Skeeter Load for Deer?

[Markopolo]

i personally rarely see any blood here in the thick dark rain forest.. its like it is sucked up into the ground.. that is why I use my dog missy.. aint no arguing with a good nose and some training..



i used to use the skeeter load and liked it a lot. just needed a bit more Horsepower up here... but completely agree with the use of a gas check'ed soft boolit. completely devastating on deer in the 44.

[mattri]

Very interested in this.

Have been working with a 400gr boolit @ 1500fps in a 450 Bushmaster. Accuracy is excellent at 100 and 3-4" at 200.

I would like to use this on IA whitetails to appr 150 yards, does this sound reasonable?

[megasupermagnum]

Very interested in this.

Have been working with a 400gr boolit @ 1500fps in a 450 Bushmaster. Accuracy is excellent at 100 and 3-4" at 200.

I would like to use this on IA whitetails to appr 150 yards, does this sound reasonable?

Sighted at 125 yards puts you about 3" high at 75, and 3 1/2" low at 150, which shouldn't be a problem. I personally sight for a plus or minus 2" to 2 1/2" range, but 3 1/2" high or low shouldn't be the end of the world.

[yeahbub]

Mattri, I hunted for years with a Super Blackhawk .44 Mag with the Lyman 429215 weighing 220gr lubed and checked, loaded to 1100-1200fps at the muzzle. IIRC, my longest shot was some 80 yards and even that one one was a shoot-through. I never managed to recover a boolit in the deer. Your .45 cal 400gr will have plenty of horsepower beyond 200 yards. Its been a while since I read the articles, but the performance you quote sounds similar to .45-70 carbine ballistics. This is just an approximate comparison, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect 1200fps at 150 yards and you still have almost twice the mass and energy I had. Even if you shot one lengthwise, I doubt it would fail to completely penetrate. Deer are just not that heavily built. Shot placement is always a top priority, but if you can connect properly, it'll sure do the job. The .450 Bushamster doesn't seem a flat-shooting long distance candidate, but within the range limits you gave, I wouldn't hesitate to use it on bigger game too.

[wch]

Hunted and shot deer with Skeeter's 44 progeny, the 41 Remington Magnum. 8 grs Unique, 210 gr cast lead bullet.

[sixshot]

I've taken maybe 8 deer with 3 different 44 specials using the Skeeter load, a 4 5/8's, a 5 1/2" bisley & a 7 1/2" flat top bisley. Never recovered a bullet but I had no problem recovering the deer. It's a wonderful load, easy to shoot, accurate in all 44 specials & a proven deer killer. I need to take one with my 696 some time.

Dick

[lscg45]

I've taken three deer with the Skeeter load. a buck and two does. all three were shot at about 45 yards and all three shots broke the front shoulder, took out the heart, broke a rib and exited. the buck made it 20 yards before going down and the does made it 60.

[gunseller]

I will go a lighter load yet. I call it my rabbit load. 210 swc over 6 grains red dot in a 44 mag. I have shot one deer with this load and don't plan on more. It was a nonlethal hit deer standing ar 115 steps. Bullet hit heart turned and came back out same side. Bullet passed off to my left. Looked like 5 gallons of blood on ground. Deer want 10 feet. I have recovered 1 round ball from deer. At about100 yards it showed hair Mark's on one side but was still round enough that it could have been shot again. 54 cal rifle and 100 grains goes 3f.
Steve

[bmortell]

so another question could be, if you know your shooting a flat point thats a few hundred fps below expected expansion threshold, should you just cast it hard so it stays nice and flat and not giving it the option to "mush" into a more round shape when it hits a rib or something?

[BKDinTexas]

Many people, including myself, have extolled the so-called Skeeter Load: 7.5 grains of Unique with the 429421 in 44 Special case. In my 6.5" S&W 624 this goes ~975 FPS. I have personally verified this is an accurate load and a pleasant load. And it works pretty much with any ~255 grains SWC: the 429244, H&G 503, etc.

But has anyone taken any deer with it? At what range? What impact location? It seems like it should be adequate, but I am curious.

Yes. Deer and hogs. I works flawlessly and without drama. I have yet to recover a bullet.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk