they are really really sweet shooters, they would hunt very nice!!

Dan

dastier,

the K98 can be good shooters as Dan wrote. With a good selfmade ammo and heavy bullets they will work somtimes excellent. I use a SK scopemount on my LE so it isnt ruined. The lever action rifles are here very rare to see with hunters. The most hunters over here are very conservative. They hate to use synthetic stocks for some idiotic reasons. For me the synthetic stocks are very good, no problems with rain, scratches and they are cheap. They cost, depending on the maker appr. $500 -$600. Some of the wooden stocks are at $ 1400 and if you have a very high quality stock you have to pay $ 2000 and more. My gunsmith has a Blaser R93 with a luxury stock for $ 36.000 !!! So take this rifle, go hunting and be afraid with every movement to scratch that stock ! Must be funny. They also hate Rifles that dont look like a hunting rifle like semi auto`s. If you use this here, nobody will talk with you. I also use a Blaser R93 in .308 win. This straight pull rifle is a good choice. You can hold your target and load it again. I made more than 1000 rounds with it and had no problems. And the company is around the corner. The EoTech with the 3x power magnifier is a very good sight, but very expensive $ 900 -$ 1000.

Best Regards

Gunner

Thanks gunner,

My other hunting rifle is a Tikka T3 Lite in .270WSM - synthetic stock, scoped with a Nikon Monarch 3.5-10X. Its very accurate but where I'm hunting these past seasons, too much gun and the scope is too much magnification.

The Savage 99 is scoped low power in Leopold rings but they're not quick release. Sometimes I wish I didn't have the scope for taking shots at close deer that are running - I can't follow them in the scope when they're too close and then loose them in the bush. The XCR with the 552 would enable me to follow the deer as they run and take quick shots. Being a semi would give me the fasts follow shots. The flip to side magnifier would give a bit more reach when taking a static long shot.

The XCR would also allow me to participate in carbine/military fun shoots. Right now I don't own anything suitable and have to borrow my friend's AR15. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill Hollinger

Jon, the X Bullet doesn't seem to do real well on our small Columbian Blacktails, Mule deer, wild boar and small bear. They just zip through and have very little chance to expand. I am told they do a great job on large game animals though. I refuse to rifle hunt in Kaliforniev now. It's all about the bow now.

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A month late replying, but I agree completely. I shot through and through an antelope with a Barnes X going very fast from a .300 Win Mag. I lost it, and felt very foolish because the "specs" told me this was a great combination. Reality was, it was too fast and the wrong bullet for expansion. I prefer to shoot Partitions or Ballistic Tip type bullets now.

MLE, I once shot a mule deer with a Remington 700 BDL 7mm Mag using the ballistic tip in 130gr and pushing better than 3500 fps. I drilled him at less than 100 yards with two rounds right behind the shoulder The first hit he just stood there. Round two and he took off like the wind! He ran two miles but we were able to find him. It was two days after the season closed. The meat was ruined and I wasn't able to keep the antlers. The rounds just basted through him and left little to no damage behind. The 7mm Mag went in the trash and I moved on to a Springfield M1A in .308. I haven't lost a big game animal since. They just drop like a wet turd from a tall horse!

I had a pretty good fall as well.

My dad, cousin and I happened to spot a moose accross a long marsh, on a steep sidehill covered in hardwoods. Close to 500yds away from us. It looked like a cow but we couldn't identify it in the brush from where we were.

My cousin and I, were able to sneak way around the marsh and cross a beaver dam down wind where we could sort of scramble up a cliff and get on even ground with the moose, while my dad stayed where we'd originally seen it and sort of guided us onto him from the far side of the long marsh.

We crested a knoll in the bush, 25yds apart from one another, We came upon the moose, which turned out to be a big mature cow, but she had two smaller bulls strutting around for her.

We only had one bull tag and my cousin was closer (50yds or so) and had a good shot at one of the bulls, he fired, and the wounded bull took off, affording me a nice broadside shot as he trotted through a bit of a gap in the brush.I fired at about 110 yds and all I saw through the scope was his white legs pointing straight at the sky.

We recovered my .7mm-08, 150grn Hornady handload, it had passed through the heart and stayed just inside the skin on the far side of the bull. The other round (an identical loading in my cousins rifle) wasn't recovered, but passed through both sides and both lungs.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1/bull09-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...uck09003-1.jpg

Then in November, my first day of the whitetail hunt (although it had been open for a full week,) my dad jumped a doe that I saw a glimpse of accross a pond... I snuck arround to where I thought she might go to get around the water(s) in the hopes of getting ahead of her as she sort of quartered in my direction. In a few moments she came crashing out of the bush at full speed quartering towards me at about 45 yds.

I had two quick shots at this big old doe, from my .7mm-08 BLR, and both passed through both sides and lungs. She moved about 15yds before falling about 15yds from where I'd first shot at her running.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...uck09022-1.jpg

Then, on the last full day of my hunt, I hunted my my way up to where we'd hung the doe to wait for my dad and cousins who were going to bring a canoe to get the doe back to camp.

