got my dad's deer on saturday night just as darkness was setting in. i guess shooting him 4 times at 30 yards and less was not the most ideal scenario. the first shot scored (apparently) so he was shot again (in the ass). then the finishing shot in the side, was thought to be a miss because he didnt react. so he was shot again. in the same spot. not good. looks like he didnt react because he was dead, he just didnt know it. we recovered 2 bullets, one in the neck, one under the hide on the left side. the one in the neck would have been the first shot. i think it went from behind the ribs on the right to the neck. then he was shot in the ass on the right side, the bullet hitting the bone and demolishing it, along with the rest of the rear quarter. that bullet lodged under the hide on the left. two blow-throughs from 15 yards right through the middle took care of the ribs and part of the front quarter on the left side. the exits were HORRIBLE. almost makes a guy want to take up bow hunting. that or remember to shoot them in areas less susceptible to damage like the head or neck.... nice deer, but really dissapointing experience. he was an old, giant bodied deer with a fully rutted thick neck. kinda strange.... all the deer we shot this year where puffed up for the rut. never seen that this early before. dad thinks it because we always shoot little deer, never mature bucks like these and that it's normal.

the pictures dont do him justice, just like the other deer. this stupid camera shrinks animals and fish..... 18.25 inch inside measurement 4x4

so it looks like 2006 was the year of the deer for our clan. this one was shot at the ridge of the same draw the others were taken in.




and you may remember these two from last weekend...

Nice deer,,,that must have been some fast shooting with a bolt action

Why would you post such a thing?

A shot to hell deer is nothing to brag about. Why shoot him again and again at less than 30 yards, how could you possibly think you missed? How could you possibly miss the vitals that many times? You're hunting party should spend a little more time at the range and learn how to shoot in field conditions (offhand, sitting, prone). A beautiful animal like that deserves a good, clean kill. Shooting it 4 times at close range, all over the body, is a discrace to such a magnificant creature.

A good rifle shot KNOWS if the deer is mortally wounded before the rifle even recoils.

Looks like something you would see on a PETA website, not a hunting forum.

There should be more to a hunt that just the kill and bullet performance.

We owe it to the critters to kill them as quickly and as humanely as possible.

MG

easy fellas.... this is not bragging. as you may have read, the taking of this animal was not a pleasurable event for the deer or the hunters. the first shot was sound. given time, it would have done the job. but, in the spirit of quick killing, the second shot was taken. when the deer then ran out of view, the hunter followed as quickly as possible. the deer was laying with it's head up at the base of a wild rose bush. instead of waiting for the deer to die slowly, a finishing shot was taken. i was there when the shot was fired. the deer didnt react a bit, but the bush behind moved, making the shooter believe perhaps he jerked the trigger and shot over the deer. so, in the spirit of ending the suffering as quickly as possible, the actual finishing shot was taken. now, a neck shot would have been a better choice, but in the heat of the moment, better judgement took a backseat to urgency. it was a horrible thing, the waste of meat. as a meat hunter first, trophy's second, i hate to see that. but please, take this story for what it is. a worse case scenario of a series of events that had an unhappy ending.

That is why I like barnes x bullets for deer. they don't tear up much meat. My experience anyway. My last two deer with a rifle were shoulder shot and rear quarter shot through bone and I didn't loose more than a pound or two from each.

I agreee with Mousegun. No need to post that pic and describe things. Well thought out, respectful pics do much more justice to hunting than these will.

Yep, you owe it to the animal you're hunting to offer a quick clean kill. An ethical hunter will do just that. In this case, it seems that the hunter was unsure of the shot and did the best thing he could do - shoot again. If circumstances were different, he may have held off on those followup shots only to have the deer limp off never to be found. Then you guys would be giving him shit for NOT shooting again and letting one get away wounded. You can't win around here. The deer's dead, and the story of his demise could be educational to some out here in cyberspace. Not every hunting scenario plays out like the bubba shows on the Outdoor Channel.

