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Spent most of the weekend hunting............Caution, Post mortem pics.........
Sat. Went with Bloodhound. Spent the morning stalking in different areas meeting up twice. By 1130hrs I had only seen one set of fresh tracks and no deer. ( It had poured down on Friday night wiping out all other tracks so I know they were fresh.) BH hadn't even seen any tracks!:yikes:
When we met up the second time, we hatched a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel. :jester:
There was an extensive area of Titree ( native scrub) in some steep gully's and we figured the deer would be 'holed' up sitting quiet. Accordingly, we split up and started sweeping through the area about 100-200yds apart in the hope that either of us would spook some animals and give the other a chance. After some very slow stalking ( the area had lots of twigs, sticks and blown down trees) we met up again after covering about 2000yds........which took us the best part of 2 hrs, it was that thick. Again, neither of us had seen an animal.
While we sat and had a snack and rehydrated I told BH of a hunt I had about 4 yrs earlier which had started out similar. On that occasion, My buddy and I had hunted hard in an area for well over 4 hrs and seen nothing. We met up and I suggested that we head to the other end of the area as I had seen deer there in previous hunts. Accordingly, we gave up all pretence of stealth and walked at a fast pace while talking, stepping on sticks etc with our rifles over our shoulders.. As we rounded some Pampas grass......still talking.....we sprung 2 bucks and a doe at about 30yds. They just looked at us for about 2 seconds as we fumbled to get our rifles off our shoulders, the deer took off, ran about 30yds around us in a half circle and one of the bucks stopped, and turned to face us. I won the race to get the rifle up and poked a 50gr 222 bullet into his neck, dropping him on the spot. ( If you look in Zee's thread about favourite rifles you will see a pic of the buck and my Sako Vixen)
Back to Saturday, after telling BH this story, I suggested that we forget about stealth, sneaking around, moving slowly, hunting into the wind...........in short, throw the stalking book away and just walk the boundary track talking etc.
We crashed out of the scrub onto the track, started talking and, not bothering to watch where we stepped, headed across the wind. Came around the first corner about 40 yds from where we crashed out and I saw an ear flicker in the scrub just of to the left of the track. .5 of a second later the deer poked its head up over a bank about 20yds away and looked directly at me with what appeared to be a 'What the hell is making such a racket?' BH was talking at the time and after a quick hand movement I raised the Tikka slowly ( So as not to frighten him with a sudden movement). I just got the crosshairs centred on his head when BH's Sako 222 'barked' and the deer dropped. Bullet entered just below his eyes and turned his brain/top of the neck to mush.
So much for stealth, UV sportswash, scent blocker detergent, hunting upwind............in short, we were doing everything we should not do and managed to 'spring' a deer within rock throwing range.
Here is his deer with his suppressed Sako Vixen in 222.
Didn't see another deer all day...........despite the incredible amount of noise we made................:rotflmao:
Ok...........Went back with my buddy GB on sunday as I was getting desperate. My freezer is bereft of venison and, for some reason my 'mojo' seemed to have deserted me over the past month.
Again, we hunted hard all morning and hadn't seen an animal between us. We had lunch and then started hunting again.
While walking down a track, I finally spotted 3 does as I crested a small rise. Trouble was they were moving around and playing what looked like a game of chase. Range was about 380 yds so, although I was in full view, I moved slowly towards them using what cover was available.....at times crawling on my belly to lower my profile. The trees to my left were almost impenetrable but the odd branch that overhung the side of the track helped.
