Muley with the 45

[sixshot]

Took this muley doe today with my Ruger Bisley 45 & the grand old 260 gr Keith with 18.5 grs of 2400. This load has been a long time favorite for decades, not only for me but for many lovers of the fine 45 caliber six guns.
Again, this was a depredation hunt, only today the deer were really jumpy, it was easy to see that they had been hunted pretty hard since I had been here last. Every deer I spotted was up & running, this wasn't going to be easy. Plus there weren't as many deer as before, somebody had pressured them pretty good & many of the brushy draws were empty, the heavy cockle burr patches where I had hunted before only held 2-3 deer & they were up & running as soon as I got close.
I got off the 4 wheeler & walked some new areas & did jump some deer but again they were up & running as soon as they sensed danger (me) & they never stopped to look back. AS mentioned my belt gun today was my Bisley 45, a gun & caliber that I dearly love. I've taken lots of game with the 45 including 4 elk, the 45 is a proven game getter, with correct loads it takes a back seat to nothing.
My second gun as usual was my scoped 357 Maximum 10.5" gun, it's been with me on every trip & not once has it been out of the Barranti shoulder rig. I thought today I might have to use it the way things started out, this was turning into another sweaty, dirty, smoky (fires) in your face grind.
I made a 4-5 mile swing & the only thing I spotted was 7-8 antelope going top speed across a section of short Alfalfa. Watching antelope is one of my favorite things to do but you have to do it quick, these 80-90 lb Ballistic Missles can change zip codes in 90 seconds so you can't take your eyes off them or they are out of sight in a hurry.
I decided to leave the area I had been hunting & go into some border line cover that was close by & I had seen deer there in past years. There is a place where they have used a bull dozer to push up a long dirt bank, probably to stop erosion. This spot has a bunch of rock & Sagebrush grown in & is about 10-15 yds wide with CRP on one side & a harvested grain field on the other. You will see a photo of the end of it about the 4th photo. It's wider further back.
As I ease along going slow I have my walking stick in my left hand & the bottom resting on my left foot board. You will see a couple of photo's of it also. After about 200 yds I spot a deer sneaking through the very tall (4-5 feet) Sagebrush moving away from me but not running. I stop & run my left wrist through the leather loop on my walking stick as I draw the Bisley 45 from my strong side Barranti rig, the same rig I wore when I shot the antelope. With my left wrist through the loop I had to twist it 3-4 times to get my wrist high enough & then I could get both hands on the gun. This is a very steady hold, one I've used many times but never while sitting on the 4 wheeler.
I finally spot the deer & it's partially hidden by some Sagebrush but not enough that I can't get a bullet in there. The doe is facing to my left as I settle the "Sixshot" fiber optic sight on the rib cage & start my squeeze. At the shot the deer drops & 3 other deer take off to my left out into the CRP on a hard run. I wait 3-4 seconds & see my deer get up & take 8-10 steps out into the stubble & drop.
The big Keith slug had broke the left front leg, hit the heart & one lung & exited, it never gets old with a six gun, ever, doing it with the grand old 45 brings back a lot of memories, all of them good. I ranged the shot after I pulled the trigger which is how it works out many times. Sometimes I can range an animal before the shot but many times it just doesn't work out that way, like on the antelope, I misjudged it bad but the flat shooting gun bailed me out. The shot was 58 yds using my walking stick as a rest. You see the gun in my left hand but that's just for the photo. I almost always shoot right handed.

https://i.imgur.com/yhGY2gmh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZTlM5zsh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sfyHvnoh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/uoyp1ozh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qM1MNryh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fWvQ4R2h.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LsCu1bQh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/5ZPsOSQh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/unAVdkZh.jpg

Dick

[.45colt]

Awesome !!! I bought a Ruger Bisley when they first came out and the "Keith Load"/ bullet is My all time favorite as well. Thank for the post.

[pworley1]

Good work.

[Uncle Grinch]

Great write up on a hard hunt. It must be tough to hunt in such open areas.

[Texas by God]

I hava a similar alpenstock. Good shooting, congrats on your sucess.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Thumbcocker]

When I grow up I want to be like Sixshot.

[nagantguy]

Thanks for sharing! I love a good hunting story well told and you sure delivered!