724, nice deer! I also think you did the right thing. It is a certain arrogance that says, "only shoot it once, regardless". I am in the camp of shoot it until you put it out of it's misery, which you did. I always practice quick follow-up shots...not because I need them much, but you never know when the deer will move at the last second, or something will spook it the instant before the shot. I practice keeping my cheek welded to the stock while I work the bolt so it takes less time.

Again, nice deer.

quote:

Originally posted by mousegun:
Why would you post such a thing?

A shot to hell deer is nothing to brag about. Why shoot him again and again at less than 30 yards, how could you possibly think you missed? How could you possibly miss the vitals that many times? You're hunting party should spend a little more time at the range and learn how to shoot in field conditions (offhand, sitting, prone). A beautiful animal like that deserves a good, clean kill. Shooting it 4 times at close range, all over the body, is a discrace to such a magnificant creature.

Mouse, how long have you been hunting, and how many big game animals have you killed?

I would venture that anyone--make that everyone--who's hunted for any lenght of time has done some shooting that is, admittedly, substandard. 724 doesn't deny that, nor is he, in my opinion, "bragging."

"shooting him 4 times at 30 yards and less was not the most ideal scenario" 724

Everyone that I hunt with, and I bet most folks here on this forum--724 included--seeks to kill game cleanly, in a humane fashion. But the real world sometimes dictates other terms, and in the final analysis, killing game is inherently violent. There are no two ways about it.

quote:

Originally posted by mousegun:
A good rifle shot KNOWS if the deer is mortally wounded before the rifle even recoils.

Wow! Your shooting is of such omnipotence that you can drop lighting bolts from heaven, instantaneously "dispatching" game with a bloodless CNS blow. What omniscience! You know before you even pull the trigger you have delivered the mortal blow!

As for the pics--get used to it. I've seen a lot worse, and I've shot a lot worse. If your stomach is so easily turned, perhaps you should consider becoming a Vegan.

friar

Sorry, Mouse...hope I've not been too hard on you, but, come on, give a guy a break.

P.s. I almost forgot--nice deer 724, and tell your dad congrats!

I missed it I guess, what kind of bullets were used?

factory 150 grain federal fusion. hand-rolled 180 grains are in the works. it's always been my dad's philosophy that a heavy bullet not flying at mach 27 is better than a smaller, more explosively fast bullet. this poor deer seems to support that theory. the gun won't shoot 165 factory loads, so the switch was made down instead of up. that will be remedied soon.

Well, despite the differences in opinion that you are going to get, I'm certainly not going to dog you or your dad.

The fact is, it is hunting. Shit happens. I've had a twig or two I didn't see when I let an arrow fly, shot at game where it appeared like a clear shot only to have my bullet deflected by weeds, or a barbwire fence, etc.

It's not glamorous, but at least it is the truth. I'd rather read the truth and see the photos in their untainted form as opposed to altered stories/pics just so they are eye appealing. I've heard it said that "candy coating is for candy asses."

Look at cape buff. How many shots does it take to put them down sometimes? Don't sweat the critics. You'll get a share of it but blow it off. It is what it is, and they've voiced their opinion, or will. Read it and move on.

I had a dead deer on a carrier rack attached to the back of a minivan half of the day today (shot it this morning). Something came up and my wife needed my help so I didn't get to go straight to the butcher. We got a few looks of disgust from some other drivers. I don't like to have a carcass visible but that is the way it worked out today.

Don't sweat some of these guys, man, I've had to shoot some deer more than once, too. It's always nice to get the bang/flop action, but it doesn't always happen that way (with deer, and especially with game bigger than deer). Nice deer, and keep on hunting.

Wow, What Doc said!

I guess I won't post a pic of the antelope my kid shot this year. She can drop them with one shot most of the time, but this year, I don't know what happened.

As far as good pic's, use the zoom and back up to fit them in the photo.

