GaryT you have to be a dentist! or physician

Can you share the Blue Dot Load for the 308?

Hey guys,

Meant to wait until end of deer season to give a report, but things have been so slow on the site I thought I'd go ahead and give the report now. This year's deer season has been a "magical" season for both myself and my 10 year old son. It will be a season to remember.



Opening day I killed a nice 8 point (14 1/4" inside/140" # live wt/ 3.5 years old) at 160 yards w/ my 257 JDJ. I was on a tower stand near the mid portion of a large powerline (80 yds X 500yds) Deer came out in tall grass, but I was able to stop it w/ a bleat when it was about 4/5 across the power line. At the shot, it appeared to be hit. Ran hard 10 yards, getting into a thicket. Found it about 35 yards into the thicket. Was very pleased w/ the loads's (90 gr Sierra HP/RL 15/2700 fps) performance. Bullet entered just behind the near shoulder, just above heart, and exited at opposite shoulder. Nice entrance and exit holes. Heavy blood trail.



My son's killed two deer so far w/ his new gun, a Savage 308 Win bolt action. I thought some of you might be interested in his experiences as his load is similar to many 30 cal handgun loads, a 125 gr Nosler BT @2400 fps (using Blue Dot powder). First deer was a nice 8 point buck. Deer came out of woods walking directly to us on a right of way. My son was hesitant to shoot, waiting for a broadside shot. Finally got him to get a shot off at 50 yds after I stopped the deer w/ a bleat. The deer had turned slightly so that he had a severe angle toward us. At the shot, the deer whirled and ran back into the woods, appearing unhurt. My son said he was holding "just behind the shoulder." Not surprisingly, we didn't find a single drop of blood, but did find a dead deer 125-150 yards into the woods after searching 1 1/2 hours. My son learned a valuable lesson on shot placement. I told him he'd never place that same shot again on purpose. Bullet entered took out distal 1/3 of lungs and portions of liver and stomach. Didn't find the bullet or an exit hole. Not bad bullet performance cosidering the circumstances. Explanined to my son that I need to work w/ him more on bullet placement on non-broadside shots. The buck had a tight "basket rack" and a live wt of 135#.



His next deer was an average size doe shot w/ mild quartering away @ 100 yards. I told him the "Gods of Hunting" were smiling on us that hunt. We'd been on the stand 5 minutes w/ beautiful weather when 2 doe & 2 yearlings appeared at 200 yards, fed down a 30 yd wide pipe line to within 100 yards, and then the doe turned nearly broadside in middle of the pipe line. At the shot, she ran only 35 yds, leaving a heavy blood trail. Bullet (same load as above) entered just behind the off shoulder and exited at point of off-side shoulder, about 2/5 up the chest. Large entrance and exit holes.



Although the season's not over yet, it's clearly been a very memorable one. My son's hopefully has learned valuable lessons w/ shot placement, looking for wounded deer, and following a blood trail. I've been very pleased w/ the performance of all the loads. I'm still hoping I can get one more deer w/ either my 338 JDJ#2 or my 308 Win Striker.



I'd like to share some pictures on the forum, but don't know the mechanism to do so. I checked the FAQ, but it was rather vague, saying the "image must already be available on a web server." Does anyone have more specific information?



Hope your seaons go well, also.



Gary T.

>but it was rather vague, saying the "image must already be available on a web server." Does anyone have more specific information?

Gary, you have to upload the photo to a server/host/site somewhere on the Internet. Then you simply put the photo's address into the "Instant UBB Code" window.

Many places host photos for free. Warning: make sure the photo's file size is around 75k or 80k. Megapixel photos are useless for Internet use as they take forever to download on dial up connections.