Great Day Mule Deer Hunting With My 1885 BPCR, and Friends!

[Dthunter]

Well fellow hunters and shooters, it was a great day in the field today!
I had my yearly ​Mule Deer Doe Draw tag in hand, and was looking for some sausage and jerky meat for the winter.


I invested many days and hours casting, experimenting with different alloys, shooting bullets into target mediums, inspections, and load development. Today I had a chance to do some hunting with a pair of very good friends!

I had scouted for 2-3 days to find some good areas to take a Mule Deer doe. My friend and his son were coming for a visit, and wanted to experience some casting, loading, shooting, and some deer hunting.

We went out on the friday and did some shooting,reloading and load testing.

I had settled on a load for my 1885 BPCR that shot great the day before. I shot a three shot group at 100, 200, 300, and 400 yards on an AR500 target of mine. The bullets were striking the 6" center plate shot after shot! It was exciting to see the rifle performing this well! At 300, and 400 yards the load put 3 shots into 3"! I was stoked!

My load that day was as follows:

- Remington fire formed and neck sized brass
- WLR primeres
- 29.5 Grains of IMR4198
- 497 Grain Flat point cast bullet, soft lead (Mold was custom made to my own design/dimensions by Tom at Accurate molds)
- bullet was lube/sized to .459", and lubed with Lyman super moly .
- The bullets were seated out to firmly engage into the lands upon chambering.
- Cartridge over all length: 2.610" from the case base to bullet's flat metplat tip.
- Average velocity was 1398fps, and an Standard Deviation of 9.5fps

I didn't want to push for high velocity, as I wanted an easy, smooth shooting load for deer. Hope you like the pictures!


We had spotted a herd of 12 deer that were bedded down on the edge of the field in the back corner, sheltered from the wind. I snuck down the edge of the field, using a patch of bush as my cover, and got to within 150 yards or so from the bedded deer. I wanted to sneak a little closer, but jumped a few does just ahead of me that I didn't see, in the bush and grass at about 25 yards. They just trotted steadily away from me and out into the field.
I quickly shouldered the rifle and followed the biggest doe of the group till I felt comfortable with the shot and angle. I took the shot at about 100 yards, and she stumbled, spun around, and fell to the ground facing towards me.

I noticed her back leg was flopping around at odd angles as she went to the ground. The doe got herself into a bedded position with her front legs under her and was trying to stand up again. I felt the sick feeling that I may have just made a really bad shot! I reloaded as quickly as I could and sent another bullet lengthwise into the low centre of her chest at the base of her neck as she faced me. I heard the solid thump of a good hit, and she immediately wilted. I was very happy with getting the doe, but felt terrible about the first shot I took, as I thought the bullet must have just severed the leg bone too low from the body centre and missed any vitals or body cavity! Feeling a bit disappointed in my shooting, I Walked up the doe to make sure she was dead, and to cancel my tag and attach it to her.

When we moved her around to gut her, my friend noticed that the first shot had hit the back leg, and the bullet carried through into the body straight towards the front of the deer. When looking at it from that angle, I realized that my first shot was right in line with the vitals, but the leg just happened to be in the way before impacting the body. I felt much better at that moment, realizing that the deer was well hit and would have died quickly even if I hadn't taken the second shot!

During the dressing process we found what was left of BOTH bullets! I was elated! The first bullet was recovered from "INSIDE" the heart! What is the chances of that?! There was an entrance wound on the heart, but no exit. It had entered the heart in almost the exact centre, and had penetrated the one ventrical and fell down into the bottom of that heart chamber! We were Very lucky to find it there! The second shot from the front was recovered by the opposite rear leg, resting against the hide in plain view. Talk about lucky! The bullets sure penetrated deeply!
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a629/darcytyndall1/Muley%20Doe%202016%20with%2045-70_zpswdesegcs.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/darcytyndall1/media/Muley%20Doe%202016%20with%2045-70_zpswdesegcs.jpg.html)

This my friend and I enjoying the moment
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a629/darcytyndall1/Muley%20Doe%204%202016_zpsqgse5ypz.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/darcytyndall1/media/Muley%20Doe%204%202016_zpsqgse5ypz.jpg.html)

My friends son is just beaming here! He always wanted to see what this hunting and shooting was all about! It was a great privilege to be there sharing his first time hunting and watching a big game animal being hunted!
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a629/darcytyndall1/Muley%20Doe%205%202016_zpsrow2stdm.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/darcytyndall1/media/Muley%20Doe%205%202016_zpsrow2stdm.jpg.html)

Sorry about all the blood in the pictures, I normally set my field pictures up better than this!
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a629/darcytyndall1/Muley%20Doe%207%202016_zpsm3zpp7wr.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/darcytyndall1/media/Muley%20Doe%207%202016_zpsm3zpp7wr.jpg.html)

one recovered bullet weighted 316 grains, and the other was 460 grains.

