but a mighty fine deer cartridge.

If anyone wants pictures pm me an email or iPhone text number.

Location: South Kentucky.
Dates: November 10 and 11,2019
Rifle: 270 Winchester FN/South Carolina Supergrade Winchester named Brighton.
Load: 140 grain Accubond, handloaded in new Nosler brass, 55 grains of Reloader 19. OAL 3.244.

Always,I must think Snowolfe who showed me the basics of handloading. I am not beyond the basics. I drive three states looking for 140 grain Winchester Supreme loaded Accubonds. I have squirreled away about 200 rounds, but cannot find any. So, this is my attempt to duplicate the load. See my post in the medium bore forum if interested.

Elmer Keith is famously quoted, “The 270 Winchester is a damn fine coyote cartridge.” This in my hunting family was as well cited a guiding principle as, “For God so loved the world. He gave his only begotten son.”

It was unquestioned, unassailable, gospel. A mere child shall not question. My uncles were there to ensure my pure heart would not be tainted, and when my mind’ eye turned to sin a swift strong chastisement would make any nun proud of my Baptist elders. Oh how, I still cringe in memberance of pain when I here anyone mention the 257 Roberts. Plus P does not make caliber.

This saw me using nothing smaller than 30/06 and more often 375, 4O5 Win, even 54 muzzloaders with 120grains. This was before the 50 cal revolution. It brought me to the 10gauge 3 1/2 for turkeys, 458 Lott for beavers and the 500 Nitro.

The coyote:

November 10, 2018 found me once again engaging in lustful original sin with Brighton. Her corruption of my being my mind and soul began last year and has been documented here previously. In short summary, she and the 140grain Accubond gave dramatic one shot kills with large exit wounds on deer, pigs, and a large Fallow last year.

The wheather on Saturday was 37 degrees F. I am not only American, but Southern Kentucky so no metric temperatures. There is a strong wind heavy with moister and low thick clouds. This is the coldest morning of the year. It has been 65-75 degrees all fall with a low of 45. There has been no frost, and with the cloud cover there was none now.

I am hunting beneath a highwall that was open-pit mines in the 80s. I have to climb a large hill, then down around a pound from those days. Then I climb a slate raised wall. The path is straight up. The ground is covered by saw barriers, some kind of vineyard grass, and down wild dog wood trees. Standing at the bottom of all this is it is 4:00 am. I will be at the top bench by 5:15 where I have one six inch tree as a back rest.

The bench at the top is a solid wall of saw Barrie’s over my head. I am 5 foot eleven inches in boots. It is about 50foot wide where I top up. There is an old cut that runs 200 yards back down the ridge. However, it too is an impenetrable lacing of saw barriers. The other side of the 50 foot swath the terrain open ups to new more new growth trees, some patches of Johnson Grass, and visibility increases to 15 feet may be 25 yards brokenly to the face of the highwall.

Just as I got to the top, and trying to figure out how to best pass around the swath to the tree I wanted to set against I snap a heavy limb under the viny grasping grass. I here the heavy, sharp, stomping feet of deer. I looked up and 5 feet I can just see a shadow of a rake and hide moving to my right. Another deer takes off trotting back and to the left around the highwall. The temp has fallen and ice is in the air. Please do not blow. Minutes pass, I step. The buck steps. I cannot see even shadow. I stop. He finally starts to walk to my right. He can’t wind me unless he gets behind me. He can’t get behind me without working wide of me and dropping off the bench, and then working back behind me. I listen to each step. He must have decided that was too much work. I hear his steps tread off into nothing as he gets wide of me.

I head for my stand taking care not to walk in the trails, the three scrapes, and against the four rubs I know baypass through the tangle.

I arrive and get comfortable. At least, it is fairly cold, and I have not been blown at. I wil be able to see to shoot at 7:00 am and the sun will be shining on my little stand by eight.

This is private land, but it almost should be public. Every year at 6:00 am I hear the four wheelers grinding up the ridges of the big horseshoe that makes our line. Oh well, let deer season in Kentucky begin.

