Little Snowy Mountain whitetail

[Beerd]

It’s days like this that remind me why I think still hunting is such a hoot.

About mid-morning on Saturday I was working my way through the timber when I came across what appeared to be a fresh scrape. Thinking there was nothing to lose, I blew a couple of doe bleats on a deer call, surprised at how loud they sounded on the still air. After waiting a few minutes I continued on. Taking 6 or 8 steps I stopped and caught some motion out of the corner of my eye. At first all I could see were four legs heading my direction. Then I could make out the body of a deer and finally some antlers. Judging by the way he was traveling I would have a clear view when he passed across a small window in the ponderosa pine about 60 yards out. Dropping to one knee and chambering a round I got ready. He kicked at the shot and took off, running maybe 40 yards and stopping in some thick stuff. He looked kind of sick but before I could put a second bullet in him he made one last jump and piled up.
The rifle is a re-bored Marlin chambered in .356 Win.
Bullet was from a 220 grain group buy mould styled after the RCBS 35-200.
Felix Loob & Gator Checks.
Varget powder pushes the two alloy Bruce B Soft Point to around 2,300 ft/sec.
..

[Bullshop]

Just dog gone nice all the way round!!! Nice buck nice rifle and a nice boolit well suited for the job.
Oh and a nice ending to a nice story.

[delta1]

Ah yes tenderloins frying in the pan with onions, nothing better. Well done sir.

[OnHoPr]

I wish I could get bucks to pose like that for me with their rifles. Must of done some good calling. Ya did good.

[Doc Highwall]

Nice story, congratulations! What caliber was the rifle originally and who rebored it to 356 Winchester?
What was the cost and turn around time?

[bayjoe]

Man, that's a nice buck!!!
Good job

[jixxerbill]

nice buck bud!..

[Thumbcocker]

Excellent.

[white eagle]

hey wtg thats the way its done excellent

[RugerFan]

That's a dandy buck!

[TXGunNut]

Nicely done. Congrats!

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I've been near the Snowys several times, but never hunted them.
Looks like you know how. Great job!

[starmac]

Nice job. Can we hear more about your boolits and how it performed, especially about meat damage.

[smoked turkey]

Very nice buck. Looks like you did everything just right. Congradulations. Good caliber. I don't hear much about it. However I can see that it does good on big bucks.

[Viper225]

You did a good job.
I would guess you had a 35 Remington 336 converted to 356 Winchester?
Interesting to know what was required to get that done.
I would guess that you already have a Lifetime Supply of Brass for it?
I put back some additional 375 Winchester a while back. My 35 Bullberry Contender barrel uses 375 Winchester as the parent case.
The 307, 356, and 375 Winchester are all a little scarce to locate brass for.
I had a NIB 99 Savage 375 Win several years ago. I had my gunsmith clean out all the metal shavings, and clean the trigger up and knock some burrs off it. I kept it unfired and let a collector have it several years ago. I probably should have hunted with it. It would have made a great cast bullet gun.

Bob

[waksupi]

Nice buck. I like the Little Snowys!

[Beerd]

Thank you all for the complements.

The Marlin was originally a 30-30. I had the re-boring and chambering done by Jesse Ocumpaugh in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Turn-around time was two or three weeks, I can find no fault with his work.
J.E.S. website is 35caliber.com

My hunting bullets are cast of two alloys, a 70 gr pure lead nose with the remainder a mix of wheel weight & linotype. I use Bruce B’s method for “Making soft point bullets with any mould”. Casting details are in a sticky and on castpics. The bullet on this smallish deer broke a rib going in, took out both lungs & the tip of the heart and broke a rib & the off shoulder on exiting. Blood shot tissue, while not excessive, may have been caused by bone fragments and/or bullet expansion. I am beginning to re-think my need for these two alloy bullets. Since I only have a few left from my original casting session 5 years ago I am going to experiment with different alloys and annealing treatments between now and next fall.

The Little Snowy Mountains in central Montana is one of my favorite places to hunt. I went there with the objective of bringing home an elk but that didn’t happen this trip. To paraphrase Pat McManus, I did look over a few nice bulls, but none that I wanted to drop the hammer on. Partly because unless you have a special permit this is a cow elk only district. But mostly because they were on the N Bar Ranch and the owners take a dim view of trespassers.
..

[**oneshot**]

Well done!!

[429421Cowboy]

Very nice! And a great way to end the season as well.
I have hunted elk down there quit a bit, it is a beautiful place to be. Friends that own a ranch next to the N Bar tell me they have patrols around the perimeter fence all through hunting season, not a place I'd wanna get caught!

[Clinebo]

Nice buck! Congrats!