Don't anyone get excited. This past weekend, several friends and my wife and I met up down in Fort Stockton Texas and went about 30 miles or so south of there on a white tail doe hunt.

One of the guns I carried was the CZ 550 Safari Magnum in 458. I have never gotten around to putting a scope on the thing, but after a little sight-in session last week I felt okay out to a hundred yards or so with the factory sights.

Sat. morning started out with my wife and I hunting out of a blind together. She got her first doe about 7:30 that morning with her 257 Roberts. As we were working on field dressing that doe, another one walked up on us, and I managed to get to my 35 Whelen and dropped it at less than 50 yards off-hand.

Then just before the rancher came to pick us up, Lora got a shot at another and now we had 3 down.

The rancher picked us and the 3 does up and we went back to camp. After everyone else got back we sort of had a group processing session so we could get the meat hung up in the walk in cooler.

We then had a big brunch and after that a couple of the folks went back to town to get ice, my wife took some medicine and laid down, she has really bad migraines and had been fighting one all morning and decided to try and do something for it.

I went out and cut up a small load of mesquite wood for cooking the steaks that Lora and I had brought for everyone's supper that night.

Around 3:00 p.m., everybody had got back to camp and started choosing up sides, getting ready to go back out to the stands. Lora was still sleeping, and since she had gotten her 2 does that a.m., and I needed to be close to camp to get the fire going to cook the steaks, I walked down to a stand that was a little over a hundred yards from camp.

This time I took the 458, I am using 350 gr. Hornady RN's at around 2200 fps. maybe less. I got in the stand a little after 4 p.m, and got comfortable. Due to the weather, the deer had been moving off and on all day. Around 4:15 or so, a doe came walking into the back side of the protein feeder I was watching. She hopped into the feed pen, fed for a while then jumped out and walked out of the clearing. I was following her with my sights, but didn't feel comfortable taking the shot while she was walking.

About 5 minutes after she left the feed pen, I looked over and saw her making her way back thru the brush toward the feed pen. She walked out into a clearing, that was in shadow from a large tree and stopped. I guessed the range after the shot at around 85 to 90 yards.

I settled the bead behind her shoulder, she was standing broadside with her her facing to my left. At the sound of the shot she went straight down. I got oput of the stand and went to get her. The bullet had entered her left side, just under her spine. The slug passed thru the bottom third of her spine and exited the right side, making about a 50 cent piece size exit hole.

No blood shot or "hamburgered" meat.

Now I know in a lot of peoples opinion, that isn't hunting, it is shooting, and I don't dis-agree with that line of thought. But with all or nearly all of the land in Texas privately owned, if you want to "Hunt", you have to play by the rules in force.

I also know a lot of folks will say that a 458 is way too big for shooting whitetails. All I can say to that is, I am the one that bought the gun, paid for the hunt, got to feel the recoil, and hand loaded that shell.

On top of that I made the shot with 56 year old eyes that aren't as sharp as they used to be, and got the pleasure of being in a beautiful part of Texas with a great bunch of folks, and getting to try out a new gun and drawing it's first blood.

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Originally posted by
I also know a lot of folks will say that a 458 is way too big for shooting whitetails. All I can say to that is, I am the one that bought the gun, paid for the hunt, got to feel the recoil, and hand loaded that shell.

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Great story and thanks.. Any your comment on no bloodshot meat is the counter stroke to anyone shooting a 270 and saying you ahve too much gun. I think the 458 is a pretty durn good whitetail and pig gun.. doesn't damage the meat anywhere like as bad as the high velocity small bores.

Good Job!!

jeffe

Crazyhorse
Looks to me like you and your wife "done good".

I hunt deer and wild pigs quite a bit with my big bores.
The Hornady 350 gr bullet is an excellent hunting bullet for the 45/70, 458, and my 450 No2 double rifle. It is one of my favorites.

Nice shooting, well done.

While no doubt you could have killed that deer with a scoped 243, you feel so much better doing it with an ironsighted 458.

I think they taste a little better when you do it that way too.

Congratulations on a good hunt!

I noticed exactly the same lack of wasted meat on whitetail using a .470 NE DR and 500 gr cast FPGC bullets. A very good thing.

