TwoGun
Member
After several false starts last week my daughter and I finally got out this afternoon for some deer hunting. We saw a decent buck on the way to the spot we were going to park but he was on the other side of the property line. However there were a few tempting does on our side. We decided to park in a deep draw and then walk back up it to ridge and then follow that to where we had seen the buck in hopes that he took an interest in the girls and came over to our side of the fence.
As we worked our way out of the draw and started climping up the hill we spotted another buck and two does about a 200 yards away. They had thier back to us and the wind to thier face. I sent my daughter up a little higher to a spot she could lay prone and take the shot. Now this was a pretty big buck and she shoots a .243 stoked with Federal Premium that has Nosler Partition bullets loaded. She has dropped only two deer with it so far and both were nice clean one shot kills. This time however things were different.
She took her time and finally the buck turned for a nice broadside shot. She took it and he backed up, almost coming up on his hind legs, but then he didn't go down. I told her to shoot him again and she did so and he still remained standing. He started slowly walking away towards a draw. She opened up again he staggered but kept going and she shot twice more but the buck was still on his feet. He was moving but very slowly. The pickup was only about 125 yard behind us and she had only brought five rounds. I sent her back to the pickup for more ammo while I watched the buck. He wandered down into the draw and disappeared from site. I knew he was hit and I thought he was hit pretty good. By the time my daughter came back I had started seeking higher ground so we could see better. But there was no sign of the buck. So we walked to where I had last seen him and there he was piled up on the ground and quite dead.
I did a thorough exam and it appeared that she hit him four times. At least I found four seperate exit wounds. I suppose it is possible that one or more rounds fragmented but that would be really unusual for the bullet. We dressed him out and when we dug into the chest cavity his heart was just so much goo and one lung was in the same condition while the other lung more or less recognizable. After viewing the damage I was amazed that he had stayed on his feet for long. I was ready to chalk it up to the .243 being too light for such a big deer at this distance and maybe something with a bit more punch would have put him down quicker. But the amount of damage was incredible and I can't express how awestruck I was that the buck stayed on his feet as long as he did.
I think he was pretty old has his rack was a bit thin and he had broken tines off some time earlier. The were smoothed over and dirty so I know that it didn't happen when she was shooting. He would have made a 5X5, as the broken tines were still long enough to count.
She was feeling bad at first for not making a clean, one shot kill and after her second shot she was getting flustered. But she felt better when she found that she had indeed hit him quite solid. I tried to put in a pic but was not successful. Now it's my turn for a deer!
As we worked our way out of the draw and started climping up the hill we spotted another buck and two does about a 200 yards away. They had thier back to us and the wind to thier face. I sent my daughter up a little higher to a spot she could lay prone and take the shot. Now this was a pretty big buck and she shoots a .243 stoked with Federal Premium that has Nosler Partition bullets loaded. She has dropped only two deer with it so far and both were nice clean one shot kills. This time however things were different.
She took her time and finally the buck turned for a nice broadside shot. She took it and he backed up, almost coming up on his hind legs, but then he didn't go down. I told her to shoot him again and she did so and he still remained standing. He started slowly walking away towards a draw. She opened up again he staggered but kept going and she shot twice more but the buck was still on his feet. He was moving but very slowly. The pickup was only about 125 yard behind us and she had only brought five rounds. I sent her back to the pickup for more ammo while I watched the buck. He wandered down into the draw and disappeared from site. I knew he was hit and I thought he was hit pretty good. By the time my daughter came back I had started seeking higher ground so we could see better. But there was no sign of the buck. So we walked to where I had last seen him and there he was piled up on the ground and quite dead.
I did a thorough exam and it appeared that she hit him four times. At least I found four seperate exit wounds. I suppose it is possible that one or more rounds fragmented but that would be really unusual for the bullet. We dressed him out and when we dug into the chest cavity his heart was just so much goo and one lung was in the same condition while the other lung more or less recognizable. After viewing the damage I was amazed that he had stayed on his feet for long. I was ready to chalk it up to the .243 being too light for such a big deer at this distance and maybe something with a bit more punch would have put him down quicker. But the amount of damage was incredible and I can't express how awestruck I was that the buck stayed on his feet as long as he did.
I think he was pretty old has his rack was a bit thin and he had broken tines off some time earlier. The were smoothed over and dirty so I know that it didn't happen when she was shooting. He would have made a 5X5, as the broken tines were still long enough to count.
She was feeling bad at first for not making a clean, one shot kill and after her second shot she was getting flustered. But she felt better when she found that she had indeed hit him quite solid. I tried to put in a pic but was not successful. Now it's my turn for a deer!