There are very few shots, plenty of hen turkeys, and it is at least 8:30 am. I hear heavy, sharp steps to my left, and just behind a screen. “That is not a squirrel.” I get the rifle ready in my hands. I use my mouth to make the best two contact grunts you have heard. I see red hair running straight at me through the tangle and light. There is a little rise in the ground. The red hide disappears into the fold. I use the opportunity to rise the Brighton on the gap. I roll the safety off with my thumb. The scope is filled with a foreleg, shoulder, neck, and the gray face of a coyote 15feet measured with my boots away.

Before he can react we hit him just below where the shoulder joins the neck. The coyote collapsed at the sound.

Now, this is why I judge Elmer Keith was wrong in declaring the 270 Winchester a fine coyote cartridge. The entry wound on good bone is every bit of 2 1/2 inches wide. The exit wound is just over a quarter size in front of the off back leg. However, the onside blew the inthralls, intestine, kidney, and all out his flank. It is very vulgar.

He is solid red with black tips on his back. He was skinny, even befor a whole side of him disappeared.

I am sorry, Elmer Keith. The 270 Winchester does vulgar pelt damage to be “a damn fine coyote cartridge.”

Before I left the bench at 11:00 am a doe came up sniffing the dead coyote. She snorted her satisfaction, and trod off. I took this as a clue to back out.

The Buck:

I was back at my stand by 2:00 pm. The day was uneventful as I thought until 5:45 pm. I could see four deer working off the highwall across my front to the left and down to the bench. The problem, I can only see pieces of deer through the tangle as they move. The flick of an ear, a nose, the bottom of legs. I can hear where they are stepping down off the highwall, but it is too thick. I see a tree being raked. I can see a tine, a ear oh a piece of neck, no it is gone. I hold, I wait, a buck makes one grunt note. They walk on. It is now full dark. The temperature as fallen 25 degrees. The stars fill the sky. It will be colder to and frost. I sneak out as well as I can.

When I hit the bottom field, I find Oran. “I will hunt from the same spot in the morning. If that does not work, and I do not get blown at, I will move in to that pitch point. Maybe close the noose on them.

I make it to my main spot by 5:15. The Mercury when I stepped off the porch read 19 degrees F. It will drop to 15 before the sun comes up. The frost is as thick as most of our snows.

The sun’s rays are now to my right. My left the shadow of night hangs on. I hear the heavy, sharp steps of deer multiple deer to my left. I position with Brighton at the ready in my hands, but across my lap. I five two contact grunts. I see the neck and head of a deer swing my way. Here it comes the train of feet of other deer behind the lead come head on.

The lead deer drops into that little fold. I raise Brighton. It is a doe. We are not allowed to kill does in the gun season. I strongly believe does should not, need not be, shot at all in the Eastern Counties. She comes out of the fold. She is clear view 6 feet away from me. I can see her eye lashes without he scope.

She knows I am not suppose to be there. She stomps, and starts dinosaur necking me. She stretches to the right and lifts her head. She stomps, she lifts it up high, and stomps. She lefts her head to the left and stomps.

“You are a big doe. Pleas, do not blow.”

I am not looking at her through the scope. When I saw she was a doe I turned my head down and to he left, so she could not see my eyes. The only part of me visible. I see the deer behind her come into view when I dare shift my eyes in my frozen skull up. “Doe.”

I hear another deer coming from the hard left. The lead doe stomps again. I roll my eyes up and to the left. I see a buck he is head on to me, left, and a little low. I see two tall times in the very back of his rack. The ones up from the brows that stick straight up. I do not know what they call them.

She stomps again. The buck comes right and board side. I swing off the doe and through the buck now broad side and quartering away. I have no idea what she did, but she never blew. I did not here her run.

I swing through him like you would a baseball with a bat. The scope crosses his heart. I break him. His entire front collapses. He is running on his back legs only. I am tracking him in the scope swinging. I can see bright red blood gushing. I am going to shoot again, but everytime I get pressure on the trigger with the swing he is covered. He makes a half moon run and collapses in front of me less than 5 feet away. He is still. His back is to me, and so is his head. I came to my feet at the shot.

I take two steps to him. I see his body shift. I thought it was his dead weight shifting. The next step his back legs come up. His back legs are running. His head and front half do not rise. But his back leg as are pushing him. I try to shoot, but he is in the tangle. I watch him go over the lip of the bench.

