First "shot" at Long-Range-Hunting!

[cdmorten]

That's a heck of a shot. Nothing but net!! You did your part, and I think the bullet did it's part. Sometimes you never know how an animal will react. I've mentioned this on this forum before, but I shot a deer at close range, (75) yards with my .308 and a 168 SMK. I put it right through the lungs. The deer took off and must have ran 400 yards. I found about 1/3 of a lung about 100 yards from where I shot it and another 1/8 of a lung hanging on a fence that the deer had jumped. I was amazed how that deer reacted after having a round go through the vitals. Deer aren't like people though, they don't know that they've been shot, so they don't just lay down and die until their brain stops processing.

Great shot though!!

 

[jb1000br]

BD--wind was zero--shot was directly above armpit about 2" above the center of the deer.

It pretty much traversed the whole chest cavity--enterd front, and exited rear (next to last rib.

it went completely thru the length of one lung, just above the heart (i saw the entrance and exit on the lung itself.

i think the lack ofinitial resistance may have causes the bullet to not expand much.

like i said though--cant get much from one bullet and one deer.

BTW--the exit did suck out some intestines, but the guts werent HIT

i though she was more broadside (due to surroundings i guess) but she must have been angled a bit causing the exit where it was, but the entrance was textbook perfect.

cheers,
JB

EDIT-in case it isnt clear--im POINTING at the entrance

[ 11-30-2004: Message edited by: jb1000br ]

 

[Fiftydriver]

JB,

First off congrats on a fine hunt and knowing when to shoot and when not to shoot.

I see nothing wrong with your shot placement at all. It is certainly in the vital zone by a fair margin and on quartering animals, the exit will generally get outside the chest cavity. Generally as well the Liver is clipped which is as good a vital as the lugs.

Only thing I see is that the impact was a little high in the vital zone and with the quartering angle, probably only one lung was punched and high at that.

It always seems that a lung shot deer hit high in the lungs lasts longer then if it is hit lower in the chest.

I also know a simgle lung hit will often result in a longer time for teh animal to expire but they are dead just the same. In situations like this I would have done what you did and just sit and observe the animal. As you said, she was unalarmed so why take the risk of placing a poor shot on an animal that is moving unpredictably as long as they are calm and not moving off.

This bullet performance is why I do not like the smaller SMK's for deer hunting, they just do not have the frontal area to disrupt alot of tissue at these extended range impacts.

I too would recommend the 140 gr A-Max inthis class of round for the reasons Shawn C. stated already.

Personally I like the larger calibers but they are more costly to shoot enough to become truely efficent with at long range.

Looks like you did your job obviously with a fine one shot kill pushing the 1/2 mile marker.

Congrats on fine skills and patients(most valuable aspect to the long range hunter I feel).

Good Shooting!!!

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[jb1000br]

Kirby--you pretty much nailed it on the shot course. liver and lung--gotta save the heart--they taste good

Also, this is the first time i have done this so the patience thing was a little different, but im glad i waited

definately didnt want a wounded one!!

cant wait for the next shot!!!

JB

P.S. kirby--the shot was about 2" higher than aimed because i held center above the armpit for the best chance at vitals.

 

[jb1000br]

Dave--yes, the exit was plugged QUITE well--very little blood got out, and the internal pressure remained. i think that was a big factor in keeping her alive so long.

also it was her entry-side lung that was perfed, not the exit. then the bullet exited the top of the abdominal cavity.

Now hopefully we can get my dad a shot on saturday (if its not pouring!)

cheers,
JB

 

[royinidaho]

Very interesting thread. Great shot!! Good meat......

Question, seeing as I am a bit new to this thing........

What was the difference in elevation between the entrance and exit wounds? Couldn't tell from the pics.

Just trying to visualize how accurate the range estimation must be......
Thanks.

Yea, nice hat......

 

[jb1000br]

roy--she was lasered with a leica 800, so there was little estimation.

vert diff between entry and exit was probably about 2" as it went in just above center, and came out about centered.

that could be contributed to several other thing than trajectory arc though.

JB

 

[Mysticplayer]

jb, your bullet arrived 'perfectly'. Remember that group size. At 770yds, being 2" off the cross hairs is bang on.

I always take into account the area that the bullet will land in, not just where my cross hairs are. We don't drive them into one hole at 300yds. Why would we expect to do that at 770yds?

The deer I shot this year was at a whopping 50yds. Took it through the chest from my '06. Had enough drive to move about and try to run. Deer don't know they should just lie down and die. Same reason why their bodies will keep moving (trying to run) even when there is a hole in the head.

You did the right thing by waiting for your shot. You did a shot with correct placement. The bullet did its job. The deer just didn't know it was supposed to die right away.

Jerry

 

[Charles A]

The 142gr SMK is the only one I have heard that doesn't create massive wounds. However it looks lik the exit hole is somwhere around an inch and a half, which while not great(for matchkings) isn't bad either. The reason that the deer acted like it did is because he only hit one lung(I think) and liver. Deer act completly different when shot past 300yds or so, in that there not scared at all, which in turn means a bit longer death since its not running, ie. not pumping blood like crazy, for its life, it takes longer to bleed out. Similer to an arrow hit deer shot the sam way.

Just this afternoon I shot one at 770yds (on camera) that when hit just calmly walked of, and finaly died after going about 50yds. She was hit sharp qourtering toward me, liquified both lungs, with severe hydrostatic shock to the liver, exited center of right side chest, leavin a 4.5in exit wound, yet she lived, and ate, for a couple of minutes. This one was shot with a 220gr MK out of a 300tomahawk.

 

[bigbrother]

Re: First \"shot\" at Long-Range-Hunting!

I had the same problem with the smk's out of my 6.5x284. I switched to the 140AMAX and have had great success with it. They expand well on groundhogs and have given me 2 to 3" exits on whitetails to 750yds. The 2 we shot this year at 537 and 525 never moved. We shot the one in her bed through both shoulders and her head just flopped back on the ground. We high shoulder shot the other one, so expectedly, she just kind of fell on her nose and flipped over. They shoot a little tighter out of my gun than the smk's but the expansion was more of a concern. The groundhogs I was shooting with the smk's just ran to there hole unless head shot.

With all that said, the shot you made was a good one. And congrats. There's something about those 6.5's! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[marketello]

Re: First \"shot\" at Long-Range-Hunting!

JB, you were able to range a doe at 700 yds with your Leica?
Was that hard to do, did you have the unit mounted on anything.
I just bought a Leica 1200 and have been practicing with it on cattle, I haven't been able to range one more than 500 yds yet, hard to hold the box steady.