First CB Deer

[TXGunNut]

Shot another management deer last night, this one is a nice little doe that hung out too long while I was waiting to smack down a big mean piggy with a RD boolit from my Guide Gun. I watched her for 15 minutes or so, started out 300 yds or so down a sendero and worked her way towards me eating the corn I'd thoughfully dropped earlier. First critter I've shot with a retasked wheelweight and I'm pretty tickled! Shot was almost straight on @ 70 yds and somehow missed the heart but she didn't go far. Only problem is she went straight north into heavy brush for 25 yards, then stopped bleeding and abruptly went 25 yards straight west before folding up under a bush. Toughest track I can recall, we used up lots of candlepower and two hours of drinking time :drinks: finding the old girl, but we found her! Dunno who the guy in the picture is, we found him in the bar where we bought ice.

[lead chucker]

Nice doe They eat better than the bucks IMOP. I just finished up my deer season and am looking forward to the 2012 season congrats and Happy New Year

[blaser.306]

Great feeling using your own home brew! Did it for the first time this fall myself. Nice deer it will make some tasy eating! Congrats.

[TXGunNut]

Thanks, it was a shot taken at last shooting light but the cool thing about shooting a Guide Gun with a muzzle brake at dusk is the fireball and often being able to see where the boolit hits.
Looking forward to some tasty, tender venison.

[OBXPilgrim]

Guide gun, huh? 45-70? RD TLC460-350 RF?

Details, details!

Nice and tender one for sure

[TXGunNut]

Yes on all the above, OBXPilgrim. Heat treated RD boolit pushed along gently @ +/- 1700 by 46 grs of Reloder #7, Fed 210M got the party started. Boolit may have broken up, more testing is required.[smilie=l: Massive overkill for a S Texas deer but I was hoping for a porcine test subject.
Should be tender indeed, don't like shooting does but she was dry and alone so it was good herd management.

[squirrelnuttz]

Congrats, that looks like a tender tasty deer! I got my first critter with cast this season as well, a doe close in size to yours, a 10 yds. with a 515 gr. Lyman Sabot slug out of my Rem. 870 Express with fully rifled pipe.Kinda satisfying using something you made yourself!Happy jerky making!

[RugerFan]

Good job! That one will eat real well. :Fire:

[TXGunNut]

Agreed on the good eating, been enjoying liver & onions (& mushrooms) [smilie=w: for the last few nights. Management hunts are about killing inferior bucks and does, some folks don't like it but I have more cookbooks than I do loading manuals and haven't seen horns metioned yet. It was exciting to see a 2.5 yr old symmetrical 8 pt with antlers over an inch past his ears walk by, knowing he'll be a trophy in a couple of years. I've supported my share of taxidermists over the years, not too proud to shoot a management deer or two to improve the herd. It's going to be a tough winter down there, thinning the herd is going to be important.

[Crawdaddy]

Congrats on the deer. Piggies are nice too. You would have been a winner either way.

[Old Goat Keeper]

TGN you might want to try that boolit with out heat treating it. Shouldn't break up then. Good job on the doe!

T-o-m

[TXGunNut]

I prefer piggies, they are "shoot on sight" on this lease but they want does and spikes shot too. Never had a good shot at a pig.
Not sure it broke up, Tom, but I agree. Thanks. I had trouble getting a decent group out of AC boolits and for some reason the HT boolits shot quite well. Exit was about 2" but that could have been due to the angle or a bone hit going into the chest. I'm going to kick that around while I pursue other rifle projects.

[crabo]

I had trouble getting a decent group out of AC boolits and for some reason the HT boolits shot quite well.

I got such good accuracy results with AC 50/50 in my guidegun, that I am retesting a lot of my loads.

[TXGunNut]

I got such good accuracy results with AC 50/50 in my guidegun, that I am retesting a lot of my loads. -crabo

I'm going to try that again, seems to work quite well for several folks around here. What mould are you using, crabo?

[Crawdaddy]

I prefer hawgs too. I generally get 4 or 5 a year. The wife gets tired of so much pork in the freezer. I have only gotten 1 with a cast boolit. It was a 300 grain out of a 44 mag pistol. Dropped him in his tracks.

