Little Alberta Whitetail

[CAC]

Headed out this morning and man was it cold, -20c. Buddy of mine was showing me a new area that was close to home. We split up, he took the low route and I the high. After climbing to the top of a ridge I was to follow I paused to take a breath. As I standing there I thought heard something coming my way, it was breezy and I wasn't sure if it was just the trees. A minute later a wt buck comes up and passes within 25yds. I grunt, he stops, I fire. He made it about 40yds after the shot. I was shooting a 45-70 loaded with Ranch Dogs 425gr wcww. The bullet passed through the deer and a small tree. I tried to find it, but no luck.

Chris

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[waksupi]

Good going, Chris. Only good buck I saw today, was in someone's front yard. Saw one four point with a doe, and let him go. Tomorrow, being the last day, I don't imagine I'm going to be so picky!

That tree looks a few board feet short of Boone and Crockett!

[Nrut]

Nice going Chris....quite the penetrator that bullet!.......also looks like you fella's don't have the pine beetle in your area........

[RugerFan]

Nice buck. I hope to do as well before season runs out.

[Ranch Dog]

OUTSTANDING!!! Glad to see that boolit working hard up in the cold country!

[swheeler]

Nice!

[357maximum]

I would take a "lil alberta whitetail" just like it any day...good job...

You do realize how long you gotta cook that tree to make it tender..right?

[Four Fingers of Death]

Excellent! Meat and firewood with one shot! Mick.

[JDL]

Most excellent, Chris, nice deer! What powder charge and velocity? -JDL

[CAC]

The one thing we are short of around here are B&C pine trees. This one is about average for the area. :) Nrut the pine beetle is showing up east of the rockies now. Actually just a few km away near Canmore they found some a couple of years back. We don't have the cold we used to, which would kill the larve.
The load was 53 3/4gr ish of AA2460, the bullet just touches the powder with that load. I've ran my 405gr to 62gr which is quite punishing. I have no idea the velocity, but they do hit about 3 in lower than the 405gr. The bullets are water quenched and unsized alox lubed. I like the accuracy. I just have to fight the habit of tinkering as it was the first load I tried.

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[Bigjohn]

Chris;

I like your outfit mate; whats the details. It's definately a Marlin but looks like its fitted with a peep/receiver sight?

Good shot to but can you tone it down abit as I think it was your piece of lead that bounced off my front door.:kidding: Truth be known, it's probably still going.
BTW, how thick was that tree?

Best wishes, and good shooting,

John.

[piwo]

Man, what a brute! He was packin away the groceries for the winter!!!

[45stomp]

Nice work.......those northern bucks get a mite larger than the southern ones......body size anyway.
Stomp:drinks:

[CAC]

Bigjohn the rifle is a Marlin Guide Gun. I've sanded the butt stock and added a pachmayr recoild pad and spacer to give a bit more length of pull. I also hand planed the fore stock flush with the metal fixins. Then Tung oiled it. The sight is a williams FP and the front is modified stock sight(filed to post and put an angle on like a sourdough). The tree was only about 8-10 in thick. I've shot those through 18" of green pine at 100 yards.

He had a pile of fat on him, he was in good shape for winter. Plus his coat was thick.

One thing that I might mention as to the bullet performance is that there was little meat damage. Which suprised me because when I shot him I noticed right away that I broke what appeared to be his front shoulder. When I skinned him His leg was broken 8 inches below where the bullet stuck. No bones were hit going in or out. ??:-?

[Ranch Dog]

Thanks for the report CAC. I've broken both legs of a deer without actually striking bone. The bullet was the TLC432-285-RF out of my 444 Marlin. I guess it just hits them so hard...

[9.3X62AL]

"Whiplash" leg bone breakage........JEEZ!

NICE WORK, Chris.

[Bigjohn]

That is one impressive package there CAC, and it works well. Yes, I once had a Marlin in 45/70. Sold it and went to single shot rifles.

Again,well done,

John.