Nice deer.

Snapper, I'd like to see the pic.

I have been in on the killings of hundreds of deer most of them were clean one shot kills.

Every now and then something well happen and one goes bad.

But one thing I have learned is if they are still moving shoot them again. Too many deer are lost to hunters who think that the made a killing shot the first time only to find out it wasn't.

As some one else on the forum tag line is.

The famous last words of a trophy fee gone bad are don't shoot again you hit him hard the first time.

Ammo is cheap.

It is not what you do when things go right it is what you do when the shit goes bad. You guys did the right thing the deer is dead and did not get away. I shoot until they are down even if I know I hit them good a second bullet is good insurance. Nice buck by the way.

Doc:
Here is this years antelope Pic:



The last shot hit right between the eyes coming right at her.

very cool! thanks Snapper.

Lope hunting sure is fun isn't it?!!

Doc:

we have great time hunting together. Here is last years pic:




And here is her first Buck in 2003. 200 yds, age 16, gun 375 Scovill ('06 case wildcat)shooting 250 gamekings @ 2700 fps.

Well, you see what you get when you post an honest report? Guess in a perfect world all game goes bang-flop. Shoot enough game and shit does happen -- that's the reality of hunting. Congratulations on the successful hunt!

Nice antelope pics! I thought about buying more Doe tags in one unit. They had a few left but I only bought one. The way it turned out, I could have filled 3 tags in 2 minutes. I shot my one Doe, and the others ran a big circle and were less than 250 yards out.

How is the public hunting in MT for antelope? I'd like to hunt there. I've been going to WY, and in years past, AZ.

Whitworth, you are correct.

Doc:

Antelope hunting is pretty good in the Eastern part of the state. We hunt area 700 and haven't had a problem finding them.

You're hunting public or private?

Your not the first person that has told me the new Fushions blow up a good bit on whitetails. Makes me wonder how consistent these bullets are manufactured.

A real serious deer hunter I know used them last season and said he'd never use them again because they acted like varmint bullets. Yet a good many hunters have had good luck w/ them. Kind of makes you wonder about these new plated bullets .

Congrats on the bucks

Reloader

Doc:

We hunt Block management land (over 8 million acres), which is private land that hunters are allowed to hunt after signing up.

Snapper, do you recommend (based on your experience) that someone like me give it a try for a do-it-yourself hunt? I'm pretty good at doing legwork thru DNR, etc. I'd get the topo maps (well, I can do that now with Google Earth if I know a city nearby). Can you give me some reference places so I can scan the area?

That is how I started in WY.

Doc:

Give the Region 7 Miles City office (406-234-0900) a call and ask for the block management desk. Then ask for a 2006 Hunting access guide to region 7. You can also ask for up to 5 maps be sent per day and I would start by asking for maps in Fallon county, Southeast of Baker by Webster. In the 2005 book, I see map 2, 3 11, 21 & 12 look good. If I remember right one guy had a trailer I could rent for $25 per guy per night. Most of the land is around 6,000 acres and you should have no trouble locating Antelope. This year, it took us about 1 hour to walk around and crawl into position for the shot.

I would be happy to talk more on the phone, but it should be easy in this area to get started.

Let me know if you need more help.

Great, thanks, I'll make some calls this week. More than likely I'd be going by myself. Thank you, sincerely, for your help. I'll PM for any more info or if you want to chat on the phone.

Doc:

Lets keep in touch as I'm familer with some of these ranches and may be hunting that area next year. If so, we could meet in Miles city (Holiday Inn express) and discuss the hunt.

Miles City is 150 miles East of my house and about 90 from Baker. There is no good motels in Baker and we stay in Miles City and drive over for the sunrise.

Miles City also has game processing also which is nice if it's warm.

Wow, great, thank you for the offer.

I'll PM you my contact info tonight. You find a good place to eat and I'll treat for dinner. And I'll do all the field dressing!

snapper, pm sent.