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How much tough is too tough?
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Remembering the old bromide "at what point in the animal´s death did the bullet failed" and others like "if ain´t broke don´t fix it" and being a rather conservative type myself after lo many years of hunting, I decided long ago that for most purposes my only gun would be my old .375 H & H. I believed that for general hunting in Argentina the 270 grains recipe dated 1912 at 2.700 f.p.s. was more than enough. Added the 300 grains solid for water buffalo and that was that.
So I was rather surprised a few days ago. I was hunting hogs (and fence wires, no doubt someone will say), when the landowner told me that he needed to cull some deer that were eating the scarce grass in his fields. Most of you should know now that there is a most severe drought affecting the Pampas. Thus the cattle and the deer fight for the grass and the landowners are looking at the wild game as vermin or something like that.
Now, the landowner is a very experienced hunter and has many guns, he hunted twice or thrice Africa and other exotic destinations, so he got me when he said that he would select his beautiful and engraved Sako in .375 and the Sierra GameKing in the 250 grains persuasion for culling one or two red stags, tough animals as he explained.
Let me explain that such hunts are done mostly at night, under the moonlight and the shots are usually long for La Pampa, mostly in cultivated fields. Perhaps that explain his preferences.
Be that as it may, his efforts proved succesful the first night and he shot a young stag, a "vareto", that is a stag one or two years old. The following morning I assisted at the dressing with much interest, a little for an exam of the bullet´s performance and the other looking in advance for the best cuts for doing "milanesas" (a way of cooking fried chops), "empanadas" and what not (a young deer´s meat is tender and delicious).
The beastie was shot through both lungs at a distance of some 100 yards and died on the spot, no running, no nothing. Due to the so believed frail bullet I expected big holes, at least in the departing side. Not at all.
The meat was almost entirely edible and, like Old Elmer liked to say "you could eat to the bullet hole".
That was amazing. After all, a red stag, young or not, is the size of a small elk and it is not in the honor code of a soft bullet to behave like a solid.
Well, live and see. I´m still busy eating that fellow and I´ll let to the pundits an explanation, which I´m very interested in learn.
Here is a picture of one of the landowner´s friends dressing said deer:
 
Posts: 1020 | Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina | Registered: 21 May 2003Reply With Quote
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Picture of billinthewild
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I am not an expert with respect to Sierra Game King bullets, but I do not believe the bullet is what one would call highly frangible. If the bullet did not hit bone I would have expected clean entry and exit holes.

As to the quality of the meat, I envy your enjoying this stag. For culinary purposes I much prefer a cow or a young stag to a larger bull.


"When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all."
Theodore Roosevelt
 
Posts: 4263 | Location: Pinetop, Arizona | Registered: 02 January 2006Reply With Quote
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Hi,
Some time ago I had just the opposite experience.
I was ask to kill some axis deer for making sausage.
I thought the .375 PMP 300 RN ammo would pass the deer through with no meat damage (after all it have a buffalo on the box.LOL).
First doe get a Texas hear shot while it was trying to escape and I was impressed by the damage the bullet made.
For the second shot, a yearling, I choose to wait until I take a perfect side shot. I aimed back of the shoulder (much softer for the bullet) and the deer died in the spot.
What a damage! The exit hole was bigger than my fist! No asado on exit side, all was destroyed.
Sorry no pictures.
Martin


Double Rifle Shooters Society member from Argentina.
My doubles:
.577 Snider by W.Richards.
.58" ML by Pedersoli
 
Posts: 358 | Location: Bahia Blanca - Argentina | Registered: 14 March 2005Reply With Quote
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Picture of Afrikaander
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Every bullet has its best performance reaching its target at a given speed - that said, second variable is what did it hit at that given distance, whether soft (skin, meat) or a hard (certain bones) "media"...

I have found that Sierra bullets are pretty good if not exceeding 2800 fps at the moment of impact

IMHO what Martin Godio witnessed usually happens when the bullet hit at higher velocities than those expected by that same bullet designers...


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Posts: 1325 | Registered: 08 February 2003Reply With Quote
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