Well, it's not a hog, but I took this nice buck Friday evening using my 25 Bullberry Contender (25x30-30) and an 87 grain Speer Hot Core bullet at 2900 fps MV.

The range for the slight quartering-to presentation was about 145 yards. The bullet entered on the frontal portion of the shoulder, absolutely chewed through the bone, severed a rib entering the chest cavity and then plowed through the heart. The bullet also damaged a portion of the lungs and proceeded to crack a rib on the opposite side. It then skidded for several inches along the ribcage before coming to rest when a sharp portion of the jacket lightly imbedded into bone.

The buck made a very short dash before crashing.In testing, the 87 grain Speer was impressive, but even after seeing what it would do in test medium, I was mildly -- and pleasantly -- surprised at the weight retention after such a difficult impact.

The scope is an older Docter VZF (pre-Classic/Unipoint/Basic series) 3-12x56 with an illuminated 4-LK reticle.

Below is a sample of an 87 grain Hot Core taken from test medium earlier this year. MV clocked a couple feet before impact was 2324 fps. In this velocity range, the little Hot Core does exceptionally well. I'd have no qualms planting one into the vitals of a hog should opportunity arise.






At 2950 fps MV, the 85 grain Ballistic Tip is another great performer in this cartridge. Here are a couple I recovered from test medium while developing loads this summer.

This is a better photo of the rifle. Back then, I had it set up with a Schmidt Bender Klassic 2.5-10x56 with illuminated L3 reticle, but then I found the Docter for a good deal on an auction site. For pure low light performance, the Docter scopes are my hands-down favorite.

Better than a hog! That's a nice buck, and thanks for the forensics associated with its demise.

Nice long tines on that 8 Bobby.

Bobby that's a fine buck.

Congrats!

Thanks for sharing.
You sure play hell with fried heart though!

George

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:

You sure play hell with fried heart though!

George

Yep, I lost a bit of it with that shot placement. But I'll be making the remnants of it later today...complete with grilled onions.

Hey, is your phone still out? I texted you Friday but never got a reply.

Made grilled venison heart tacos for brunch today...and I must say they were enjoyed. It really didn't need the avocado, but Im locked into eating two of those per day. Avocado and extra virgin olive oil are the primary reasons I've dropped more than 70 pounds since April without any exercising/working out, etc.

The heart doesn't take long to cook (and you don't want to overcook it as it gets "chewy"), so I began by grilling the onions for a couple minutes before adding the meat. A little garlic, a splash of Worcestershire and salt were added. I served it over Mission zero net carb sundried tomato-basil tortillas and lightly dusted them with a roasted red pepper-herb seasoning.

The tacos may not be pretty to look at, but they were incredibly tasty and thoroughly enjoyed -- and healthier than almost anything you could get at a restaurant.

weight loss sounds good. hopefully you are feeling some better. god bless.

Great buck, love the pictures and thank you for sharing about your weight loss, that's outstanding!

Nice buck Bobby! Congrats!

Bobby:

I've read it's dangerous to lose so much weight in a short time.

Please don't overdo it. You have enough health troubles as it is.
How are they doing, any improvement in feeling better?

Last picture I saw of you, there wasn't enough to take that much off.
One thing about venison is it's not very fattening. Do enjoy the fresh meat.

Best wishes,

George

Thanks, George. And you are right: Getting rid of weight can come with issues. At one point, my pulse dropped into the mid-to-upper-30s. I was about to go in the ER when I realized that I am likely not getting enough sodium anymore and could have an electrolyte imbalance. After drinking a ton of generic gatorade and adding some calcium to my daily intake, things improved in a hurry, and I did not have to make another trip to the ER. It wasn't an immediate fix, though, and took some time to resolve. At least for now, though, my pulse rate is consistent and doesn't go 35 to 100 or 100 to 35 in mere seconds. I still keep a close eye on it because -- aside from my late-stage hypertension -- I was hospitalized for about a week last year with something called premature ventricular contraction. That can appear to be a low pulse rate to the monitor, but it's definitely not one and the same.

I've been enjoying the fresh venison immensely, and one of my favorite meals is venison steak turned in to tacos. I use Mission zero net carb sundried tomato-basil tortillas that have been grilled in extra virgin olive oil and add the steak, green onion, avocado and nonfat Greek yogurt. It's simple, doesn't dirty many dishes and is quite tasty!

Here's a recent concoction...going from meat sliced right off of that morning's kill to the final product. I should have taken the meat off the grill about 30 seconds earlier, but my taste buds were definitely not complaining ha ha.






This is a typical morning item for me. It's low-carb bread grilled with salt, garlic powder and extra virgin olive oil. It's topped with avocado that's been seasoned, an egg fried in EVOO and low-fat ricotta cheese. I eat well and am not hungry. I once thought dieting meant having to be hungry and then eating stuff that was not very good. But that is far from true.






