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I just got home. I killed my best buck. A broken 13 pointer as he laid, he is 11. A solid 4 year old. He is not tall, but his bases are thicker than my wrist. I killed him just still hunting into the wind on an oak ridge over a creek bottom with draws coming up to a bench. He came out of the creek on the bench behind two does and two small bucks that were cussing in front of him. When he got to the bench below me he turned left at 45 yards. I do not know if I got him to stop mouth grunting, or if he simply paused when he turned. I killed him with my new 358 STA USRA’s Winchester Model 70 Custom restocked by McMillan in a SuperGrade Mcwoody. The load was a 280 grain Swift A frame at a “sedate” 2662 fps. I took him 4 inches below the spine and just off the shoulder blade. The on shoulder blade was broken. The bullet exited right over the ball of the off leg. The off leg is held on by one strip of hide. Everything above the diaphragm was liquified. No tree stands, no blinds, no feeders, no ozonics; just still hunting into the wind after an ice storm. | ||
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Congrats Joshua. Sounds like you have hunted a true trophy buck with real skill. Hope we get to see a pic soon. Well done getting your new pride and joy blooded. Hunting.... it's not everything, it's the only thing. | |||
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Without exception, every time you write, "358 STA" in my mind I instinctively say, "KAPOWIE!!!" It's like when you get a song stuck in your head. | |||
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That sounds like a proper hunt. Looking forward to a pic. | |||
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It was more blessing or luck than skill. I just picked the right ridge that day. I had the scope on a 4 or 6 point that shoved its noise into a doe. It was quarrying hard away. “I could unzip you. No.” I had just rolled the safety back to on, lowered the rifle, and all I saw to the right was the back two things and a noticeably bigger deer. I remember thinking, “I do not have to look to see his tines.” Then I broke him. The STA in my rifle (pretty heavy( does not kick at all at this sedate velo. I have killed one older but downhill. One a little smaller, but really broke up. I have missed 2 bigger, and killed a parcel of smaller ones. | |||
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Good job Plenty of gun for a whitetail at 45 yards. | |||
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Post a pic of the buck Joshua and a pic of the rifle. Well done sir. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J. Lane Easter, DVM A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991. | |||
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Yes, it is. However, he dropped to the shot without a kick or gasp. I like to hunt deer and such with the rifle I take elk hunting and to Europe. I have a cow elk tag next month and Red Stag next September. This is actually my most accurate rifle. Some here have seen the group. This is going to cause heat, but it is honest reporting. On the flip side, last year a young man hunting a 500 acre cut corn field killed the biggest, a legit 300 pounder. The buck processed out 100 pounds. He’s got it with a 223, AR 4 times. After I killed this buck, he went back there. A taller one came through. He hit it. His dad said it bucked like a bull. He only got one shot. We found one splash of blood the size of my index finger tip. We never found it. That is the difference between shooting them in a cut field and shooting them in an oak thicker. No, I am not saying you need a 358 STA to kill a whitetail. Dr Easter: I can email them to you. | |||
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Great buck !     "Let me start off with two words: Made in America" | |||
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Thank you Bugle. Guys, if you can zoom in or click on the photos and look at his bases. | |||
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Great buck and a beautiful rifle! ~Ann   | |||
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Thank you. It was a very special day. Thank you guys for sharing him with me. | |||
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Really nice deer! Mike 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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Nice buck. I have shot deer with 22lr to .458 DRG calibers. I prefer A bit more then a bit less. Two holes make for easier tracking. A good blood trialing dog makes finding those that do not leave a good trail easy. | |||
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Thank you both: PD: I obviously concur. It is also good practice for bigger game to use the rifle you will be taking. | |||
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Nice buck Joshua. And, I love the rifle! Well done my friend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J. Lane Easter, DVM A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991. | |||
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Thank you. The rifle means a lot to me, but they all do. How is your deer hunting going? Did Texas get hit with this cold? | |||
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Nice buck! Guns and hunting | |||
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It is frosty this morning on the Red River. Season opens in OK this weekend but I have to go speak at a convention in San Antonio. Will start hunting the week of Thanksgiving. I usually hunt Texas in December.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J. Lane Easter, DVM A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991. | |||
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Mike and Hogbreath: Thank you as well. | |||
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Joshua, you may have posted something on some other forum but I would enjoy seeing a few close ups of your nice .358 STA rifle sometime when you get the chance. ~Ann | |||
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There were photos posted in the Medium Bore sub forum here in the USRA’s stock and after McMilan restock. I sent the rifle (minus factory stock) to McMillan to be stocked by them. The barrel is free floated to the secondary lug on both sides of the lug. McMillan pillar beds the action screws, but would not bed the action. I thought it would need bedding, but I did not have the time nor the power of will to ship it somewhere for months waiting on a bedding job. Bedding does not appear necessary. I shot my best 5 shot group with this rifle and the 280 grain A frame. 3 in the quarter sized bull, l whole, 1 right above that cluster, 1 right below. If you will pm me an email, I will send you pics of the rifle and group. I named her Ila which is an Inuit feminine name meaning companion according to Google. I would gladly post more pics, but I do not have a secondary photo hosting site, and I am bad at photos. The Solti I also has the “Magnum” fill. I meant to get a red recoil pad, but I did not specify as I am a little punchy on remembering such things. | |||
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Lively buck and a great rifle. Mine is built on an ABolt and I am hopi g to get a load developed this summer. Unless I get a chance for a moose in the lower 48 or a trip to Alaska it will be used on Whitetails, mulies and Elk. I still haven’t decided on a load but but likely I will go with a moderate load like you did but with a lighter bullet. DRSS Kreighoff 470 NE Valmet 412 30/06 & 9.3x74R | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting American Big Game Hunting My Best Buck! and 358 STA PHOTOS
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