Jon1 and myself were fortunate enough to be asked to cull deer on a friends farm. We had been before and shot several fallow but no roe or muntjac.
We started off well with 5 fallow on the first stalk, second stalk 5 fallow 4 roe 2 muntjac.
the muntjac I shot with the 264 winnie at 40yds, the doe was facing me and I shot her through the front with a 129sst hornady,we were asked to take them home as the dealer wouldn't take them.
We skinned them out down there and were absolutely amazed to see the an intact bullet lodged between the jacket and the rib cage.I,m beginning to think I need a bigger gun!!

We had a great time with great hosts and the pair of us were like giggling school kids all weekend,we saw for the 2 days about 200 fallow, on the previous foray we saw twice as many. We will certainly be looking forward to another invite when the doe season opens again, we will however have perform a little better if we are to get on top of this expanding fallow population..

regards
griff

Griff,

Didn't I tell you to take a zero off that cull you were expecting! Fallow are very difficult, I would say those numbers are good.

The muntjac has tough skin (as you found when you skinned it!) and seems to weigh more than it's size would dicate. I am not surprised you found a bullet shot front on, you're running your 264 at top end 6.5x55 and I have yet to have a front on penetration with any conventional bullet let alone a plastic tipped one.

I have recovered 154gr round noses out of a 7x57 in muntjac shot front on.

1894,
they were not difficult to stalk,but extremely jittery,the reason so I'm told is that the keepers shoot them after the pheasant season is by.On previous outings prior to the end of the pheasant season we found that they would stand while you got off at least 6 or even seven rounds,on this occasion one round was enough to cause a stampede.. Once we located a sizable group that were usually lying down in the kale, we took the first one to stand up and rest were taken with them on the run.
And as for those tough little critters, I related the story to friend of ours who commented that if they were as big as reds then it would be like trying to shoot a rhino..

regards

griff

Seeing you have access to Hornadys, how about Barnes TSX?

366torque,
got some on order! but like all things here in the UK we have to wait. I just hope they shoot better than the old barnes, the last box of barnes x I gave them to a friend after only loading ten rounds,He thought he could master them! I think he's still trying.

regards

griff

What no pictures!?!?!

Luke,
Jon1 has pic's,so when I speak to him next will get him to post them.

regards
griff

i'm guessing you were down in East Anglia, if your getting fallow in those numbers??

Sure i could be wrong though. Were often seeing them in gangs of forty when out foxing.

sws,
Gloucester, we have been seeing over 200 on a mornings outing.
very frustrating!!
regards
griff

As per Griff's request i am posting a few pics we took from last weekend's cull




This was a result of a 240 yrd shot taken in open arable pasture. Both animals were asleep in the sun. We came upon them from down wind and had plenty of time to assess the situation. Griff shot the doe first and i shot the buck as soon as he stood up - a plan well executed.





This was our recovery vehicle a Daihatsu F50 which was Y reg first time round but is just the job for recovering carcasses - note the high seat welded in the back and winch gear.





Just a the result of a outings work - we had a few more to contend with before the weekend was over.

A very enjoyable trip indeed and looking forward to the next time although i think the numbers next year will be almost plague proportions. Our host has had complaints from the tenant farmers that they are unable to grow a turnip crop so we will try and put a bigger dent in them next time but it is not as easy as one might think.

Hope you enjoy the pics

Dear All

We also have a fallow problem here is Worcestershire. I dont know what your thoughts are but I feel the choke point of control is not the shooting but the diposal of the carcasses into the game dealer. IMHO they make it as difficult as possible to sell the meat on from not collecting the beast to demanding neck shots and poor prices. The solitary nature of the deer manager means also cooperation between groups of hunters is riddled with suspicion and secretivness. A moderate sized hunting syndicate similar to Scandinavia would make appropriate management and carcass disposal so much more effective and social. I for one will not shoot a beast if there is no freezer for it to go into later. A small syndicate owned deer larder would easily solve the middle man problem and blood pools on the concrete floors, to keep with FSA a individual hunter,s individual cash layout would be prohibitive but as a group working together , that should be easy.Last weeks count was 2 fallow, one muntjac and a roe.

Regards

Mark

I'm curious as I haven't owned a 6.5 caliber rifle. Are there any 160 gr rn soft points available? They sound like much better penetrators for that type of shot. I rather like .358 or larger bullets in caliber. And I always find better penetration with long for caliber bullets. The one exception was a whitetail doe shot by my son with the 243 85 gr X. It hit the left front shoulder and was found in the right ham on butchering. Picture perfect too! Packy

A 129 from a 264 at 40 yds might do some strange things !!! You could use a 160 though twist may not be optimum.

packrattussnongratus/mete

yes 160gn are available but as you indicate might not be to stable out of the winnie.
just got some nosler partition, which anyone who knows me will have me as a turncoat, after years of slagging off NBT'S.
The 140gn partition should do the job and I hope that they will be suitable for boar?

regards
griff

BTs have to be over caliber .308 I think to have the really heavy jacket. Packy

Packy,
came to the same conclusion some time ago, great bullets, but performance is suspect on the smaller calibers..

regards
griff

quote:

Originally posted by griff:
1894,
they were not difficult to stalk,but extremely jittery,the reason so I'm told is that the keepers shoot them after the pheasant season is by.

griff

Griff - by the end of February Fallow will be running at the sound of a car engine stopping! The Deer Initiative are doing some work in Hertfordshire and have found that multiple guns on the ground is the only way to get good numbers. I think this is laziness - what it really needs is a dedicated local stalker. I live localy, where exactly did you say it was

1894mk2,
what happened to 1894mk1? did he ask questions like yours! Shame on you!!

regards

griff