Target deer ?

[Ketchn]

Some deer on our place have been groomed over all year in photos , some were designated as "target deer " , either because they had not what I like in horn configuration and or had exactly what I like in horn configuration.
The list included several 8 points and 10 points, con uno 11 , one big 6 point and several spikes.
Are we blessed to have so many target deer you might ask , well heck yeah is the answer
Now mind ya this , when you hunt our place , you will likely see several deer .
We do not shoot does simply because we do not have large numbers of them .
If a group of does does make an appearance it is quite likely a buck is nearby .
Saturday morning a small group of 3 does and a button buck showed up at first light .
Really nervous about who was in the area for sure .....
they watched the woods intently all huddled up for a bit as I sat quietly and watched closely ......
Me thunk a good one is close , they wouldn't be that nervous over a lil buck for sure ......
7: 10 am they were all antsy , 7 : 15 .... K A B O O M !
He left one leg hanging at high speed , H asked if I lost him ....
Said not likely bro , hurt bad was that big 6 .....
So when someone goes off and thinks I won't shoot a cull buck ,when a big 10 or 11 is near
Well that just ain't so ......
by 7 :15 Sunday morning he was a boiled head and meat in the freezer .....just saying
p.s. during the field dress part I was amazed to find my spent round in the top of his heart !
went 40 yards and not a drop of blood , go figure ....
probably one of my top 10 hunts for sure , seemed scripted and not terribly tough on my older bones , good stuff for sure , my only regret is my grandson wasn't with me on the hunt ....

[Ketchn]

p.s. the squirrel was bothersome and a flea bag and got it while I boiled the head , just saying

[SuperDave336]

That's pretty cool with the bullet stuck in the heart. Never seen that before. Good job, good eats.

[Ketchn]

That's pretty cool with the bullet stuck in the heart. Never seen that before. Good job, good eats.

H was keeping stuff from the inside of said buck , liver , kidneys and then wanted the heart .....
when I reached in there I told him it was not good , the top was blown right up and it was full of bone fragments .....
until right when my hand went to pull on it a bit more and I said WOAH bro , I am pretty sure one of them fragments was my bullet !
well as you can imagine the chest cavity was a sludge pool of blood and bone , the slippery rascal got away from me in the mess ....
took me a good bit to find it again as it fell down further into the sludge ....

["D"]

Nice healthy size. Perfect shaped rack. Good shot.

[Ketchn]

Nice healthy size. Perfect shaped rack. Good shot.

likely 3.5 years old and to be VERY sure after raising deer a few years inside a high fence , I know for sure whatever they are antler wise at 3.5 is what they will almost always be later in life , it will get lots bigger at 4.5 but the configuration will remain the same basically and at 5.5 it will get lot's more mass , but at best that buck would possibly only be an 8 with really weak brow tines if any down the road , might grow a kicker or 2 ....and get pretty wide , but I much prefer a solid 8 or a 10 over what this fella was sporting at 3.5 , we discussed the need many times for one of us to harvest him this year ,,,,,so for sure it met my expectations and no one eats horns anyway ,,,,right ...

[MCG1]

He's been eating free vittles for awhile, eh? My buddy picked up my buck head to boil it yesterday. Hope it turns out as nicely as yours. So, what caliber and type of bullet? I've seen them under the far side hide, but never in the cavity like that!

[Ketchn]

He's been eating free vittles for awhile, eh? My buddy picked up my buck head to boil it yesterday. Hope it turns out as nicely as yours. So, what caliber and type of bullet? I've seen them under the far side hide, but never in the cavity like that!

me either , NEVER seen that before , but to be sure it went thru the big bones on the lower shoulder before it quit and it was amazing to see such a light penetration from a 150 grain 30 06 round at such close range ....around 45 yards away and my rifle is a bolt action too ....
might have went 12 inches into the buck total .....pretty much, not much for sure ....go figure

[J White]

me either , NEVER seen that before , but to be sure it went thru the big bones on the lower shoulder before it quit and it was amazing to see such a light penetration from a 150 grain 30 06 round at such close range ....around 45 yards away and my rifle is a bolt action too ....
might have went 12 inches into the buck total .....pretty much, not much for sure ....go figure

Bullet performance on deer has always fascinated me, and been the subject of much experimentation with my reloads. I was lucky to be in a club for about 8 years when my kids were younger, got to do a lot of post-mortem exams. Ours, and the other 20 or so guys in the club. I’ve put most of em through deer at various angles, from basic soft points up through barnes solid coppers. I’ve noticed close shots where velocity is higher tend to make them open more violently, penetrate less. Add in some bone hit, and there ya go. Everybody has different situations and preferences, but I’ve settled on 150 nosler partitions out of a 300 H&H pushing 3400 fps mv. Effective without being too messy, and got a reserve amount of penetration if needed. Never caught one of those, but have found partitions from a 243 under the hide on the butt of a chest shot deer. My so-called primitive rifle is a 375 H&H slinging 235 Speer hot cores at 3000
I did dig one of those out of a pine tree behind a buck I shot once. I got a little excited and clipped his spine in to. Rifle is an 1885 Winchester, buck came out and sun hit antlers, thought it was a lot bigger. Got a bead and started trying to cock the hammer, it was GONE lol. In my haste I had snagged the lever on my coat and partially opened the action, which drops the hammer down into the well on an 1885. Had to take it off my shoulder and look to see the problem. Since then I grip it with a finger wrapped over the lever


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[Ketchn]

Bullet performance on deer has always fascinated me, and been the subject of much experimentation with my reloads. I was lucky to be in a club for about 8 years when my kids were younger, got to do a lot of post-mortem exams. Ours, and the other 20 or so guys in the club. I’ve put most of em through deer at various angles, from basic soft points up through barnes solid coppers. I’ve noticed close shots where velocity is higher tend to make them open more violently, penetrate less. Add in some bone hit, and there ya go. Everybody has different situations and preferences, but I’ve settled on 150 nosler partitions out of a 300 H&H pushing 3400 fps mv. Effective without being too messy, and got a reserve amount of penetration if needed. Never caught one of those, but have found partitions from a 243 under the hide on the butt of a chest shot deer. My so-called primitive rifle is a 375 H&H slinging 235 Speer hot cores at 3000
I did dig one of those out of a pine tree behind a buck I shot once. I got a little excited and clipped his spine in to. Rifle is an 1885 Winchester, buck came out and sun hit antlers, thought it was a lot bigger. Got a bead and started trying to cock the hammer, it was GONE lol. In my haste I had snagged the lever on my coat and partially opened the action, which drops the hammer down into the well on an 1885. Had to take it off my shoulder and look to see the problem. Since then I grip it with a finger wrapped over the lever


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once shot a button buck facing me head on with a 30 30 marlin and some factory remington ammo right square in his chest at about 50 yards
found the bullet in deep in his ham when I cleaned up that mess ....