About 15 minutes into my trek, I jumped this nice 8pt buck. He jumped up behind a thick wite pine and began down a brushy steep gully heading away from me. I'd just seen the tall, yellow rack in my scope before he was down hill and out of sight.

I basically sprinted full tilt out to the edge of the ridge I was one, where the gully opened up into a wide yelloe marsh, and I spotted him scrambling up the far side of the gully where it was more of an open rockface.
I found him in my scope and had to consciously pause to let my huffing and puffing from the run dissipate before I could make a clean shot as he at a trot, almost broadside to me.

I fired accross the gully once, at about 150yds and the 140grn 7mm-08 Nosler ballistic tip handload stayed just inside the skin on the far side of the buck, after passing through his heart. He only took one step before falling after I shot.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...uck09030-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1/buck09-1.jpg

I crossed the steep, wet, gully, and waited for my cousins who heped me drag him accross it again to a pond we could get the canoe to. We were able to get both deer, and a third doe that my dad shot in one canoe load...

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...uck09043-1.jpg

And despite covering miles and miles of swamp, and beaver ponds, and cranberry bogs , and brushy beaver dams, I was able to keep my feet dry inside my boots for all of moose and deer season.

Until the last day...

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...uck09040-1.jpg

Not a bad hunt this year.

Good hunt, good pics!

Regards

Gunner

Skippy,

That looks like the hunt of a lifetime to me. Canoes, no less! Good choice of caliber and load, clean kills. Good on you!

jn

F A N T A S T I C !!!

Great work dudes. And photography is also very nice.

Rather than start a new thread, thought I would add a 2010 harvest here.

Deer: Dec 10, 2010
95lb Spike (not nearly so large as the last entry!)
One round, ~60-75yds, entered LH side brisket, traversed fwd RH lung, Shattered RH humerus, exited behind scapula. Minisule entry and exit wounds. Majority of external blood loss through aspiration.

Weapon,ammo: Colt 6920 w/TA31RCOM4, Winchester/Western .223 Remington 64gr power point

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff009-2.jpg
More of an average sized deer for these parts, but the smallest I've taken w/ a .223 round.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff035-1.jpg
Some of the humerus bits. Quite a lot of small particles as well.

Of note: Penetration good, bone smashing effect excellent, lung tissue destruction on par w/ lower velocity rifle rounds like .35 Rem but better than a .44 handgun, blood trail non-existant for about 75yds. Total post impact travel ~200 yds, of which the last 50 were VERY labored, apparently, judging by the trail sign.

It reminded me mostly of a hit w/ a .44 Magnum or similar. Reasonably effective but not spectacular. Makes me want to stick to the 20" barrel and 55gr bullets!

The carbine IS much easier to utilize overall. More data needed.

Dear all; the Barnes TSX and Tipped TSX open up better and more consistently than the old X bullet. I have done a far bit of testing into a variety of media; tighlty packed wet glossy magazines behave like bone, loosely packed wet paper behaves like muscle and lung. This conclusion is based upon comparisons to bullets recovered from game. Both my daughter and I have found peices of lung whilst tracking deer we have shot with the newer Barnes bullets. The TSX and the TTSX have been used by us on large and small deer with excellent results. One thing with the high retained weight of the barnes bullets is on can step down in bullet weight therefore gaining velocity which helps with expansion. I load a 120 TTSX in my daughter 7-08 retained weight is greater than that with a 160 Seirra gameking. GRF

Hey, not bad jmoore!

A Buddy had good luck this year on his huntuing tours ( I haven´t:crying:)
The rifle is chambered in .300Win mag

Are you guy's wacking deer with a .223?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by waterdog

Are you guy's wacking deer with a .223?

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For several years now! Out of a 1-12" twist Colt 20" barrel, the Sierra 55gr Gamekings are Spectacular! Large (Southern) deer, mostly, too! They penetrate well, couse absolute devestation in the vitals (lungs generally liquified altogether, and break rib bones coming and going. Couldn't be happier w/ the combo.

I must also state that I don't consider the .223" Remington an "end all-be all" big game hunting cartridge. Would not consider it for game much over 300-400lbs, past 200-250 yards (although it worked fine for me the one time it happened that far), or if the user can't place their shots w/ certainty in the chest cavity, somewhere.

Bullet construction is also of great consideration. Most factory loads aren't designed for big game, but there's a few such as the W-W 64gr power point and probably the Hornady TAP 62gr Barrier round.

I started deer hunting w/ a hand loaded 60gr Partition bullet. That worked fine, never did recover a bullet. The 55gr Gamekings came next, and they are so good that until the deer posted above, that's all I've used.

If you are going to use a 16" barreled rifle, I'm going to speculate on the one example and consider the round to have roughly the same affect on deer as you would find using a traditional 30-30, 35 Remington, or similar round. (Minus some ability on rather larger beasties.) about the same effective hunting range as well~ 150yds max.

