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Doughty
11-27-2005, 01:45 PM
You just never know.

My wife of twenty some years, Nancy, retired from her nursing career this year. For the first time she has had the time to relax and enjoy things alittle more.

She grew up in a hunting household and has hunted herself, but it seems to have always been more of a chore, like getting firewood in, than a relaxing enjoyment. She never was one to consider the pros and cons of chainsaws, Stihl vs Homelite say, and thats pretty much how it was with guns and, dare I say it, bullets. She always just used her Marlin .30-30 and jacket bullets, like "Daddy" did.

Anyway, this hunting season we took a little vacation over to one of our favorite places, Lewistown, Montana. We were going to visit with some of our friends and hunt on their ranch, which is over populated with whitetail deer. We would be shooting from a blind, with a seat and a coffee cup at hand. Real comfortable like.

Anyway, as it turns out we both took a "management buck" at a range of about 75 yards, she using the .30-30 with Hornady 170 soft points and I with my .33 Krag and cast 225 tempered bullets. Both shots where almost identical in placement, behind the shoulder going in, hitting the top of the heart, then nicking the shoulder blade going out. Both ran less than 50 yards before going over. When we dressed them out though, what a difference. Mine had about a 3/4' hole all the way through with a small bloodshot ring around that. As they say, "Good eatin, right up to the hole." Hers ruined a good part of the near side ribs, most of the off side ribs and a good part of the shoulder. One of the reasons we like Lewistown is, they have a good Bar-B-Q restaurant there. We like Bar-B-Q ribs. Well, in my opinion, soft point bullets are not part of a good rib recipe. Nancy is now a believer in that also.

Anyway, she now wants to know what the difference was. After years and years of me casting bullets, using cast bullets, talking cast bullets, now she wants to know. Well the upshod is that she now wants cast bullets for her rifle. Says the rest of the Hornadays can go on the back shelf, (unless you know someone that wants them) and we got a year to come up with a cast load for the .30-30. She says she'll help.

You never know.

MTWeatherman
11-27-2005, 02:34 PM
Vic:
Congratulations! It sounds like two converts...not just one.

Those whitetails from the Lewistown area make some of the best eating venison around. Enjoy those steaks.

swheeler
11-27-2005, 03:19 PM
Vic; good shooting from both of you! I too have have used cast in 30 cal on deer, no wasted meat, and a clean kill. "meat hunters delight" Scooter

waksupi
11-27-2005, 04:48 PM
Good going, Vic, and congratulations on a convert!
It's amazing the amount of deer over in that country. Years ago over there, I remember sitting on a rise, watching a guy hunt the willow flats below me. I'm not sure what he was sneaking up on, because I could see at least sixty deer around him in the brush, and he was within thirty or fourty yards of many of them. I don't know, maybe he couldn't see them from his angle. He finally shot a doe, and had to drag it several hundred yards to his truck. If he would have slowed down and used his eyes, he could have saved himself some work!

The Nyack Kid
11-27-2005, 07:10 PM
congrats with the deer Ol Vic
anouther montana deer bites the boolit
those east side deer are hands down the best eating deer in the State , even the mulies taste good over there .
heheh i have considered the pros & cons of differant brands of chainsaws .... I run Stihls ,the rest are just fancy boat anchors

PatMarlin
11-28-2005, 03:49 AM
Congrats on a great hunt with your wife Vic. Now mines interested, but she's not sure she could go throught with it. I bet she can.

My neighbor saw the hole in my doe with the 45-70, and was convinced I destoyed much of the meat. Silly condom shooters.. :mrgreen:

JDL
11-28-2005, 10:05 AM
Nice going. Glad the two of you had a great day in the field. -JDL

Doughty
11-28-2005, 12:26 PM
Waksupi I agree that using your eyes more than your feet is good hunting tactics, even though it goes against my nature. Only in the last years, with the deterioation of feet and legs have I been able to sit and let the game come to me. Being able to drive up to down game is real nice too.

Nyack Kid Although I have never been a professional saw toter, I too prefer Stihl saws. I was raised on a McCulloch though and still have one in the shop. It, of course, is not running and needs "work."

PatMarlin Apparently my wife felt that way at one time, but she has managed to get past it. Reminds me of the first deer she shot, a whitetail doe at about 30 yards with the same .30-30. She hit it dead in the neck, cutting the spine and it dropped in it's tracks. Observing it I commented that although it was a good shot, I generally recomended aiming for the heart/lung area. She informed me that is where her sights were aimed, right before she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. She then knelt down, touched the deer, said something, and went back to the truck... thus missing a good chance to see the destructive effects of the dreaded soft point bullet.

MT Gianni
11-29-2005, 12:28 AM
Nice shooting for both of you. PM if you want to try some RCBS 180 fp out in her 30-30. Gianni.