[Dale53]

Sixshot;
I thoroughly enjoyed your essay! It took me back to my deer hunting days. I have a Ruger Bisley SS.45 ACP/.45 Colt Convertible that I really enjoy. However, my deer hunting days were behind me before I got it (just too old and decrepit to drag in a deer these days). All of my deer were taken with my .44 Magnum revolvers.

After reaming both undersize cylinders throats, my revolver shoots extremely well with either cylinder. I have become enamored of the RCBS .45-270-SAA cast bullet (my mold is a Mihec that produces a 285 gr. bullet in my alloy). That is what I would use if I still hunted[smilie=1:. I have shot the Keith 452424 a good bit, tho', with excellent results. I have used it as a trail load ahead of 8.5 grs. of Unique.

At any rate, thanks for the essay, as I say I REALLY enjoyed it!

Dale53

[Tripplebeards]

Sweet...I was waiting to see the heart and the I scrolled down and then I see a hole through a liver? It was dead where it stands but didnt know it. They seem to travel a little farther with bow shots for me when just the heart it only one lung was hit or even alit farther with a liver shot. Dead all the same. Nice shot. I'm sure you saved some meat with a low hit and not a center mass shot as well.

[Chad5005]

good shot and a great story thanks for sharing

[EMC45]

I always like you pics and write ups. Thanks.

[Messy bear]

Love these stories! Open country hunting with a revolver. My favorite thing to do. Good job!

[Mackay Sagebrush]

I always like you pics and write ups. Thanks.

Yep!

The Master at work!

[OldBearHair]

X3 sixshot Well done

[sixshot]

Thanks guys! Today my knees are screaming, I need to take a little break from these side hills & cockle burr patches. Funny thing is, it's just as hard going down hill as it is up hill, go figure.
I put a new lanyard on this old walking stick, didn't want to scratch up my new one & the lanyard is too long. I had to twist my wrist maybe 5 times to get the gun high enough to have a steady rest but this is a good way to go if any of you use them. I've also used it on elk.
That 270 gr SAA bullet you mention is a dandy, I have it in a Miha mould that also makes it into a HP but I decided to use my old favorite on this trip, Elmer would be happy.

Dick

[MT Gianni]

Nice shooting and write up. This looks to me like country W of the Great Salt Lake that I have not rambled through since I was a teen. Did your walking stick start out as a shovel handle? It looks great with a nice tight grain and gives me ideas.

[sixshot]

No, its actually laminated & came from Boyds Gunstocks, maker of riflestocks but I don't think they make them anymore. This one has been in the water & snow so much all the finish is worn off, I need to refinish it. I'll post a photo of my other one. Had 3 of them but I finally broke one. They are really nice, wish they still made them.

Dick

[MT Gianni]

How long are they?

[sixshot]

Sorry, I promised you a photo & didn't get it done, I'll do it tomorrow! I remember now about you saying you use to live down in this area, maybe around Salt Lake, etc. I've got to get back up your way again & hunt those bouncy white tails, that's some fun stuff. We haven't been up there in about 3 years, too long!

OK, here's a photo of my 2 walking sticks, both are about 15 years old & they are 60" long & the newer looking one has the original leather loop they came with. I will be changing my old one today, it's way too long. They came with a rubber "foot" on the bottom.
These wouldn't be hard to make if you had a wood lathe.

https://i.imgur.com/1CVwbCth.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qFkp34jh.jpg

Dick

[TCLouis]

Another great write up of a great hunt and done with a revolver too!

[smoked turkey]

++ on enjoying the write-up on the hunting exploits of sixshot. Good photos and great stories. Thanks for the information on the walking sticks. They look like they would be very handy to take along as a steady rest for the shooter and/or the sixgun (rifle too). I am thinking of putting one of these on my take-a-long list of equipment. From the pictures it appears the top diameter is about 2"? Thanks again and keep those stories coming.

[taco650]

Good shooting Sixshot!! Couple questions: why is the hair rubbed off on the deer in places? Also you mentioned this was a "depredation hunt"... what does that mean?

Stuart

[OldBearHair]

Good shooting Sixshot!! Couple questions: why is the hair rubbed off on the deer in places? Also you mentioned this was a "depredation hunt"... what does that mean?

