Got away for a weekend deer hunt with my son

Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
364
I spoke to a friend a few weeks back about a visit to his property. I mentioned a couple of possible weekends and he said the 30/9-1/10 worked best for him, so we booked it in. Then a week before we were due to leave, I realised it was the Australian Football League grand final weekend with a public holiday Friday, so I had the 29th off as well.

Anyhow, my son and I headed up north for the weekend, arriving midday Friday. Once we got organised Friday afternoon, my friend suggested that we should go and sit in a small gully at the back of the property for the evening, so we got organised and headed out. We parked the ute and walked in about an hour before sunset. While walking in we got honked by a sambar hind. My son was in front of me, but tree cover prevented me seeing the deer. I could see my son with his rifle shouldered for 5 seconds or so, but then he motioned me over to him. He could see the deer at around 90 meters, but only its head and a small section of its neck had been visible so he felt it was a no-shoot situation. We were both fully covered with face masks, gloves, etc, and the hind had turned and walked off, so we decided since it seemed pretty undisturbed that it was still worth sitting there, but we didn’t see anything else there before the light ran out.

The next morning we were up early headed out to the same gully and had parked the ute by 5:30. We walked in and split up at around 6:00 am. I had only been walking for about 5 minutes when I heard a shot. After waiting a moment with no further shots, I headed down to where we had separated, then followed the trail he had taken.

The next morning we were up early and headed out to the same gully and had parked the ute by 5:30. We walked in and split up at around 6:00 am. I had only been walking for about 5 minutes when I heard a shot. After waiting a moment with no further shots, I headed down to where we had separated, then followed the trail he had taken. My son was carrying his 458 Win Mag loaded with 300 grain Barnes TTSX BT bullets made for the 458 SOCOM. As he had rounded the corner, he spotted 2 does feeding and belted one at about 50 meters. It dropped on the spot and thrashed around for a couple of seconds, before regaining its feet and running off. A quick search showed no blood at all, but we quickly found where it had expired after 20 paces.


The bullet hit towards the front of the shoulder and exited around the centre of the off-side shoulder. The exit showed a square hole typical of an expanded Barnes X. My son was carrying a knife he made himself and was keen to test it out breaking down a deer, so he set to work and we recovered the back straps and all 4 legs. The hind was in great condition, and should be a great eater. Fortunately the pack out wasn't too difficult, and we were back at my friends house relaxing by around 8:00am

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OP
R
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
364
When my son was butchering the off side shoulder, he found one of the copper petals and a bit of the plastic tip near where the bullet had exited. We were running this bullet a little over the velocity it was designed for, but I was a surprised to see the petal brake off. Just judging by the exit wound, I would say the other three petals were still attached to the bullet shank. The deer was hit hard with both shoulders broken. It dropped to the ground and only ran 10 - 20 meters, so I am definitely not calling this a "bullet failure". Anyhow, it was a neat thing to find.

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Joined
Mar 1, 2017
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Eagle River, AK
When you push the bullet fast the pedals breaking off will help with deeper penetration. on another note hammer bullets are designed for the pedals to shear causing more trauma and bigger wound channel.

I would say they bullet performed well, especially gong through so much bone.

Congrats on a successful hunt
 
OP
R
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
364
When you push the bullet fast the pedals breaking off will help with deeper penetration. on another note hammer bullets are designed for the pedals to shear causing more trauma and bigger wound channel.

I would say they bullet performed well, especially gong through so much bone.

Congrats on a successful hunt
Yeah, we are definitely pushing this particular bullet past what it was designed for, probably 400fps or so more at the muzzle. I have shot 20 or 30 animals with Barnes X bullets, but this was the first time we have hunted with this specific bullet.
 
OP
R
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
364
Congrats. Pix are not displaying for me, which is a durn shame.


Eddie
Hopefully its just a blip with the server as they seem to be working okay. Let me know if its an ongoing problem as I can post them to the thread if its affecting peoples ability to see them.
 
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