[TXGunNut]

The wife gets tired of so much pork in the freezer. I have only gotten 1 with a cast boolit. It was a 300 grain out of a 44 mag pistol. Dropped him in his tracks. -Crawdady


Gotta love that! I hope she realizes the benefits of wild pork, I'm gonna give away a bit of perfectly good venison to make room for some wild pork. I posted my Italian sausage and lasagna recipes around here somewhere if you're running out of recipes. Works fine w/ venison, not sure about sheep tho.

[Crawdaddy]

I'll give them a try. She likes pork but would like a little beef or buffalo too. Perhaps even a chicken. My buddy is trying to talk me into a buffalo hunt next winter. I may have to give up my lease if I do.

[TXGunNut]

For some reason I don't digest beef or venison very well, I do better with chicken, fish, and of course pork. I prefer wild pork over domestic and an often exciting hunt makes it even better. This year I'll have to make do with venison but I'm very grateful for the opportunity.
Buffalo sounds like fun, sounds like a lot of work and a huge pile of meat to deal with as well. I don't think even my 120 qt Igloo would handle that!
Hope you like the recipes, just made a small batch of sausage from a stray bit of pork tonight. ;)

[cajun shooter]

First let me say that at this time of year that doe will taste much better that a buck with a neck that is twice it's size and a body full of testosterone.
I have hunted a club that went on the management program in about 1983. Most hunters feel that it's below them to shoot a doe but if you want a good herd it's part of it.
We hunted with the Wildlife Biologist and they took the jaw bone from each kill when we started. It takes five years for a buck to reach his full maturity and ability to grow nice horns. Most all deer killed are 18 months or younger because of hunters not allowing these deer to walk.
We learned about the fact that the horns are a sex item and it all depends on the deer's diet. If he has only enough feed to maintain his body then you could have a spike that was three years old. You could also have a young 8 point on his first year even though his horns would lack mass and be inside of the ears. We had to place out several mineral areas where you place different minerals by putting them down and covering then putting another layer.
It took us five years before we had what I call rocking chair horns. We took some bucks with as many as 14 points with 19-20 inch spreads and 5 1/2 inch bases.
It is a fun type of hunting and I kept a gallon can of acorns in my box stand that is about 22 feet in the air for throwing at the younger bucks that walked under my stand. We had members that we had to dismiss because they failed to follow the very strict rules which had to be imposed.
We were to only shoot 8 point or larger and the horns had to be outside the ears.
If you shot any smaller deer, the camp kept the meat, the head had to be mounted at your cost and your wallet was $250 lighter. This stopped all illegal hunting by our good members and that is what it took to keep people from saying I thought he was bigger.

[white eagle]

the way I look at hunting is for meat
plain and simple
never had acquired the taste for antler
good job and what a thrill using your own cast

[TXGunNut]

Agreed on the management techniques, cajun shooter. Lease I was a guest on has a management plan in place that allows one trophy, one or more "management" buck and shooting of does is encouraged. Hogs are pretty much "shoot on sight" but I never got a good opportunity. I took an adult 6"+ spike earlier in the hunt to assist in the management efort. Just before I saw this doe I got to watch a young 8 pt with antlers about 1.5" past his ears, vertical tines were 4" or so. He was only 2.5 yrs old and he's going to make a nice trophy for someone in a couple of years.

[pls1911]

Soft lead heat treated should not break up like linotype. Yes it's harder, but functionally it's mostly skin deep. It will not "splat expand" like pure lead... it's more like old hard wheel weights, but will withstand higher velocities like lino.
My alloy is 50-50 ww and pure reclaimed roofing lead, giving as cast hardness of 9-10 bhn and oven heat treated into ice water bath, 22-25 bhn at 48 hours.
This alloy claimed 16 pigs in 2011 in Marlin 30-30s, using 160-170 grain gas checked heat treated bullets, all one shot through the shoulderblades/joint/spine junction... and not one single bullet recovered.

[TXGunNut]

45-70 and 35 Rem seem to like the HT boolits, pls1911. Jury's still out on the 35, will get back to that soon. 32 Special not a big fan of HT boolits, cast a bunch (six-banger had a runaway :wink:) of AC RD boolits from 50/50 and will see how she likes it. I think these boolits should do fine for deer and hogs, I'm thinking some expansion is a good thing in 32 caliber. We'll see how they perform on paper first.