Friday morning I shot a decent 3X3 muley buck with the 357 Maxie, the shot ended up hitting him too far back & from a distance I watched him lay down & then move 3 times. The last time I figured he was dead. Not knowing exactly where he was hit I stayed put. My load was a 205 gr LBT over a heavy dose of 2400, the load has proven itself several times before.
I waited about 1 1/2 hrs & then went around the moutain to my 4 wheeler & circled over to where I had him marked....he was gone! I looked for quite a while & then when back to camp & got 2 of my son's & we searched again, & again we couldn't find him, I was upset, I had never lost a deer.
The next morning I was back looking again but still couldn't find anything that gave me any hope. The next day (sunday) was the final day of the season & it rained hard all day with a little snow mixed in for good measure so I didn't go out.
My wife & I had been camped for 16 straight days & it was time to leave. Today I decided to have one more look, knowing that sometimes the magpies will find your game before you do. Thats exactly what happened, I saw magpies fly out of the quakies & when I got up there my buck had been worked over pretty good by magpies & coyotes.

A pretty decent 3X3 muley buck.




The scoped 357 Maxie is an excellent caliber for western muleys & antelope.



On the day I shot the buck I was riding out of the mountains & a ruff grouse was scratching for lunch in the trail. At 21 paces the 357 Maxie gently took the top of his head off....gently!



Dick

Good on you, Dick.....it had to be a good feeling to finally find that buck. The shot on the grouse is one for the books.

Nice work as usual, Dick! Congratulations!

I have a contenter carbine in 357 max the kids and I have killed around 30 deer with it. How far away was he when you took the shot. We have killed deer out to about 150 with ours.

But One has to hit them properly to make sure of a quik killing shot

The load I use is a max load of h110 with a 158 gr Rem jsp at 2250

Dick; My hats off to you.....you "followed up" and wouldnt give in until you found that buck! I walk the woods around here a lot, and find dead deer on regular occasion...deer that have been "bad shot" and left. Just last week I found two carcasses, and one I believed was fresh from the following evening...a real shame, and a waste of good meat! Too bad more hunters are not like you!!! Congrates on your fine 3X3!!!

A great true to life story from an obvious great hunter.