So I decided to trade my LE6920 for a Tavor at the last minute to go deer hunting. Glad I did!
It was really nice having a tiny little rifle in the woods. Made climbing up the tree and stalking deer much easier than it was with my M14, or a bolt gun like all the other non-cool-gun owners around during deer season.
Not to mention, anyone who says .223 isn't big enough for deer obviously hasn't used it, and if they have they didn't use it properly.
Regardless, here's how the hunt went.
I get to the hunting ground at about 0615 hrs and wander across the hayfield to the nice new vacant treestand that the neighbour built on my grandparent's farm (with permission). When I get there, someone says, "Hello". Shocked that there was someone else in my spot, I find out that it's another neighbour, who asked the stand owner for permission, but not my grandma. So, rather than bicker loudly and scare off all the deer while making bad neighbours, I just move on to a less desirable stand that overlooks the thinned out south edge of the bush, an overgrown grassy spot on the farm with a knoll in the middle, and the entire hay field, about 200 m to the south of and facing the stand I wanted to be in.
About 0800 hrs I see the head of a buck that had come out of the bush, and skirted the edge of the grassy knoll making a line to the other tree stand, but it stoped about 30 m shy of the stand this other guy is in, and doubled back in a triangular shape about 10 m twice with some thick brush obscuring the other guy's shot. Obviously the deer saw this guy moving around in the tree. I watched the deer run his little track in my TA31F, but the buck never stopped moving and didn't present himself broadside once, so I figured it'd be best to wait. It seemed obvious that the buck wanted to get into the hayfield, so I figured another opportunity would eventually arise. He'll be back...
Shortly after the deer took off back into the bush, the other hunter did something that blew me away. He got down out of his treestand and walked over to where the buck was just circling around. I figure this guy probably just blew it for us and scared the buck away into the bush for the day. Although, there was a slim chance that the buck really really wanted into the hayfield and would circle around the knoll and come out of the bush near my treestand.
Well, guess what happened. Sure enough, the buck came out of the thin bush section behind me and walked along a game trail facing my stand for about 30 m. It was a perfect setup for me, because the deer was walking straight toward me down this open trail area at my 8 O'clock. Now, here's where the Tavor paid off, at this 8 O'clock angle, I had a nice thick branch to rest a gun on in my tree. But, a longer rifle would've been much more awkward to bring up, and would've been obvious to the deer who was facing my direction. There would've been a good chance the deer might have seen all the movement and took off.
So, I quietly put my little Tavor up on the branch and waited. Either the deer would keep coming down the trail and go broadside to me at about 15 m away, or it would turn right into the hayfield, or left into the bush. Eventually, the deer decided not to bother going into the hayfield, and turned to go back into the bush. BANG. That's when I took the shot. I shot the buck at about 80 m away broadside in the right lung with a 45gr Winchester Silvertip Varmint round. It was the only .223 hunting ammo I could find in the whole city (and I got a spiel from the hunting store owner about how .223 was underpowered for deer the whole time I was buying/paying for the ammo). The buck ran for about 10 paces and dropped dead. When I got to it, there was one tiny little entrance hole on the right side, and no exit hole on the left side. Upon opening up the deer, the right lung was complete pudding, but the heart and left lung were undamaged. It looked as if the cartridge had just penetrated the 1.5" wide rib cage and then basically exploded a 4" diameter volume where the right lung was supposed to be.
So, long story short, .223 works for deer, and the Tavor is great hunting rifle. Will I take it out next year? Yes. As an aside, would a 45gr Winchester Silverpoint be considered a good homedefense cartridge? Yes, I'd say that'd be a good pick too. Anything that'll penetrate a rib cage and then blow apart before blasting out the back is good in my books.
It was really nice having a tiny little rifle in the woods. Made climbing up the tree and stalking deer much easier than it was with my M14, or a bolt gun like all the other non-cool-gun owners around during deer season.
Not to mention, anyone who says .223 isn't big enough for deer obviously hasn't used it, and if they have they didn't use it properly.
Regardless, here's how the hunt went.
I get to the hunting ground at about 0615 hrs and wander across the hayfield to the nice new vacant treestand that the neighbour built on my grandparent's farm (with permission). When I get there, someone says, "Hello". Shocked that there was someone else in my spot, I find out that it's another neighbour, who asked the stand owner for permission, but not my grandma. So, rather than bicker loudly and scare off all the deer while making bad neighbours, I just move on to a less desirable stand that overlooks the thinned out south edge of the bush, an overgrown grassy spot on the farm with a knoll in the middle, and the entire hay field, about 200 m to the south of and facing the stand I wanted to be in.
About 0800 hrs I see the head of a buck that had come out of the bush, and skirted the edge of the grassy knoll making a line to the other tree stand, but it stoped about 30 m shy of the stand this other guy is in, and doubled back in a triangular shape about 10 m twice with some thick brush obscuring the other guy's shot. Obviously the deer saw this guy moving around in the tree. I watched the deer run his little track in my TA31F, but the buck never stopped moving and didn't present himself broadside once, so I figured it'd be best to wait. It seemed obvious that the buck wanted to get into the hayfield, so I figured another opportunity would eventually arise. He'll be back...
Shortly after the deer took off back into the bush, the other hunter did something that blew me away. He got down out of his treestand and walked over to where the buck was just circling around. I figure this guy probably just blew it for us and scared the buck away into the bush for the day. Although, there was a slim chance that the buck really really wanted into the hayfield and would circle around the knoll and come out of the bush near my treestand.
Well, guess what happened. Sure enough, the buck came out of the thin bush section behind me and walked along a game trail facing my stand for about 30 m. It was a perfect setup for me, because the deer was walking straight toward me down this open trail area at my 8 O'clock. Now, here's where the Tavor paid off, at this 8 O'clock angle, I had a nice thick branch to rest a gun on in my tree. But, a longer rifle would've been much more awkward to bring up, and would've been obvious to the deer who was facing my direction. There would've been a good chance the deer might have seen all the movement and took off.
So, I quietly put my little Tavor up on the branch and waited. Either the deer would keep coming down the trail and go broadside to me at about 15 m away, or it would turn right into the hayfield, or left into the bush. Eventually, the deer decided not to bother going into the hayfield, and turned to go back into the bush. BANG. That's when I took the shot. I shot the buck at about 80 m away broadside in the right lung with a 45gr Winchester Silvertip Varmint round. It was the only .223 hunting ammo I could find in the whole city (and I got a spiel from the hunting store owner about how .223 was underpowered for deer the whole time I was buying/paying for the ammo). The buck ran for about 10 paces and dropped dead. When I got to it, there was one tiny little entrance hole on the right side, and no exit hole on the left side. Upon opening up the deer, the right lung was complete pudding, but the heart and left lung were undamaged. It looked as if the cartridge had just penetrated the 1.5" wide rib cage and then basically exploded a 4" diameter volume where the right lung was supposed to be.
So, long story short, .223 works for deer, and the Tavor is great hunting rifle. Will I take it out next year? Yes. As an aside, would a 45gr Winchester Silverpoint be considered a good homedefense cartridge? Yes, I'd say that'd be a good pick too. Anything that'll penetrate a rib cage and then blow apart before blasting out the back is good in my books.
Please....
