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Rifle in hand, meat in the freezer....sounds successful to me. I've taken many deer down through the years...mostly jacketed...some cast. The deer gets dead either way. If you wouldn't have told us you used jacketed and made such a big deal out of it...we'd have said "nice job" just the same.
Yeah...I know...it's a pride thing...I have that issue sometimes too.
I agree with your last statement...if the rifle is finicky with cast...keep at it and find what works. I think something in the 190-225gr for an '06 would be a great boolit. I have a 177gr Lovering that I would like to try in my '06...but I'm afraid it might be too light. (I like 'em heavy).
redhawk
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I have killed a total of 3 bucks with cast in my 110 Savage ‘06. Two of them were 10 pointers (both big deer for my area of Texas). The other was a cull buck. Two were killed with a 311041 and the other (the largest) with a flat nosed version of the Lee 312185. All were loaded with 32 gr of H4895. All were shot at 100+ yards. The 2 shot with the 311041 were quick 1 shot kills. Not so much with the other. That deer was hit through the lungs just like the others but was still alive 15 minutes after the shot when I found it. I felt bad about that. I say all this just to point out that a true/proven hunting bullet needs to be selected when using any .30 caliber with cast.
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So far, I've killed three with cast in .30 calibers, an Ideal 31141 in a .30-30, the Ranchdog 165 in a .308 and the NOE version of the 311041 in a .300 Savage. I've also used a .32 Special, .358 Winchester, .351 WSL, a .45-70 and a 7x57, plus several different muzzle loaders. Within their range limitations, they seem to kill about as quickly as jacketed do.
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Don't beat yourself up over using jacks. I do sometimes because it is easier and faster if I don't have any cast ready to load. Killed 3 deer with cast in 30 cal., 2 with 311466 and 1 with 31141 from my .300 Savage 99G. They seemed to die as quickly as with jacks and one was 200 yards away. Never needed a second shot for any. Killed a few with my .45/70 using paper patched pure lead.
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How's that go....bad days hunting....good days working? Long as you get to go it's all good.
Siamese4570
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Congratulations on a successful hunt. Let us know if it tastes different killing it with jacketed over cast or broad head. ;-)