I also eat lots of dates and Greek yogurt. Also, I just discovered date syrup, which is a great sweetener and contains nothing but dates. Yesterday, I had it on plain Greek yogurt (twice!) and loved it.

Roasted edamame beans, roasted almonds and almond butter have also made their way into my daily routine. I just check ingredients closely to make sure no "bad" things are included. I go through dried banana chips rather briskly, but finding any with minimal added sugar is tough. Many things out there have tons of sugar added. But the Mariani Family brand has minimal added sugar and is very good!

I also give myself a cheat day once a week and -- within reason -- can have anything I want. I used to look forward to that day, but I've finally settled into a routine and also found foods that I really like, so my cravings for other things have pretty much diminished. (I did have a breaded, oven-fried pork chop yesterday.)

Great photo work. Congrats.

Bobby, what a fine Texas whitetail, skillfully taken with one of your beloved Contenders. Love your photo-rich reports!
I am encouraged by that little Speer's performance. DPCD is just finishing up on rebarreling my Remington Model 8 in .25 Remington with a slower-than-factory barrel twist, and that bullet is high on the list to try.
Your food regime looks pretty delicious from where I am sitting. I sure could spare 15 pounds.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Bobby, what a fine Texas whitetail, skillfully taken with one of your beloved Contenders. Love your photo-rich reports!
I am encouraged by that little Speer's performance. DPCD is just finishing up on rebarreling my Remington Model 8 in .25 Remington with a slower-than-factory barrel twist, and that bullet is high on the list to try.
Your food regime looks pretty delicious from where I am sitting. I sure could spare 15 pounds.

Thanks, Bill. Your project certainly sounds interesting, and that's a great little cartridge. I am anxious for you to get that rifle up and running.

For a few years, I used a 23" 25-35 Contender barrel and loved it. The recoil is negligible, but with modern bullets and powders in something other than a lever gun, it really shines.

Hodgdon's LVR pushed the 80 grain Barnes TTSX at well over 2900 fps and the 100 grain Nosler BT to 2660. LVR gave far better speeds than other powders I tried back then. (Today, I'd start with CFE223 as it seems to be a great match.)

With that barrel, I dropped a number of bobcats and coyotes and even took a "two-fer" on a pair of medium-sized sows using that little Barnes. It fully penetrated both of them. One of my most memorable moments with it was taking a bobcat at 272 yards and then -- just seconds later -- dropping another at 274.

I shot the female first. The bullet entered the appendage where the neck and chest join as she faced me, and the 100 grain BT traversed the length of the body and lodged under the hide just in front of the hips. It completely pulverized the heart, wrecked the lungs and took out the liver, stomach and some of the intestines along the way. The male then stepped out, so I sent another 100 grain BT downrange. He was quartering toward me. The bullet entered just in front of the onside shoulder and exited the center of the shoulder on the opposite side, dropping him instantly. The exit through the hide was only the size of a dime.

The 100 grain BT is certainly a good match for this velocity level.






When I got the barrel, it came with some handloads using the 87 grain Hornady. I used one of those loads to take this smaller 'cat.

Nice looking cats Bobby.

George

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
Nice looking cats Bobby.

George

Thanks. I used to enjoy December and January as I supplemented my income with pelt money. I didn't take any 'cats outside of prime pelt time unless they were being problematic with poultry, which was quite rare.

Most of the pictures from my trapline/calling days were from the 80 & 90s, but most were lost in the '97 flood. I still have a few, though:









[url=https://postimages.org/]

FOund a few more:

Ive also like the 87 gr Speer in my 250-3000 mod 99 for deer, whitetail, coues and Mule deer..The latest version is somewhat better than the old Speer 87.

I love whitetail meat, it is so much better than Mule deer, as good as beef or lamb.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I also like the 87 gr Speer in my 250-3000 mod 99 for deer, whitetail, coues and Mule deer.

It's a terrific little performer in the .250 Savage and similar cartridges. The 100 grain Hot Core is not bad, either, but the 87 shot best in my .25 Bullberry (.25x30-30) barrel. I wanted to use the 87 grain Speer a few years ago when I had a 23" Contender barrel in 25-35, but at that time, they were hard to find, so I settled on the 80 grain TTSX and 100 grain Ballistic Tip.

Bobby:

Thats a hell of a lot of fur!

Thanks for the show n tell.

Not many cats up here.
I've seen two for sure and think a third.

Shot one while out checking the deer.
Head shot with my .22 August '65.
Had a rug, rotted too bad to save.
Tossed it in '11.
FIL sure came unglued when me and bil skinned it in the milking barn.
What's a city kid know about such things??

George