Stuart I am not whom you asked the question to but, I will take a "shot" at the hair rubbed off. The deer are a "brownish" color in the summer and "greyish" in the winter. The deer is shedding. The depredation hunt seems to be when too many deer are doing too much damage to crops or other on the farms. The hunt reduces their numbers to satisfy landowners. There you are Stuart, maybe these answers will work til somthin better comes along.

[sixshot]

Stuart, OldBearHair, nailed it. The deer are in transition right now, going from their light red summer coat to their more gray fall color.
Many land owners that have irrigated crops in remote, dry areas draw wild life like a magnet. These areas aren't fenced or if they are fenced it's a 4 strand barb wire fence that even a 4 month old fawn can jump over. Now, an interesting thing for many of you is that an antelope won't normally jump a fence, they crawl under them. I should have taken some photo's of some of the many places where I could clearly see where antelope were crossing under the fences, I'll do it next trip. If a person were in trouble & didn't have a gun it would be possible to actually snare an antelope at one of these many crossings where they move from one property to another or head to water.
Several times over the years I've watched antelope at a full run come to a fence and in only a couple of seconds glide right under & be up & running full speed, pretty impressive to watch if you've never seen it happen.

Dick

[Walks]

BOY HOWDY!

That was quite the Excellent shot. Congratulations.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Good shooting, excellent write up.

[OldBearHair]

Took this from www.answers.com White-tailed deer actually have more hair per square inch in the summer than in the winter! For protection against the cold, each hair on a deer's winter coat is hollow - like a tiny straw, which holds insulating air next to the body. These hairs are therefore more substantial than the thinner summer hair. So a white-tailed deer's in winter is thicker because each hair is thicker, not because there are more hairs. But this collection of fat, hollow hairs certainly help them survive the cold of winter.

[falmike]

I am really enjoying your stories.

Is the bullet you are using gas checked? Also, where did you find the new lanyard for your shooting stick?

Thanks.

[fivegunner]

Sixshot, could you tell me about your front sight? I have the same Ruger and I need a taller sight to use the Keith 275gr. bullet . Thanks for sharing you experience with us on this site.:Fire::Fire:

[sixshot]

The lanyard is the lacing from an old pair of boots, I need to shorten it a bit but haven't done it yet. The fiber optic sight is one that we make for the pinned sighted guns, works great. I have them in both red & green. I've sold them for several years.

Dick

[falmike]

Thank you for the tip on the lanyard.

Can you give me details on your bullet? Hardness, gas checked, etc.

Thank you in advance.

[sixshot]

That's a plain base, powder coated bullet, I seldom use a gas check. After heat treating a powder coated bullet they usually come out about a 9-11 BHN but you can run them faster than a lubed bullet because the powder coating protects them. If you need them harder you can water quench right out of the toaster oven, I don't.

Dick

[falmike]

Excellent,

Thanks. I have a bunch of MBC 255 grain Keith type bullets that are 18BNH. I have used only 15 grains of 2400 so far but wanted to boost that up a bit to 18 or 19 grains.

I appreciate the details.

Mike

[taco650]

I am not whom you asked the question to but, I will take a "shot" at the hair rubbed off. The deer are a "brownish" color in the summer and "greyish" in the winter. The deer is shedding. The depredation hunt seems to be when too many deer are doing too much damage to crops or other on the farms. The hunt reduces their numbers to satisfy landowners. There you are Stuart, maybe these answers will work til somthin better comes along.


Stuart, OldBearHair, nailed it. The deer are in transition right now, going from their light red summer coat to their more gray fall color.
Many land owners that have irrigated crops in remote, dry areas draw wild life like a magnet. These areas aren't fenced or if they are fenced it's a 4 strand barb wire fence that even a 4 month old fawn can jump over. Now, an interesting thing for many of you is that an antelope won't normally jump a fence, they crawl under them. I should have taken some photo's of some of the many places where I could clearly see where antelope were crossing under the fences, I'll do it next trip. If a person were in trouble & didn't have a gun it would be possible to actually snare an antelope at one of these many crossings where they move from one property to another or head to water.
Several times over the years I've watched antelope at a full run come to a fence and in only a couple of seconds glide right under & be up & running full speed, pretty impressive to watch if you've never seen it happen.

Dick

Thank you to both of you!

[Italia1825]

Nice! Thanks for sharing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[35 Whelen]

Good story and good shot!

35W