First buck of 2020

First buck of 2020 was also my first with a single shot pistol. Been watching a few nice bucks on my trail camera and yesterday I had an opportunity at one. Not the biggest I've seen this year but a nice nine point. He was about 60yds and quartering toward me. At the shot, he ran off like he hadn't even been hit. The blood trail showed bits of lung tissue so I knew he was going down. I trailed him across my property, where I saw him run across the neighboring tract and into the next. This morning I went looking for him again and finally found him in the creek bed. My shot was a bit low and missed the heart, so that's why he ran about 300yds from where I hit him. Glad I found him but putting the bullet a few inches higher would've ended with a cleaner result. It does look like the bullet performed well, showing signs of expansion where it exited.




The pistol I used is a T/C Contender in 7mmTCU. I've been threatening to go down this rabbit hole since I was a kid but never pulled the trigger until this year. I found a nice one with a Leupold 2x mounted on an octagon .22LR barrel. Added a 7mmTCU barrel and mounted a Burris 4x. So far I haven't been able to find a real accurate load but decided it was accurate enough with H322 and a Nosler 120gr ballistic tip. Here it is in its original form.

Thanks guys!

Arkansas Paul said:

Very cool man.

I've always wanted to get into the Contenders as well.
I always wanted one in 7-30 Waters. When I finally take the plunge, that's what I'll be looking for.

The TCU is cool too. Did you buy brass for it, or form your own?

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I've got a line on a 6.5JDJ setup that I'd like to get. I really want a 7-30Waters too and I'm sure that will encourage the urge to get a matching Winchester.

I took the easy way out, I bought formed brass off Gunbroker. All I had to do is fireform it.

buck460XVR said:

Congrats. Looks like someone shot him in the ear at some point?

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He definitely had a big notch in that ear. He also lost an eyeball between point A and point B.

It's much more impressive from the front than the side. That was just the only pic I could get at the time. Here it is all cleaned up, in record time, especially for me. Also finished the one from last year and that's more my speed.