This isn't exactly small game, but I hang out here more than some of the other areas of the forum ... so ...

2 deer this morning, 1 buck (spike), 1 doe. 2 shots, 2 kills.

Doe was about 225 yards out, caught her right in the front shoulder, bullet exited just a bit low on the far shoulder joint and turned both her front shoulder joints to shrapnel. She just fell where she was standing. Entry side front shoulder was salvagable, but I didn't save the far shoulder.

Buck was right around 200 yards, same deal. I caught him *just* behind the left front shoulder, he was angling a little, so bullet exited about mid-ribs on the far side. This one limped into the woods and I trailed him a bit.

At this point you guys may remember this post:

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2121043/m/648106863

Where on my first trip into the woods this season I commented that I'd seen one, shot at it, and missed ...

Well, trailing that buck today into the woods I came upon the fairly fresh, picked-clean carcass of a dead deer. I'd have guessed it about 2 weeks old, no smell of decay that I could place, but still some yellowjackets and flies nibbling on the bones. Nearly a perfect skeleton.

We have a lot of coyotes, so I figure they picked this deer clean. Now, I can't say with any certainty that this was the deer I shot "at" 2 weeks ago and thought I must have missed, but for the sake of my own personal honor, I'll claim it. Although now I'm kicking myself for not spending more time looking for blood or trying to track it. It could be a natural kill by 2 or 3 coyotes I guess, but until proven otherwise, I didn't miss.


All in all, my wife's happy now. We've got 2 deer in the freezer, and I may go back and look for another one tomorrow.

For what it's worth I haven't seen any more coyotes since I shot those 2 the other morning ... maybe it's just last week they were still eating.

I've got a picture of my 5 year old "tracker" standing over one of the deer I got this morning. I may post it later this weekend, right now I've got some venison on the grill I need to go check on.

Tonight's Menu:
===============
Venison Tenderloin
Seasoned Green Beans
Stove Top Stuffing w/cranberry sauce
Bush's Baked Beans
Homemade Bread

(and yeah, I'm cooking ... gotta take care of my wife)

quote:

Venison Tenderloin
Seasoned Green Beans
Stove Top Stuffing w/cranberry sauce
Bush's Baked Beans
Homemade Bread

Thats good living.

It was tasty too ...

I used some of that powdered KC Masterpiece Steak seasoning with garlic, a little worchestershire (sp?) sauce, some soy, and some onion powder, and let it marinade for about 5 hours, then grilled it.

Here's those pictures of my son with the doe:
=============================================

http://www.alaweb.com/~crowell/pics/seandeer01.jpg

http://www.alaweb.com/~crowell/pics/seandeer02.jpg

http://www.alaweb.com/~crowell/pics/seandeer03.jpg

http://www.alaweb.com/~crowell/pics/seandeer04.jpg


I think it's important to start 'em off early.

He got to be part of the whole process. Shooting, skinning/dressing, carving, and finally marinading and grilling the steak for our supper.

He had the biggest grin Saturday night eating that deer.

Ben glad to see you gettin the boy started early and right!
Good shooting and hunting!

Ben, what is the rifle in the picture, it is beautiful. Give me some info!

It's a .300 mag, handmade by Steve Romans, a master gunsmith out of Montana (now in Idaho). It was a gift to myself back in 1999 when I was doing some Y2K programming work on the side.

You can see it a little closer in these pictures, but I'll try to take some good ones of just the rifle tonight when I get home and post them if you'd like a closer look.

http://www.alaweb.com/~crowell/pics/coyote01.jpg
http://www.alaweb.com/~crowell/pics/coyote02.jpg

Steve is one of the best gunsmith's I've found and hand-makes, hand-fits, and tunes everything himself. He does some truly incredible work, and from a good rest that rifle will consistantly put 3 .3" rounds at 250 yards that you can cover with a nickel. It's easily the most accurate and most pleasant shooting gun I've ever personally fired. It's got a 26" cryo'd super match grade heavy barrel, and the stock is custom carved and polished to my measurements.

Steve built it up from a Remington 700 action like I asked him for, but if I had it to redo, I might go with a different action, but Steve trued and tuned up that 700 until it feels like wet glass cycling. Steve makes all his own barrels and stocks from scratch, and has incredible attention to detail.

He doesn't do a lot of flash and fancy type stuff like scrollwork or engraving to speak of, he focuses more on a meat-and-potatoes approach for giving you the best working-gun for your money. That rifle is beautiful just in it's lines and symmetry though - I think it speaks for itself with more of a quiet dignity in how smooth and polished it is without all the embellishments.

Steve doesn't advertise much, he relies a lot on word of mouth - so if you do happen to call him, tell him Ben Crowell sent you. I won't get anything out of it, but I do want to try and keep him in business for when I get money for another "good" rifle.

Here's Steve's website if you're interested:
http://www.nwarms-idaho.com