this year's doe

[tdoyka]

this has been a good year with three deer kills. my dad killed an 8pt and a doe and i killed a large old doe. both of my dad's deer where killed using a j-word and my doe was killed by a cast boolit. i was using my tc encore in 444 marlin(23" MGM barrel) with a 275gr ranch dog(coww/air cooled) and 41.0grof rel7(around 2000fps). i shot it at 20+/- yards and the doe was broadside quartering away(a little bit). at the shot the doe was drt, so there was no tracking. it was the first time i've ever had to field dress a deer with only one hand. but it takes quite a bit more to put it in the truck when you are using two crippled up b!@#$%^&[smilie=l:(i had a stroke and my dad has laser back surgery to do).

but i'm a little disappointed of the boolit. i shot her between the ribs, thru both lower lungs, thru lower heart, breaks another rib and the boolit goes out thru the offside shoulder and leaves like a 3" exit wound. no pix, because by the time it was dark, it was field dressed and put into the back of the truck, we had a 1 1/2 hours to get to the butcher(we decided it was too much to do ourselves, both of us were exhausted try to put the doe into the truck).

anyway, both the lungs and the lower part of the heart were just in tatters, i couldn't even try to discover what the heart and lungs once were. it looked to me like it was lung soup with a little bit of heart. it looked alot like the 270win with 130gr nosler bt expect the bt doesn't go thru. the offside it broke a rib(might of been 2, too dark for me to see) and then the boolit goes into the offside shoulder(the leg was completely broke at the shoulder). then the boolit goes out of the doe leaving a 3+/-" hole. i know i should have skinned the doe out, but from me it looks like the entire shoulder was put into the garbage.

i have(oldest boy) killed another doe with a 165gr ranch dog(30-40 krag) with coww/air cooled that goes around 1800fps. i have eaten right up to the hole. i "think" that the 275gr rd goes a little too fast. i think i have to reread goodsteel's I believe the cast lead rifle boolit is the most effective projectile in the world. (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?172689-I-believe-the-cast-lead-rifle-boolit-is-the-most-effective-projectile-in-the-world) i know that one boolit is not considered a test, far from it. since i only have 20-30 275gr rd, i'm not too worried about it. i do have montana bullets works in 280gr wfn gc(lyman #2/15bhn) that i can use. does anybody use a 280gr around 1700-1900fps? how do you like it?

[ChristopherO]

Sounds like a classic case of too fast for the animal to be too close. If she was 75 yards out there or more I bet the wound would be more to your liking. Boolit did it's job very well for the conditions, imho.
I shot a smaller doe with my 4570 at about 30 yards, max, using 405gr wfn at 1620fps. Hit back of one lung and shredded the liver completely but no real bloodshot meat to speak of. Velocity makes quite a bit of difference.
At least you didn't have to track her or drag her out of a steep ravine. Congratulations on the kill and harvest.

[Hamish]

First and foremost: More power to you for hunting this year!

[CITYREPO61]

First and foremost: More power to you for hunting this year!

Here here!

[tdoyka]

thank you.

i have put the 275gr rd around 2200fps but i backed off a little to 2000fps. it seems to me i have to back it off another 200fps. i mostly hunt thick woods that are next to a few old fields. rarely do i get a 100 yard shot, its more around 30-40 yards. i do make sure that the 30-40 krag and the 444 marlin can do a 150 yard shot. both are real accurate .3 - .5" at 100yards for the 444 and 3/4 - 1 1/4" at 100 yards for the krag. i used to be one of those accuracy guys. if you can't put 5 shots into a 1/4" at 100 yards, you shouldn't be hunting. now i'm happy with a 3 shot group that can do 3" at 100 yards, everything else is icing on the cake.

[44man]

Well, good for getting out.
Now you have seen what I have had troubles with, even at 1300-1350 from revolvers. Either to little or too much damage. My hardest job hunting is always to get the boolit right for the gun used.
Been thinking of using my 30-30 for late doe but don't know where to begin on alloy or nose. I never shot a deer with cast and a rifle, just ML's. My boolit runs about 1900 fps.

[DougGuy]

Wow that's a LOT of haste to put on a boolit that size for deer, might as well run it over with a bulldozer? :kidding:

Good on getting it in the freezer, can't cook it standing in a field!

Sounds to me like that boolit performed quite admirably, at the velocity it was driven I would expect to see massive damage just as you describe.

I hunt thick and short too, and a 44magnum drops 'em where they stand as well, 2 maybe ran 10yds. I was thinking my 44 was a little too much gun for these mid Atlantic deer, they run small here so I will be taking a 45 Schofield Vaquero to the woods next year, 250gr WFN over 21.5gr H110 for 1180~1200fps.

[tdoyka]

thanks guys!!!

dougguy,
i'd say it got runned over by a dump truck.:kidding: if i used my 2200fps load it would have been like a bulldozer!!!:-D


44man,
you're right there, it is the hardest thing to do with a rifle!!! i'm using a 165gr( 173gr really) ranch dog in my 30-40 krag. i find that coww going about 1800fps does wonders for the deer population. for some reason, the deer go drt. i don't know why...[smilie=l:

i've been thinking about fps and i do "think"(there i go again!!!) that my 444 should go down to around 1800fps. it still will kill a deer out to 150 yards, but it won't damage as much meat if i shoot them 20 yards. i guessing that i will try rel7 with a 38.5 - 39.5gr charge instead of the 41gr that i have been using.

[DougGuy]

I was shooting 165gr psp in my .308 over 41.5gr H4895 and it was just tearing the poor things apart, spraying bone and lead fragments all into the meat, it would grape jelly a shoulder and half the rib cage. Too much velocity. I solved the problem by going to 180gr psp plain base over the same powder charge, which slowed it down enough to not destroy the boolit which also destroyed a LOT less meat. I don't know how fast it is going now, but a lot slower than the 165s and having much better luck.

[44man]

Distance can mess you up too. A boolit good at 30 to 50 can not be as good at 100 or over. Anything good at 150 is not good at 50. It is a task for sure.
But you are the MAN after a stroke and still get out to hunt. Same for your dad with back surgery. I am glad to know you. I wish you many more years.