One goal of deer season completed
Posted: 07 Dec 2017 22:47
This deer season I had 2 goals other than filling our freezer with venison. 1. I wanted to harvest a deer with my Rossi 92 in a .45 Colt with the bear loads that I had been testing all summer. Doing penetration and expansion test through wet, compacted sawdust is a good start. But, how it would actually work in the field on live tissue, was still an unknown.
Goal 2 was to take a deer with a handgun, in this case it would be my Ruger Blackhawk in a .45 Colt. Well, I didn't get a chance with the revolver, so far. I will be bear hunting in NC with a possibility of a deer hunt, also. So, my season isn't over yet.
The hunt: I was in a new stand of the property owned by my friend Brian. We had discussed this area as a potential new hot spot. When he told me that he did put a stand there, I was excited about the possibilities.
This location is in thick cover with visibility being 40 yards, except down the logging road which might stretch it to 80 yards in one direction. But, within this 40 yards there were 3 or 4 cattle path looking deer trails. It's a perfect set up for me hunting with an iron sighted rifle.
Thirty minutes after shooting light, I hear a doe bleat behind me. Visibility into the thicket there was max 20 yards. She was 80 to 100 yards in the thick stuff. She bleats again, followed by 2 buck grunts. If anyone has suggestions on what I could do in this situation, I'd love to hear your ideas. What I did was doe bleat twice with a pause between them, the follow up with a couple buck grunts. I basically mimic their sounds. No reaction at all. I heard them go up the ridge. If I'd had rattles, I would been very aggressive with buck grunts and rattles.
The morning's hunt ended with no more activity. I decided to scout farther up the hollow. I moved pretty quietly, but I wasn't in stealth mode either. I was scouting more that I was hunting. But, I was still on alert.
My scouting expedition was rewarding. I hadn't been on that section of the farm in 10 years or so. There will be a stand up the hollow next year.
Coming out of the woods I was trying not to make a lot of noise, but I wasn't trying to be quiet, either, if that makes sense. I was moving slowly, but not picking each step. I catch a flick of white to my left. Deer? Another flick. YES, DEER. It's in the thick stuff 30 yards out. It's head is behind a tree and it's quartering toward me. I could see it would probably field dress around 100 lbs.--not a big deer, but plenty big enough for the freeze. I hoped it was a doe. But, if it was a buck I would be OK using my only buck tag on this deer just to see what my .45 bear load would do through flesh and bone.
Through the Marble tang peep sights with a Merit Aperture peep, I put the fiber optic front bead on the near shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The deer fell backward, kicked and expired. The 300 grain XTP magnum bullet poked a hold through the shoulder and existed breaking the last rib on the opposite side. The top half of each lung was mush as well as a quarter of the liver. It penetrated 18 inches with a complete pass through.
This little 5 pointer is not a "trophy" deer by any recognized score card but it is a deer that I will remember for a long while. Not, because of any spectacular shot on my part or any 2 hour spot and stalk, but because while I had basically called it a morning, but had remained on the hunt as I was heading to breakfast. But, mostly, because I had work hard all summer developing this load for my bear hunt and then testing it in the field successfully, prior to my bear hunt. And, it's my first deer with the Rossi .45 Colt.
Goal 2 was to take a deer with a handgun, in this case it would be my Ruger Blackhawk in a .45 Colt. Well, I didn't get a chance with the revolver, so far. I will be bear hunting in NC with a possibility of a deer hunt, also. So, my season isn't over yet.
The hunt: I was in a new stand of the property owned by my friend Brian. We had discussed this area as a potential new hot spot. When he told me that he did put a stand there, I was excited about the possibilities.
This location is in thick cover with visibility being 40 yards, except down the logging road which might stretch it to 80 yards in one direction. But, within this 40 yards there were 3 or 4 cattle path looking deer trails. It's a perfect set up for me hunting with an iron sighted rifle.
Thirty minutes after shooting light, I hear a doe bleat behind me. Visibility into the thicket there was max 20 yards. She was 80 to 100 yards in the thick stuff. She bleats again, followed by 2 buck grunts. If anyone has suggestions on what I could do in this situation, I'd love to hear your ideas. What I did was doe bleat twice with a pause between them, the follow up with a couple buck grunts. I basically mimic their sounds. No reaction at all. I heard them go up the ridge. If I'd had rattles, I would been very aggressive with buck grunts and rattles.
The morning's hunt ended with no more activity. I decided to scout farther up the hollow. I moved pretty quietly, but I wasn't in stealth mode either. I was scouting more that I was hunting. But, I was still on alert.
My scouting expedition was rewarding. I hadn't been on that section of the farm in 10 years or so. There will be a stand up the hollow next year.
Coming out of the woods I was trying not to make a lot of noise, but I wasn't trying to be quiet, either, if that makes sense. I was moving slowly, but not picking each step. I catch a flick of white to my left. Deer? Another flick. YES, DEER. It's in the thick stuff 30 yards out. It's head is behind a tree and it's quartering toward me. I could see it would probably field dress around 100 lbs.--not a big deer, but plenty big enough for the freeze. I hoped it was a doe. But, if it was a buck I would be OK using my only buck tag on this deer just to see what my .45 bear load would do through flesh and bone.
Through the Marble tang peep sights with a Merit Aperture peep, I put the fiber optic front bead on the near shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The deer fell backward, kicked and expired. The 300 grain XTP magnum bullet poked a hold through the shoulder and existed breaking the last rib on the opposite side. The top half of each lung was mush as well as a quarter of the liver. It penetrated 18 inches with a complete pass through.
This little 5 pointer is not a "trophy" deer by any recognized score card but it is a deer that I will remember for a long while. Not, because of any spectacular shot on my part or any 2 hour spot and stalk, but because while I had basically called it a morning, but had remained on the hunt as I was heading to breakfast. But, mostly, because I had work hard all summer developing this load for my bear hunt and then testing it in the field successfully, prior to my bear hunt. And, it's my first deer with the Rossi .45 Colt.