I finally got to about 200yds away from them and, as the T3 7mm08 is sighted in for that distance I figured that I wouldn't push my luck and got ready to shoot. When I raised the rifle I couldn't get the crosshairs to settle down ( crawling using elbows and knees must have taken more energy than I thought) so I lowered the rifle to catch my breath. In the meantime the deer decided to have a race and started running directly towards me, so I slowly dropped to my knees using the slight rise in between us and watched them with my head up just enough to see. The deer then stopped and ran back away from me to about the 200yd mark........:bang:
By this time my breathing had settled down so I slowly stood up and raised the rifle. The crosshairs were a lot steadier so I picked out the biggest doe and started to squeeze the trigger. The deer I was sighted on then decided that the three of them would have another race and all of them turned towards me and started running again. After running for a few seconds, the big one in the lead put the brakes on and stopped in the centre of the track facing slightly to my left. I took up the pressure on the trigger and at the shot she dropped on the spot. I then checked with the rangefinder and it was 179yds. :cool2:
WOOOHOOO!!!!!!! Fresh meat for the freezer! :up:
Rifle used was the T3 Lite in 7mm08 with 45.5gr of Varget pushing a Sierra 140gr PSP........Remington brass and Winchester primers.
Here is the post mortem.
Bullet entered slightly right of centre on the deers shoulder ( which is where I held).........Passed on a slight diagonal line the full length of the animal and exited slightly to the left next to its tail.
Here is a pic with a piece of bamboo in the entry hole...........
I then skinned it and took the following pics..............
Bamboo rods show the entry and exit points ( the deer is hanging head down)
Exit wound..........looks like the bullet didn't expand too much.....the hole on the inside bone of the pelvis was about 1 1/2 times the size of a 7mm bullet as was the exit hole.
Inside the deer looking towards the entry hole...........
Lungs and heart...........Damage to the lungs and the artery at the top of the heart had a hole through it. The top of the heart was also damaged ( bloodshot).
Other side of the lungs......
I think I got my 'Mojo' Back....................:roll2:
When we met up the second time, we hatched a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel. :jester:
There was an extensive area of Titree ( native scrub) in some steep gully's and we figured the deer would be 'holed' up sitting quiet. Accordingly, we split up and started sweeping through the area about 100-200yds apart in the hope that either of us would spook some animals and give the other a chance. After some very slow stalking ( the area had lots of twigs, sticks and blown down trees) we met up again after covering about 2000yds........which took us the best part of 2 hrs, it was that thick. Again, neither of us had seen an animal.
While we sat and had a snack and rehydrated I told BH of a hunt I had about 4 yrs earlier which had started out similar. On that occasion, My buddy and I had hunted hard in an area for well over 4 hrs and seen nothing. We met up and I suggested that we head to the other end of the area as I had seen deer there in previous hunts. Accordingly, we gave up all pretence of stealth and walked at a fast pace while talking, stepping on sticks etc with our rifles over our shoulders.. As we rounded some Pampas grass......still talking.....we sprung 2 bucks and a doe at about 30yds. They just looked at us for about 2 seconds as we fumbled to get our rifles off our shoulders, the deer took off, ran about 30yds around us in a half circle and one of the bucks stopped, and turned to face us. I won the race to get the rifle up and poked a 50gr 222 bullet into his neck, dropping him on the spot. ( If you look in Zee's thread about favourite rifles you will see a pic of the buck and my Sako Vixen)
Back to Saturday, after telling BH this story, I suggested that we forget about stealth, sneaking around, moving slowly, hunting into the wind...........in short, throw the stalking book away and just walk the boundary track talking etc.
We crashed out of the scrub onto the track, started talking and, not bothering to watch where we stepped, headed across the wind. Came around the first corner about 40 yds from where we crashed out and I saw an ear flicker in the scrub just of to the left of the track. .5 of a second later the deer poked its head up over a bank about 20yds away and looked directly at me with what appeared to be a 'What the hell is making such a racket?' BH was talking at the time and after a quick hand movement I raised the Tikka slowly ( So as not to frighten him with a sudden movement). I just got the crosshairs centred on his head when BH's Sako 222 'barked' and the deer dropped. Bullet entered just below his eyes and turned his brain/top of the neck to mush.
So much for stealth, UV sportswash, scent blocker detergent, hunting upwind............in short, we were doing everything we should not do and managed to 'spring' a deer within rock throwing range.
Here is his deer with his suppressed Sako Vixen in 222.
Didn't see another deer all day...........despite the incredible amount of noise we made................:rotflmao:
Ok...........Went back with my buddy GB on sunday as I was getting desperate. My freezer is bereft of venison and, for some reason my 'mojo' seemed to have deserted me over the past month.