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a629/darcytyndall1/497%20Grain%20Hell%20Hammers%20recovered%20from%20 muley%20doe%201_zps9hzisrum.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/darcytyndall1/media/497%20Grain%20Hell%20Hammers%20recovered%20from%20 muley%20doe%201_zps9hzisrum.jpg.html)

Here is a view near where we were hunting. It was a nice day to be hunting! It was very foggy most of the morning, and really added a very surreal, placid, atmosphere while stalking up to the deer!
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a629/darcytyndall1/Hunting%20area_zpsxyrhiy30.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/darcytyndall1/media/Hunting%20area_zpsxyrhiy30.jpg.html)

What a wonderful way to get my deer with the 1885!

[marlinman93]

Congratulations! Nice big doe you harvested! I'm heading out mid week for our elk hunt. Drew a tag for a bull in a good area, but surely doesn't guarantee success. I'm taking my old Ballard Pacific this year, and hope the .45-70 does the job if I get a clear shot!

[richhodg66]

That is very cool. I like deer hunting with unusual rifles and cast. Hope that deer eats well and I suspect it will.

[hc18flyer]

Congrats, that's what it's all About! Great story and Pics! Looking forward to our upcoming seasons, Flyer

[runfiverun]

that's a good Doe.
I see about 40 lbs of delicious there.
congrats.

[big bore 99]

Sounds like a great day. Congrats!

[35 shooter]

Congrats on the doe and that's a fine looking rifle you have there.
Good shooting too!

[bigted]

Very nice write up and pictures ... Thanks for posting this.

Seems as tho i remember some sayin that rifle would wear ya out with the weight LOL well it dont weigh any more then the buff guns the hunters carried back when.

Great job and they say " showin s better n sayin " ... Good job on the showin !!!

[NSB]

Excellent write up and great pics. Thanks for posting. I can't wait to get my Win 1885 out again this year. It's my favorite deer gun.

[marlinman93]

Very nice write up and pictures ... Thanks for posting this.

Seems as tho i remember some sayin that rifle would wear ya out with the weight LOL well it dont weigh any more then the buff guns the hunters carried back when.

Great job and they say " showin s better n sayin " ... Good job on the showin !!!

Well "they" are right! Most old single shot rifles will indeed wear me out, if they have the usual heavy 30" or longer octagon barrels! Most of mine weight around 12-14 lbs., and none have sling mounts except one Husqvarna Rolling Block, which is much lighter.
By the time I take any game, I'm usually pretty tired of changing hands to keep my arms equal length! And those old buffalo hunters rode around in buckboards full of hides, so they never packed their guns very far!

[bigted]

I guess my hunting style may be some different then most, i usually drive to my hunting ground and after spotting my quarry, i pick up my gear and begin my walk n stock ... Mostly doing three steps n waiting for 5 min or so before taking another 3 or 5 steps

Not being a spring chicken anymore ... My days of leaping out in the brush without a animal already spotted is over. So my heavier guns are more pleasant to pack and enjoy then a flat shooting rifle that makes 2 to 3 hundred yard shots a regality.

Each his own i spose but i enjoy anothers hunt with these heavy rifles with their historic feel. I am jist as likely to be found with my shiloh heavy or the rifle as pictured in the OP's pictures of which mine is almost identical.

Didnt mean to ruffle.

[marlinman93]

Hope I didn't give the impression my feathers were "ruffled" Bigted! Certainly not the case for sure!
My hunting areas require a lot of walking, as most areas I hunt in Oregon don't allow much motor vehicle use if hunting public land. So here it's not unusual to walk 10-12 miles a day in the process of finding and stalking deer or elk. Any gun gets heavier as the day goes on, and one of my old singles really starts to remind me after a few hours of packing it!
Wont stop me from hunting with them though! I'm 66 yrs. old, and heading out with my 11 lb. Ballard this week to see if I can bring home a bull elk. I have a slip on sling to give my arms a break, but then my shoulders get weary instead.

[bigted]

Well good luck on the elk hunt. If your huntin the coast range or western cascades i understand. That is where i hunt as well and if i dont see hair ... I keep on drivin.

Cryin shame how they have shut and gated most of the old areas i knew about before i moved to Alaska. I got spoiled up there as we would go 15 to 30 miles back in on the trails with wheelers and the same there ... No hair ... Keep ridin.

Hope to see your report with pic,s if possible on your hunt. Awsome rifle ... What cal is your Ballard?

[marlinman93]

We're headed to NE Oregon Enterprise area Ted. 2nd season, so a 9 day hunt, but hope it takes less time to fill our three tags! My brother and nephew shoot modern bolt guns, so have a distance advantage over my old Pacific. But I may still be lucky and see one close enough before they do!
Yes, we used to use our trucks or ATV's to travel a lot of fire roads in the Coastal range. Still walked some too, but not as much. Most of Eastern Oregon where we hunt has always been closed to motorized vehicles, so we don't know any other way to hunt there.

[bigted]

Right on ... Good luck

[TCLouis]

Congrats
And 45-70 with cast.
All the correct things come together and make meat.

[Nrut]

Great write up and photo's Dt!
And congrats on the doe..

[Dthunter]

Thank you guys! I was waiting all year to try this rifle and cast bullets combo! I spent many hours casting various alloys to see how the bullet would expand. Wound up using nearly dead soft lead. The wound channel is a little much for an animal this size though.

I look forward to trying this rifle on a moose or an elk!