Bass Ackward
11-29-2006, 12:20 PM
I took a 280 grain Keith in a 44 Mag that I hollow pointed slightly (7 grains of lead removal) and used it on a deer. This was only a 1100 fps load. Bullets were my 14 BHN ACWW mix. So I was a little apprehensive that I wasn't doing all I could do until I saw the results.
The buck was bedded 40 yards from me below a ridge. And as I crested, we spotted each other at the same time. The sun shown clearly on his horns, making them seem larger than they eventually turned out to be. We both saw the expressions on our faces change for different reasons. He bolted, I drew. By the time of the shot, he was flat out running with his head down across my front, from left to right, leaving the area fast. I would like to tell you that I planned the shot and aimed, but I don't remember. It just happened. Thank God for Peep sights!
At the bang, he was in a full stretch stride all fours off the ground and there was no sign of a flinch. When his fronts came down, his backs were coming forward to join them. It would be the last of this motion I would ever see before he left me altogether. As it turned out, they just went through the motion of continuing the run. There was no power in the bolt and he lost altitude like a plane until he piled up. He flipped over once and then rolled twice in the direction of travel and then his carcus turned and started to roll down athe hill (steep ground) until he came to rest against a tree.
He was dress and hung not 30 minutes later and with it, the hide removed. The shot had hit nothing vital as all organs were hole, say for the stomach that had been clipped. The bullet entered the left rear mid body of the deer and progressed up through where the lungs .... should have been. It exited on the far chest just behind the shoulder leaving a 2 1/2 to 3 inch exit hole with only minor clotting. Blood had been thrown for 30 ft and was on trees everywhere.
The mix should have been too hard for the velocity. And this was not a wide meplat design by any definition. The velocity should have been higher regardless as the caliber gave me that option, yet the hole was impressive. Was the shallow hollowpointing responsible for the damage and the result if no organs were added to the expansion equasion? I can't tell on just one deer, but I never cut a 3" hole with a handgun before and certainly not at this low of a velocity. I will take a picture later if it helps.
The buck was bedded 40 yards from me below a ridge. And as I crested, we spotted each other at the same time. The sun shown clearly on his horns, making them seem larger than they eventually turned out to be. We both saw the expressions on our faces change for different reasons. He bolted, I drew. By the time of the shot, he was flat out running with his head down across my front, from left to right, leaving the area fast. I would like to tell you that I planned the shot and aimed, but I don't remember. It just happened. Thank God for Peep sights!
At the bang, he was in a full stretch stride all fours off the ground and there was no sign of a flinch. When his fronts came down, his backs were coming forward to join them. It would be the last of this motion I would ever see before he left me altogether. As it turned out, they just went through the motion of continuing the run. There was no power in the bolt and he lost altitude like a plane until he piled up. He flipped over once and then rolled twice in the direction of travel and then his carcus turned and started to roll down athe hill (steep ground) until he came to rest against a tree.
He was dress and hung not 30 minutes later and with it, the hide removed. The shot had hit nothing vital as all organs were hole, say for the stomach that had been clipped. The bullet entered the left rear mid body of the deer and progressed up through where the lungs .... should have been. It exited on the far chest just behind the shoulder leaving a 2 1/2 to 3 inch exit hole with only minor clotting. Blood had been thrown for 30 ft and was on trees everywhere.
The mix should have been too hard for the velocity. And this was not a wide meplat design by any definition. The velocity should have been higher regardless as the caliber gave me that option, yet the hole was impressive. Was the shallow hollowpointing responsible for the damage and the result if no organs were added to the expansion equasion? I can't tell on just one deer, but I never cut a 3" hole with a handgun before and certainly not at this low of a velocity. I will take a picture later if it helps.