Third WT with the 223 and first WT buck. It was a rodeo.. made a couple of poor shots with my friends 7-300WM shooting 195 berger eols at approx 550 yds. Due to the terrain and timber I wasnt able to get inside the 400 yards I needed for 1900 fps with the 223. I got down to 350 but wasnt able to see into the timber pocket he was in because of the elevation. I ended up going back up to 550 and taking a couple dry fires with buddies rifle before shooting the deer twice, both non fatal hits. One in the lower leg and one higher up in the leg/brisket. I ended up taking the 223 and trying to sneak in to where he had layed back down again with buddy staying up high to guide me in. I busted the the buck at approx 40 yards and followed him to where he had stopped again, took an offhand standing shot at approx 60 yds with the crosshairs on center neck and dropped him in his tracks with 73 gr eldm and 23.5 gr of varget.
Some poor decisions were made and lessons learned. A strong serving of luck was on our side. Some key takeways, even with a brake, I wasnt able to see impacts. My ears are still ringing and magnums don't help with poor shot placement.
I gutted him just to check and see if anything from my first 2 shots were effective and there was absolutely zero internal damage.