First cast bullet deer

[Surfdog]

It was a couple of tough hunting days at my brothers place in Ohio. Our normal honey spot for bow season was seriously compromised by a hunter on an adjacent property...he was clearly hunting the area too hard, and had shot and killed but not recovered a buck and a doe that we found...one about a month old, the other about 2 weeks. Truly a shame, and one should have been an easy find 50 yards from his stand.

After a couple days of hunting, and realizing the spot was not good, I scouted a corridor on the other side of my brother’s property...right next to his other neighbors freshly cut corn field. With the wind at my back, I had two does pass 15 feet to my left, and as luck would have it a good looking fork was behind them, and I resisted turning to look through the moment. The does knew something was up and bolted straight away, and so did the buck when he was right next to me. I mouth grunted once and he stopped at 50 yards quartering away...one quick shot with the Marlin and he didn’t make it 20 yards.

I shot him with water dropped wheel weight LBT 260...wow...what a big hole.

Surfdog




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[Smoke4320]

Congrats. Its nice to put meat in the freezer especially with your own cast bullets

[Friends call me Pac]

fantastic

[richhodg66]

Nice little buck, congrats. Sure looks like some nice country there.

Maybe I missed it but what caliber is your lever gun?

[Thumbcocker]

Congratulations. .44?

[Jeff Michel]

Nice job, he's going to eat just fine.

[Camba]

Good shooting!

[Surfdog]

The Marlin is a .44 Magnum.


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[outdoorfan]

Congrats! Love the story and pics! that is a BIG hole! What velocity approx is that load running, if ya know?

[Surfdog]

Congrats! Love the story and pics! that is a BIG hole! What velocity approx is that load running, if ya know?

The load is 18.3 gr 2400 and the LBT weighs in at 265 with lube and gascheck. In my SBH, it clocks at just under 1200fps, so I figure it is in the neighborhood of 1350 in the Marlin. Easy load to shoot from both pistol and rifle.

[castalott]

It's hard to beat 44 out of a rifle up close... well done!

[Beau Cassidy]

Good job!

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[nagantguy]

Way to get it done;amazing how easy some bucks are to turn or stop with a grunt sometimes even a whistle. That is a great load for the .44, my contender shoots a very similar boolit with about the same amount of 2400 into nice clover leaf groups!

[rondog]

Nice, congrats! What vintage/model is the Marlin? Obviously an 1894 with a Skinner peep, but what year & model? No checkering, big plus! Can't tell if it has the crossbar safety, but looks like not.

[Surfdog]

I’m not exactly sure the vintage of the Marlin...I want to say early 1980’s. It is just the right amount of banged up that it makes a great hunting rifle. There is no safety, and overall the metal is in very good condition. It came complete with scratches here and there, and a poor install of the sling stud in the butt stock right through the bullseye. I got it with a B&L Elite scope mounted in decent rings, but I really prefer the peep sight for the distance the .44 is really reliable for. I like the simplicity and ruggedness of the Skinner peep, and once I really dial in a load over the winter I’ll likely trim the front sight a bit to lower the peep a bit. I have not slugged it, but it keyholes Lyman’s 255 keith bullet, but shoots the .432 LBT good and really likes the MP433-640 plain base that Shuz talked me into earlier in the year.

[30hrrtt]

Great job on a nice deer. The 44 mag is my favorite rifle for deer hunting. Just gets it done and is what I used for my first self-cast boolit deer. Great memories.

[Ramjet-SS]

Great shooting and some fine table fare there.

[Mgvande]

Nice deer. Nice weather too.

[white eagle]

well excellent and using your own fodder to boot
congrats

[44 flattop]

Dandy buck, nice rifle, and fantastic load!

After killing scores of deer and a few dozen elk with the caliber using cast exclusively, I always laugh when hearing it is a marginal caliber for hunting.