Again, we hunted hard all morning and hadn't seen an animal between us. We had lunch and then started hunting again.
While walking down a track, I finally spotted 3 does as I crested a small rise. Trouble was they were moving around and playing what looked like a game of chase. Range was about 380 yds so, although I was in full view, I moved slowly towards them using what cover was available.....at times crawling on my belly to lower my profile. The trees to my left were almost impenetrable but the odd branch that overhung the side of the track helped.
I finally got to about 200yds away from them and, as the T3 7mm08 is sighted in for that distance I figured that I wouldn't push my luck and got ready to shoot. When I raised the rifle I couldn't get the crosshairs to settle down ( crawling using elbows and knees must have taken more energy than I thought) so I lowered the rifle to catch my breath. In the meantime the deer decided to have a race and started running directly towards me, so I slowly dropped to my knees using the slight rise in between us and watched them with my head up just enough to see. The deer then stopped and ran back away from me to about the 200yd mark........:bang:
By this time my breathing had settled down so I slowly stood up and raised the rifle. The crosshairs were a lot steadier so I picked out the biggest doe and started to squeeze the trigger. The deer I was sighted on then decided that the three of them would have another race and all of them turned towards me and started running again. After running for a few seconds, the big one in the lead put the brakes on and stopped in the centre of the track facing slightly to my left. I took up the pressure on the trigger and at the shot she dropped on the spot. I then checked with the rangefinder and it was 179yds. :cool2:
WOOOHOOO!!!!!!! Fresh meat for the freezer! :up:
Rifle used was the T3 Lite in 7mm08 with 45.5gr of Varget pushing a Sierra 140gr PSP........Remington brass and Winchester primers.
Here is the post mortem.
Bullet entered slightly right of centre on the deers shoulder ( which is where I held).........Passed on a slight diagonal line the full length of the animal and exited slightly to the left next to its tail.
Here is a pic with a piece of bamboo in the entry hole...........
I then skinned it and took the following pics..............
Bamboo rods show the entry and exit points ( the deer is hanging head down)
Exit wound..........looks like the bullet didn't expand too much.....the hole on the inside bone of the pelvis was about 1 1/2 times the size of a 7mm bullet as was the exit hole.
Inside the deer looking towards the entry hole...........
Lungs and heart...........Damage to the lungs and the artery at the top of the heart had a hole through it. The top of the heart was also damaged ( bloodshot).
Other side of the lungs......
I think I got my 'Mojo' Back....................:roll2:
Still enjoying the trip of a lifetime and making the best of what I have.....
Replies
Very curious as to the penetration. I know the fallow is not a big deer but the 140gr Sierra didn't seem to disrupt much. Even after the entry point through thicker muscle and the ribs along the spine. I would have expected more expansion from such a light for caliber PSP.
Thanks for the pics.
Great story and pics.
You do know that giving Zee pics and descriptions like this has a direct effect on the way he will interact with people today:roll2:
"The Un-Tactical"
I must admit that I too was surprised by the lack of expansion....... I was expecting to find a much bigger exit wound after it had passed through the pelvis. I will know a bit more when I cut the deer up in a couple of days. ( I have it chilling in the fridge.......
Thanks.
(I would love to be a fly on his wall for the next 24 hrs......:rotflmao:)
Thanks. I guess it proves that sometimes, when all else fails, you just have to throw the rule book out the window..........
It also proves that 'luck' also plays a big part sometimes.
Thanks Paul. Does this mean you and the KOTCB are planning a trip?
Isnt that what bamboo was designed for?
:tooth:
The 120gn load was specifically worked up for Fallow deer.............:bang:
Pay close attention to the pelvic bones. Maybe it "shaved" off the bullet petals in passing through. Just a guess.
Good point............will do. There was a bit of damage on the inside of the gut cavity where the projectile entered the pelvic bone and more tissue damage than I would have expected from a straight pass through. The exit hole through the top of the leg had very little tissue damage.