Now, I am worried. I whisper out loud, “Did I only break his leg.” I crawl to the lip of the bench. I crawled to keep from skylining. I can also see under and through the tangle. He is down about 20 feet in a ditch. I can see he has his head up. I am not waiting. I place the crosshair below the jaw, I took him in the neck right off the bottom jaw.

The work is done. I go to him. The first shot entry wound is on the heart. The neck shot is self evident. I pick his head up to see what happened. The exit wound is big enough I can stick both fists in and my arms to the shoulder. What is left of his heart is welded to the outside of the exit hole. I am most please. Better safe than sorry. In addition, extra mercy is always the right call.

It takes me two hours to drag him back to the bottom after gutting.

You can see the entry, secondary, and exit wounds described herein in the pictures. Pm me.

Final thoughts:

I shot nothing that had a larger exit wound than this deer with 140 grain Accubonds. The buck weighed just under 200 pounds at the butcher’s scale. I killed a large boar 400-500 pounds with my 375 Ruger Interlocks. All violent exits but not this violent. Two elk with 375 Ruger Interlocks all violent exits. They were not this violent. Much larger and tougher animals.

All total from shot to touch of this buck these events took less than 5 minutes. The buck travelled 30 maybe 35ish yards. How he did it with absolutely no heart, I will never know. But love him even more for it.

You know the other game taken with Brighton. This makes the 7th animal weights from 60 pounds (coyote and smallest) to 210 (Fallow and Whitetail). The performance is constant and undistinguishable from a 30/06.

My friend told me the exit was not as big as violent than his 300WM with 180 Corlockets. In fact, he said they usually do not exit.

I was hoping this buck would be 3 years old. He is 2. Please, I know 3 years or older. But I only kill one deer every other year off this farm if I am lucky. I kill no does. Meat is back on the menu this Thanksgiving. I am very happy with him.

My neighbors really shoot up the deer. They set up on top of the ridges/highwalls and shoot down into our hollers. I accept it. I grew up with these guys, and land is locked up. My in-laws would prefer I run them off. I can’t. I would spend all my time rangerimg and not hunting. Again, I get it. Folks want to hunt. If things were different, I might be one of those sneaking over. Just deer hunting in KY.

But you can’t hunt this bench except you climb from the bottom. Be ready for close contact.

I hope y’uns enjoyed my report.

Up close these hunting rifles are very explosive.

Hit a coyote with 60gr in .243 at 30-40yds at the base of the neck. Her head flopped over and hit her on the back, only a 2" strip of hide held it on.

Put an '06 150 gr in the short ribs of a muley buck at 15 feet. Out the far shoulder exit big enough to bury a basketball.

Calling coyotes, two of us had 110gr '06 side by side waiting for one we'd seen 400yds out to show. All at once he jumped on the rock we were behind not 2 feet from the muzzles. We spent the next hour picking meat, hair and hide off each other. Not much was left of the body.

George

I found that any thing bigger than a 224 caliber even then some of those bullets.

Well really mess up a coyote or fox hide.

As others seen them blown up.

That makes them really good yotes.

A high of 37 would have felt damned good this past week in northern MN - a few days it was in the in single digits on the stand with a stiff wind.

I noticed just now it is -2 in the town near our shack. Yikes.

But hey, better than last year when it was -12 on the 7th day of the season.

Re: coyotes. I have used .223s, .243s, and even .308s. Have not had issues with tearing up fur but then I don't really pay attention to it, since I am not keeping it anyway. The last coyote I shot was with a .243 shooting 58 gr Hornady VMax bullets at nearly 4000 fps; I didn't notice excessive pelt damage.

Just about everything I have shot as been between 10 feet and 30 yards. The bullet weight has to be the difference as I have always used large calibers until recently.

What I find amazing is the explosive nature, hitting heavy bone, but exiting graphicly. I am very pleased.

We have averaged 65 degrees from September on. September was hotter in the 80s. Sunday was our usually cold 15 but by 2:00pm it was 45.

I like it cold but true North cold. I do not think it is a coincidence that the deer were moving better after with this heavy frost.

You would not have to look for this coyote being tore up. The off side flank is gone. The only left is a kidney dangling and intestines blown feet out. This is not the exit. The exit is on the otherside in front of hip.

