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This past weekend three of us headed to a buddies lake cabin to do some deer hunting for the first time on the property. Me and the owner got there late afternoon on Fri and after unloading the truck, decided to make a "quick scouting hike" through the woods while waiting for the third guy to arrive, to see what we could see. This was our first time hunting these woods so we had no plan or idea where to set up in the morning for the hunt. In our eagerness to get in the woods before dark, I didn't bother changing into camo, grabbing my jacket, or unpacking the rifle. I threw my 45Colt Redhawk on my hip, pulled on my boots and off we went. My buddy grabbed his old beater Remington pump and two rounds of 00 buck. We had to take the canoe across the cove of the lake (just like a real outdoor adventure!). Found a spot to beach and headed into the woods. Within 45 mins we spotted lots of sign (scrapes and rubs) and formulated the plan for the morning. We had ~30 mins before dark so we decided to at least sit still until then to see if anything wandered by. Just 10 mins pass and I hear hoof-steps to my right rear. Turning my head as far as possible I see the antlers coming out of some thick pines. The buck is slowly walking our way, head down, on a line that will take him 30yds from my right shoulder. My heart starts pounding. I've hunted deer for 17 years in KY and NC and never really seen or taken anything with horns worth noting... mostly does and the occasional basket rack buck on public land. I've always been a meat hunter I guess you could say... until now. This is the biggest buck I personally have seen alive. Don't get me wrong... it's not a state record by any stretch, but far and away a personal best. He keeps coming, and as he passes behind a tree I cock and raise the Redhawk. He pauses. I do too. He keeps coming and hits that point 30 yds away directly to my right, downhill. Oh yeah.. my buddy is sitting to my immediate left and can't see anything yet. Deer takes a few more steps. I take aim... open sights. The next 5 seconds play out like this.... Bang. Deer jumps up a bit and trots forward, starting to cross in front of us. Bang again. Deer keeps heading forward, now almost directly in front of us. BOOM. Shotgun opens up, deer keeps trotting. Bang. BOOM. Same result. Bang for the 4th time and he's off for the horizon, heading toward a huge, open area 100 yds away to the left that had been logged about 2 years ago. Silence returns. "Did you get him?" "I know I got him with the first one. Did you connect with the shotgun?" "Had to have hit him, 20 yds with 00 buck, how could I miss?" "You have a flashlight?" "......no, you?" ".........damn" So with light fading we start tracking, taking our chances on spooking a wounded buck vs. losing a blood trail altogether. We quickly find blood and as I start tracking the trail gets bigger and bigger. Within 50 yds I find the large clotted clump, pink and frothy. Another 50 yds and there he is piled up in some tall grass in the cutover, about 10 yds outside the woodline. Initial autopsy results: 2 out of 4 45Colt slugs through the lungs. The first shot was fatal and judging from the angle of entry/exit, so was the second. No buckshot wounds. Nothing. Zero. So, weapon and load used: Ruger Redhawk in 45Colt (4" barrel). 255gr SWC with 14grs of AA#7... probably ~1000fps. Two 0.45" holes going in, two 0.45" holes coming out. Each hit went through a rib on both sides and took out the bottom part of the lungs. In the photo you can see one of the exits. The other one is just below it off screen.  Nice hat... the buck's, not mine:  | ||
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Nice story and Buck! | |||
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Congratulations! Wonderful hunt! Rusty We Band of Brothers! DRSS, NRA & SCI Life Member "I am rejoiced at my fate. Do not be uneasy about me, for I am with my friends." ----- David Crockett in his last letter (to his children), January 9th, 1836 "I will never forsake Texas and her cause. I am her son." ----- Jose Antonio Navarro, from Mexican Prison in 1841 "for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Arbroath April 6, 1320-“. . .It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.” | |||
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Just perfect! WTG! Rusty We Band of Brothers! DRSS, NRA & SCI Life Member "I am rejoiced at my fate. Do not be uneasy about me, for I am with my friends." ----- David Crockett in his last letter (to his children), January 9th, 1836 "I will never forsake Texas and her cause. I am her son." ----- Jose Antonio Navarro, from Mexican Prison in 1841 "for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Arbroath April 6, 1320-“. . .It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.” | |||
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Handgun hunting is FUN!!! Congrats, nice buck | |||
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Beautiful, classic buck, congratulations. After I missed a nice buck with buckshot at around 20yds several years ago, I went and patterned the load. I was shocked to see the huge hole in my pattern. Since then I will not use buckshot unless I have patterned it first. I have patterned a lot of it and it is amazing how good, and how bad different loads can shoot, even out of the same gun. | |||
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Very nice! Congratulations! Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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Nice Deer! To be honest....I have never seen a rack that big in the woods either. Someday.......  US Army 1977-1998 | |||
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Nice buck, great story! 30+ years experience tells me that perfection hit at .264. Others are adequate but anything before or after is wishful thinking. | |||
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Great buck - congrats! | |||
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Great story and great buck.. congrats!!!! "though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression." ---Thomas Jefferson | |||
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Great story and nice buck! | |||
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Nice!! | |||
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Looks like a deer and a fantastic weekend. Congratulations. | |||
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Nice story & buck! "When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick." | |||
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Nice buck you can be proud of. Even better with a handgun. | |||
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Congrats!!!  | |||
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Great story and really nice buck, even better that it was all on a spur of the moment happening.  Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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Congrats and thanks for sharing. -------------------- THANOS WAS RIGHT! | |||
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A story well told! You never know what surprises mother nature will throw your way anytime you step into the woods. If you think every possible niche has been filled already, thank a wildcatter! | |||
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Nice buck friend, and a good story to go with it. | |||
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Congrats | |||
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Thank you for the story and photo. nice rack. Tim | |||
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Thank you all... I still find myself replaying it all in my mind several times a day. And the season just got even better. My son took his first ever deer this past Wed evening with his own Marlin 30-30. 40yds, facing towards us. Light failing, I whisper to him in the ladder stand, "wait for him to put his head down then aim for the point where the neck meets the shoulders... whenever you're ready..... whenever you're ready.... whenev-" BOOM. Flop dead. I look over at him, he makes a huge fist pump and says YES!. Little spike buck. Even better than dad's. | |||
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Very well told, and great end. Awesome story, good on you and thanks for sharing! ______________________ Hunting: I'd kill to participate. | |||
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A fine trophy and congratulations on the shot. Mike | |||
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...I will not use buckshot unless I have patterned it first. I have patterned a lot of it and it is amazing how good, and how bad different loads can shoot, even out of the same gun.[/QUOTE] Amen. | |||
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Congrats on a nice revolver deer. Some of my best hunts resulted from impromptu "plans". Don't limit your challenges . . . Challenge your limits | |||
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Congratulations! Good shooting Guns and hunting | |||
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Great story!, very nice buck!! Not sure what revived this 12 yr old thread but I am glad it was and I got to read it. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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6 years late! Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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Sometimes the accidental trophies make the best hunts of all. Congrats! Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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