First White-Tail, ballistics recovered
Hey all,
I have been lurking here on CGN for a few years and never had much to post, but finally have something worthy (for me anyways) to write about.
Second day of my first deer hunt (tree blind in the hardwood bush), and right after returning from lunch and getting situated, I noticed a buddy had texted me to ask how the hunt was going. I was in the middle of replying when I heard a snap behind me. I carefully put the phone away, slowly removed my coat, and repositioned the chair and my pack so I could get a better look behind the blind. After all that moving around, etc and crawling back to the entrance, I looked out and saw a spikehorn around 140lbs about 16 feet away from the ladder. I had seen another spiker after dark the day before that was probably 30lbs heavier, and thought to myself “if this guy spooks or doesn’t present himself well, I will wait for his bigger cousin”, it was still early, and I had time on my side.
Turns out he did work his way around to the front of the blind about 40yds out and I figured that one in the hand is worth two in the bush, and set my sights on him. My heart was beating so friggin hard that I thought he’d hear it, and as he stepped out for a picture perfect shot I pulled the trigger. “CLICK” was the only sound in the forest, as the cover noise from the neighbouring red squirrel and his uninvited guest the woodpecker went deathly silent. The spikehorn buck looked towards me with his ears focusing in on me, trying to comprehend what that strange noise was. I damn near crapped my pants, immediately thinking of Marvin the Martian….”where’s the Earth shattering ka-boom? There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering ka-boom”. The squirrel and ‘pecker weren’t too concerned, so they started arguing again and I cycled the Browning LongTrac as quietly as I could…..the last ¼ inch of the semi-auto bolt making an extra loud “chunk” to make one last attempt at giving my prey a reason to scatter, but for whatever reason he didn’t consider any of the different forest noises that I made, a threat of any kind. I figured that this was ‘go-time’ and held my aim. This time, there was a resounding ‘bang’, and the unwary buck fell where he stood, raised his neck and head for about 5 seconds, and then expired.
I climbed down and made my way over. I had hit him about 6 inches behind his shoulder and 5 inches below the top of his back, which I thought was a little misplaced, but he wasn’t breathing anymore. Sounds hokey, but I thanked him and the forest for the opportunity, then went back for the wheeler and sleigh to get him over to ‘the tree’.
While gutting him I found that upon entry, the bullet smashed through a rib bone, took only about a quarter of one lung, devastated a third of his liver, and then shattered a rib on the opposite side of him. I could not find an exit would but then today while skinning him, I recovered the spent .300WinMag 150grain projectile, and will attach pics when I figure out how to do so. I’m no expert, but it appears to me that the bullet did exactly what it was designed to do with regards to expansion.
Sorry for the long-winded post, but I figured this is the place to share it…..the wifey politely listened to it lastnight, but I could tell that Dancing With The Stars was holding her attention more than my story!
Hey all,
I have been lurking here on CGN for a few years and never had much to post, but finally have something worthy (for me anyways) to write about.
Second day of my first deer hunt (tree blind in the hardwood bush), and right after returning from lunch and getting situated, I noticed a buddy had texted me to ask how the hunt was going. I was in the middle of replying when I heard a snap behind me. I carefully put the phone away, slowly removed my coat, and repositioned the chair and my pack so I could get a better look behind the blind. After all that moving around, etc and crawling back to the entrance, I looked out and saw a spikehorn around 140lbs about 16 feet away from the ladder. I had seen another spiker after dark the day before that was probably 30lbs heavier, and thought to myself “if this guy spooks or doesn’t present himself well, I will wait for his bigger cousin”, it was still early, and I had time on my side.
Turns out he did work his way around to the front of the blind about 40yds out and I figured that one in the hand is worth two in the bush, and set my sights on him. My heart was beating so friggin hard that I thought he’d hear it, and as he stepped out for a picture perfect shot I pulled the trigger. “CLICK” was the only sound in the forest, as the cover noise from the neighbouring red squirrel and his uninvited guest the woodpecker went deathly silent. The spikehorn buck looked towards me with his ears focusing in on me, trying to comprehend what that strange noise was. I damn near crapped my pants, immediately thinking of Marvin the Martian….”where’s the Earth shattering ka-boom? There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering ka-boom”. The squirrel and ‘pecker weren’t too concerned, so they started arguing again and I cycled the Browning LongTrac as quietly as I could…..the last ¼ inch of the semi-auto bolt making an extra loud “chunk” to make one last attempt at giving my prey a reason to scatter, but for whatever reason he didn’t consider any of the different forest noises that I made, a threat of any kind. I figured that this was ‘go-time’ and held my aim. This time, there was a resounding ‘bang’, and the unwary buck fell where he stood, raised his neck and head for about 5 seconds, and then expired.
I climbed down and made my way over. I had hit him about 6 inches behind his shoulder and 5 inches below the top of his back, which I thought was a little misplaced, but he wasn’t breathing anymore. Sounds hokey, but I thanked him and the forest for the opportunity, then went back for the wheeler and sleigh to get him over to ‘the tree’.
While gutting him I found that upon entry, the bullet smashed through a rib bone, took only about a quarter of one lung, devastated a third of his liver, and then shattered a rib on the opposite side of him. I could not find an exit would but then today while skinning him, I recovered the spent .300WinMag 150grain projectile, and will attach pics when I figure out how to do so. I’m no expert, but it appears to me that the bullet did exactly what it was designed to do with regards to expansion.
Sorry for the long-winded post, but I figured this is the place to share it…..the wifey politely listened to it lastnight, but I could tell that Dancing With The Stars was holding her attention more than my story!
. 