I do not care about pelt damage. The quote was the first thing I thought about when I saw the damage. Thought it was a good set up. I think the bullet took a piece of shoulder bone through the body that exited that flank causing the unzipping wound.

Thank you folks for adding your experience.

My coyote rifles have traditionally been a .222 Rem and a 6x45, but Ive killed more coyotes with a 270 and 30-06 as targets of opertunity while deer hunting than with any caliber, some on Bobcats, most from a Texas blind and corn feeder..

Another thing about the buck that is unique to me is this buck had a broken brow tine.

Every buck I have killed has had a broken rack.

Just an opinion and I know others will not agree, but when you start seeing bucks with broken racks, that is an indication that the buck to doe ratio in that area is about right.

That is not saying it is good.

But when bucks are working that hard to find does to breed it results in a healthy herd overall. That is just my opinion from my observations over the years.

Yes, finding a real trophy will be difficult, but about the only way to change the equation is to not allopw does to be killerd for a few seasons sand concentrate on inferior bucks.

That is the way I look at it, others mileage will vary.

L Heym,

Fantastic write up. Love the style and prose.

The coyote



The buck

Thank you Mike Dettorre. I appreciate it.

As I say, you shoot long enough at enough critters, bullets will do things that defy description.

Crazyhorse: This type of penetration with devastation is par for the course over a board spectrum of game.

I think a lot has to do with my targeting bone that creates these severe secondary and even primary exit wounds. Speaks highly of the Accubond.

One of the reasons I use Barnes Bullets in most of my rifles is to reduce meat destruction.

Don't know how many remember when Winchester brought out a line of ammo using the new "Black Talon" bullets?

The guy I hunted with at the time had bought some for his ,300 Win Mag, 180 grain I believe, and the first animal he killed with tyhat round was an 80 pound white tail doe. She was less than 100 yards out when he shot.

He spined her, mid back and cut her literally in half. I never thought that bullet would blow up like that.

I built wildcat 270/404.

I only hunted with it once.

I shot a bushbuck, quartering away.

The whole body was messed up, we could not eat any of it.

I am not sure of the exact details, but I think the bullet was a Barnes X 130 travelling at more than 3400 fps.

As long as the bullet stays together enough to exit, I do not think it is blowing up. I have not recovered an Accubond, and all have given exits through heavy bone on everything from coyote, to pigs, to big Fallow Buck.

I like big exit wounds with expansion. Given one or the other I will take the exit. However, the Accubond is giving me both. I have not used the Barnes x bullet except in my 500 Nitro. But reports of less expansion have kept me from using it in “smaller” calibers.

Both pigs I shot gave full body penetration after hitting heavy bone. One I took where the hip socket meets the spine exited the throat, it unzipped the on side flank gutting the pig.

Hey, different strokes for different folks. There is a brand for everyone’s likes.

Before the Accubond I shot Corelocks, Interlocks, and Corelok Bonded. I still have a soft spot for 270grain 375 Ruger Interlocks. I, unlike most, never was satisfied with the Corelocks. I shot 3 bucks in the neck with the 30/06 Corelocks in 165 grain. I never got an exit. I did get an exit with a spine shot behind the shoulder blades. That was the only exit in 4 bucks.

As the story says, I shot a buck in the neck with a ballistic tip in the neck with a 7mm/08. I was surprised when I got an exit. I became a true believer in exit wounds when I saw the massive blood loss when I Shot my big boar in Austria.

I stepped up to the Accubond as an excerise in logic from the ballistic tip experience when I decided to the 270 torphy hunting in Europe. This is my bullet from now until the end.

Hope your season is going well. We would like to hear some stories of the year.

My father in law’s favorite load when he was hunting was the 338 BlackTalon load. The big bore folks are strong on both sides of my family.

Nice shooting. The game is dead so the bullet did its job!

A shot in the gut when its full of water or wet grass etc. is much more explosive than when the same shot is applied to an empty stomach on all animals as far as I know..the coyote was gut shot in the pictures. a gut shot can be deadly under those circumstances sometimes.

No he was not gut shot. He was shot on the point of the shoulder. I have other pics. Pm me and I will send them to you. The exit is on the hip.