Congrats. Same experience with the lack of bloodshot meat using the 350 gr Hornadys in my 45-70.

Hey game is game! My first "game" with my 9.3x62 was a crow...man that bird never new what hit it!

Like Elmer Keith said, "You can eat all the way up the hole"
Godbless those big bores.

Very interesting hunting story. I just finished my annual doe hunt here in the Texas Hill Country too, and I have to say "Amen" to your description of the hunt down here. It is do it the landowners way or not at all. One the other hand, sure does provide for excellent conditions for comparing the performance of deer rifles. I would never have thought of using a .458 on Whitetails, but it sounds like very similar peformance as I get from my "ancient" 6.5mms, dead deer, no meat loss. I shiver at the thought of all the meat I blasted when I was using a .270 WCF. Love the venison, hate the waste.

LLSierra
Mannlicher Collector

Crazyhorse: Great story, and thanks for sharing. You have no idea how lucky you folks are in Texas to have so many hunting opportunities, even if on private land. Oregon is something like 56 percent public lands and you pretty much get one chance at a deer per year; overall success rates are in the neighborhood of 25 percent, and much lower for elk.
Your .458 load makes a lot of sense. Makes me think that a CZ in .458 Lott loaded up and down the spectrum as the situation calls for would be a very practical and versatile rifle.

Good report.

Shoot'em with whatever you like. Might take my Lott out next time to put some more meat in the freezer.

Hog Killer

Hi . Here I am trying to defend useing a real rifle in brown bear country for shooting deer and here you guys are just haveing a great time.I could use a little support. I didn,t have very good success with the 350 hornady but I was pushing them @ 2500 fps. Believe it or not one of them chuncked in a hundred pound spike that I shot in No Throughfare bay. I,ve shot around 30 deer with the 458 win. and Its great. The 416 with 400 gr rn@ about 2200fps are great also. shoot them behind the shoulder and under the spine about 3" and the go right down from spinal concusion and usually bleed out befor they get their wits back about them.. Keep haveing fun with the 458. That way the companies will keep makeing brass..Thanks. gb out.

the northforks are famous for holding together...the 350 grainers should be devestating @ 2700 fps

Let's see. You tried a new gun. Got quality time with momma. Kept a Ranchers herd in check, I do not see a problem. The damage you described is far less than I do with a 140 Accubond out my 280. I plan on having my 416 XXX (Taylor, AR, Ruger)fill in the blank on a VZ24 fairly soon. I plan on busting a whitetail with it as soon as it is done unless a groundhog decides to play first.

want to see pictures of the rockchucks (groundhogs to you easterners) I shot with a 460 Wby?

I read that you:
a. got out to a hunt and gathering with family/friends.
b. got to blood your rifle with your handloads.
c. made a clean one-shot kill.
d. had a heckuva good time

Did I miss something? My 550 Gibbs Magnum will probably make a coyote its first kill...can't eat that!

Good on you!

Rich

Crazyhorse

I have an old Ruger 77 .458 African. I'm handloading the same Hornady 350 RN at about 2150 fps.

I have shot two does and a hand full of hogs with this load and had the same experience. Drops 'em right there and the best thing is no blood shot meat, like Elmer said, you can eat right up to the hole. Mine makes a hole about the size of a 50 cent piece going in and coming out. Kind of odd, makes a large entry hole every time.

I have a Leupold 1.5-5X and I just love hunting with this rifle. It feels like I'm in Africa stalking Cape Buff. Some days it feels like I'm Peter Capstick tracking Elephant.

In direct contrast, the other day I tried out my ZKK-602, 375 H&H loaded with 270 grain Hornadys at approximately 2800 fps. Shot a little buck and hit him in the spine. There was not too much blood shot meat however it blew a chunk out of his back about the size of a grapefruit.

Craftsman, first off, you are up in my old home grounds sort of. I grew up down around Olney and Newcastle in Young county.

My other two favorite rifles are my Ruger Model 77 (Tang Safety Model) in 35 Whelen and a re-worked Interarms Mark X in 375 H&H. Out of the 375 I use 250 gr. Barnes X bullets and am well pleased with the results on everything I have shot with it. Out of the Whelen I use the 225 gr. X bullets.