Advantages:
1.(Using the 20" bbl 55gr bullet)-Generally far faster incapacitation at close range- often instantly! I mean RIGHT NOW! No deer to track when this happens.
2.Lighter weapon (if done properly)esp. when scoped up.
3.Lower sound levels- This is one of the few deer combos that don't deafen me for any length of time, no ringing, kinda tolerable.
4.Good controls on the AR platform- cold weather friendly- no fumbling. Easy unloading as well.
5.That tiny cartridge seems to keep me more focused on ensuring there is no intervening foliage that might deflect the round. It'll happen w/ ANY round, but I really do work just a little harder to make a clean shot with the .223. Purely psychological, but that's fine.


Disadvantages:
1. Probably not sufficient for elk or moose unless you are really an expert close in stalker w/ nerves of steel. And still not the best choice!
2. Not a long range big game round!
3. Scant availabilty of good big game factory ammo, but this situation seems to be getting less severe.
4. Some folk made consider you some kind of bullet spraying slob hunter w/ an evil assault rifle. Whatever. I've only had to fire twice on one occasion (and not quickly); that was MY fault!




So, used w/in its limitations, its super!

I love to shoot the 8mm bullet,it will kill anything on the planet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by waterdog

Are you guy's wacking deer with a .223?

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I haven't for a while but yes I have. The deer was hit broadside right in the shoulder crease and dropped like a soggy turd from a tall horse! I used a 62 grain Remington Kore-Loc soft point. The insides looked like a mix of grade and strawberry jam!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill Hollinger

I haven't for a while but yes I have. The deer was hit broadside right in the shoulder crease and dropped like a soggy turd from a tall horse! I used a 62 grain Remington Kore-Loc soft point. The insides looked like a mix of grade and strawberry jam!

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Amazing ain't it? 55 grainers make soup out of the lungs.

How about one more pic of the animal dressed and on the table? Please invite Gunner and me and we´ll bring the wine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by villiers

How about one more pic of the animal dressed and on the table? Please invite Gunner and me and we´ll bring the wine.

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That was last year (old thread this is). But do have some photos of this year's spread. Haven't had the chance to upload 'em. Gunner's always welcome to partake. Had hoped to "give" him a Christmas day deer, but they were scarce. Fixin' to head out again in a just a little bit. (However, the rifle of the week isn't a milsurp, or even a military caliber- 25-06. It also could be considered jinxed, as it has yet to fire a round in the field after 8 or so years, but I'm not particularly superstitious. Maybe, though, I'll try the "armageddon" Knight's tomorrow.)

Good to know I'm not the only one who owns jinxed guns.:madsmile:

The rifle (for vintage hunter's viewing pleasure):

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCF3487-1.jpg

Christmas Eve food related photos:

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCF3465-1.jpg
The smoker. There were deer not 20m from it a few hours earlier, and it had already been cooking all night.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCF3474-1.jpg
Deer ham

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCF3477-1.jpg
Deer ribs- not my best effort, but managed to save some that were tasty. Last year's were better.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSCF3482-1.jpg
Here y'all go-Smoked meats in the foreground: Deer ham on the left, turkey center, pork on right. More goodies behind. Feeds 30+.

A late Merry Christmas to you, Patrick (villiers) and Ulrich (gunner)! And the same to the rest of the crew!

Jesus wept! And I´m sitting here starving, trying to lose weight.

Thanks jmoore! But won´t you think that it would have been better to invite villiers and me to this...drool.. good ...drooool.. buffet? Patrick can your aircraft make the way over the pond? I´m hungry...:rofl: jmoore was the apple on the deer ham a alibi for the veggies?;)

---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:04 PM ----------

Quote:

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Originally Posted by villiers

How about one more pic of the animal dressed and on the table? Please invite Gunner and me and we´ll bring the wine.

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Great idea Patrick! And i´ll bring a extra bottle of a good Williams Birnen Schnaps ( extra fine booze!)

Attachment 29316Wot? In an L4 Piper Cub?

There's a little left...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by villiers

Attachment 29316Wot? In an L4 Piper Cub?

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Patrick, we can take some jerry cans with fuel with us and if we make the way over the Azore´s i give us a fair 50/50 chance to reach the other side! :D

---------- Post added at 11:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:12 AM ----------

jmoore please explain a" little" to me...for the efforts it isn´t enough to get a diet meal! OK, Patrick may be satisfied but i´m....:beerchug:

Timing's everything... Unfortunately, it was so busy around here that the photos were late getting uploaded. And now we've little left. Maybe 2-3 kg all together of everything. It won't go to waste, though.

Oh jmoore, i can here you!!!

Nice blastin iron. A lefty M70 Classic right? Even better looking smoked critter. How bout mail me a sample.:D

"Ultimate Classic" Model 70 LH stainless. That was purchased for 1/2 price (still, that was a chunk!) because the fellow who ordered it couldn't get it to shoot. Eventually, it was found that if the barrel is cleaned to "bare" using the borescope for confirmation every ten rounds, it's a real 1/2 MOA rifle at 200 yards. Seems a minor drama for a rifle that has only been fired to check zero since...