Good job CrazyHorse, you had a good time with friends and family and made a classic shot. As Elmer always said people nowadays keep "discovering" things he knew and was talking about in the 1930's and 40's! No severe meat damage and it dropped as if hit by lightening - perfect!

I love my M77 .458 WM, it's accurate, points like a good bird gun and the action is slick as butter.

CrazyHorse,

Make no excuses to me, sounds you had a heck of good time.



I know the feeling 'cause I had a similar expereince when I bought my Winchester Model 70 in .375H&H - couldn't wait to use it in the field.

The hapless victim turned out to be a 40 lb. Roe Buck Spike; same thing as you experienced is Spades; dropped at the shot and we ate right up the not bloodshot hole!

Crazyhorse

I was born and raised in Olney. Left there in 1965.

Craftsman, I was born at Olney Hamilton Hospital in 1950. Went to school in Olney from the 1st. thru 3rd. grades, then me and my family moved to Newcastle.

Everyone else, excuse us for the "Old Home Week" here.

Crazyhorseconsulting, you bought that .458 to shoot something big? And everyone tells you that before going on a safari you should practice? For your practice shoot at paper targets? Or whitetail does!

Many years ago, when I started as a Professional Hunter I hunted many impala with an open sighted .458 Win Mag. Mostly used reduced loads: 405 Grain cast @ 1800 ft/sec. Killed them dead with just about a 1/2'†diameter hole right through as the only meat lost. Sometimes, when I wanted two impala, I would use full house 500 grain reloads. I would stalk up to a herd, getting real close as a test and exercise for my stalking abilities, select a young male - I was hunting for meat, not trophies – make sure that there was no animals behind it. I would then stand up, shoulder the rifle aim and shoot it all in one motion. Then I reloaded as quick as I could and try to shoot a second one before they could disappear. This was done to practice using my .458 as a back up on DG hunts.

In those days I also on a few occasions took my .458 to hunt dassies, or as they are also known rock hyrax. I would stalk right up to a group feeding or just sitting on the rocks in the sun and then stand up from behind my cover and take shots at them as they run away it gives one as good practice at rapidly firing repeated shots as one can get. Yes I know that I was simulating a DG charge, and actually shot at animals running away from me. But a hyrax is just about the size of a buffalo brain, and if you become good at hitting a hyrax scurrying away from you over the rocks at some 40 yards, I’m sure it is good practice for facing a buff charging at 10 yards. At the time it was the best I could do. I still feel confident about my ability to back up a client on a DG charge.

You shoot what you want to, with whatever you want to; as long as you '...use enough gun...'!

In good hunting,

Andrew McLaren

I got a deer this season with the .458. I got one last year, and three the year before. In fact, the only game I've every shot with the .458 is these five deer.

The first four were shot with cast bullets at 1500-1600fps.

The deer this year was taken with a Remington 405gr at 2200-2300. Damage was markedly greater, but I still got a 1.5" exit hole.

I love my .458 and find it hard to hunt with any other gun.

RangerBob
What kind of 458 is it?

Ruger #1 Tropical

I didn't go looking for this gun, and certainly didn't need it, but it came up in a trade that I couldn't turn down.

Since then, it's become my favorite plaything.

I know it sounds silly, but I could probably hunt with this one rifle for the rest of my life. I hope I never have to settle for one rifle, though.

I was a little concerned about the integrity of the Remington 405gr at the speed I'm shooting it. I saw no problem on the one whitetail I hit. I hope to test it on a couple more deer this season. I further hope that it holds up OK on skinny southern whitetail.

Nice rifle, I like the Ruger No1's.
I have a 45/70 that I would never part with.
They are fun to hunt with.

I love the Ruger No 1, it's a great rifle. I had a gorgeous one in .458 but just wasn't using it as much as my M77 .458 so gave it up cuz I needed the money. I do miss it though.

I use 405 Rems alot but at 1925 fps. Its a very mellow and accurate load in the 9.5 pound M77 and yet knocks the crap out of just about any NA game handily. It's on par with the "hot" 45-70 loads everyone touts, so how can you go wrong?