reflex264
Handloader
- Jun 13, 2007
- 295
- 229
Hunting 2024 in review
Kill 1. The deer was a 3.5 year old 10 point buck. Live weight was slightly under 200 lbs but my scale was acting up. From experience I will call him 180 lbs. Live weight. I used my .260 Encore handgun loaded with 140 Nosler Partitions at 2420 fps. The buck was 88 yards away when I shot. The aiming point was the aorta. The bullet entered his left side and passed through the lungs and the aorta. Half of the lungs were blown to bits and the aorta was totally destroyed. On impact the deer kicked out his back legs then began to run but immediately slumped and crashed. No tracking involved. Blood spray everywhere. No bullet recovered as it passed completely through the deer. I couldn’t have asked more from the gun or load.
Kill 2. The deer was a huge doe. Once again the scale was acting up. By reverse calculating the weight of meat (70 lbs. Boned out) to live weight she would have been 175 on the hoof. That is a huge doe here and my #3 all time out of hundreds of does. The gun is a custom 10mm based on a G20 Glock. The ammo was loaded with 120 grain CEB Raptor bullets at 1434 fps. The shot was 59 yards and the deer was positioned slightly uphill and slightly quartering away. I aimed at the aorta which meant holding slightly low and back compared to a perfect broadside shot. The bullet dead centered a rib and the petals all sheared on impact with the rib. The petals traveled to the left side of the core. The core went straight through the aorta before exiting. The core left a silver dollar sized hole through the rear of the lungs. The petals all went through the front of the lungs leaving holes approximately ¼” each. The petals all exited completely which really surprised me. They missed the humerus and scapula. The very front petal exited through the thickest part of the rear shoulder muscle. There is no doubt if it had hit bone it would have stopped. I think because they are sharp they continued to penetrate the soft tissue. She ran about 15 yards if that far. If she had needed tracking it would have been easy. There was blood everywhere.
Other things I used this season were my Trifecta rest on a Trigger Stick tripod
Opti-Logic binoculars, Leupold Rx1000 rangefinder and Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies.
This season certainly didn’t go as planned. I missed a lot of hunting due to nagging medical issues. I did manage to rotate several guns but I wish a few more had seen action. I will say I don’t regret not having a rifle with me. Carrying a scoped handgun and an open sighted handgun has served me well for many years. Hopefully I’ll be chasing pigs soon then on to turkeys.
Kill 1. The deer was a 3.5 year old 10 point buck. Live weight was slightly under 200 lbs but my scale was acting up. From experience I will call him 180 lbs. Live weight. I used my .260 Encore handgun loaded with 140 Nosler Partitions at 2420 fps. The buck was 88 yards away when I shot. The aiming point was the aorta. The bullet entered his left side and passed through the lungs and the aorta. Half of the lungs were blown to bits and the aorta was totally destroyed. On impact the deer kicked out his back legs then began to run but immediately slumped and crashed. No tracking involved. Blood spray everywhere. No bullet recovered as it passed completely through the deer. I couldn’t have asked more from the gun or load.
Kill 2. The deer was a huge doe. Once again the scale was acting up. By reverse calculating the weight of meat (70 lbs. Boned out) to live weight she would have been 175 on the hoof. That is a huge doe here and my #3 all time out of hundreds of does. The gun is a custom 10mm based on a G20 Glock. The ammo was loaded with 120 grain CEB Raptor bullets at 1434 fps. The shot was 59 yards and the deer was positioned slightly uphill and slightly quartering away. I aimed at the aorta which meant holding slightly low and back compared to a perfect broadside shot. The bullet dead centered a rib and the petals all sheared on impact with the rib. The petals traveled to the left side of the core. The core went straight through the aorta before exiting. The core left a silver dollar sized hole through the rear of the lungs. The petals all went through the front of the lungs leaving holes approximately ¼” each. The petals all exited completely which really surprised me. They missed the humerus and scapula. The very front petal exited through the thickest part of the rear shoulder muscle. There is no doubt if it had hit bone it would have stopped. I think because they are sharp they continued to penetrate the soft tissue. She ran about 15 yards if that far. If she had needed tracking it would have been easy. There was blood everywhere.
Other things I used this season were my Trifecta rest on a Trigger Stick tripod
Opti-Logic binoculars, Leupold Rx1000 rangefinder and Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies.
This season certainly didn’t go as planned. I missed a lot of hunting due to nagging medical issues. I did manage to rotate several guns but I wish a few more had seen action. I will say I don’t regret not having a rifle with me. Carrying a scoped handgun and an open sighted handgun has served me well for many years. Hopefully I’ll be chasing pigs soon then on to turkeys.
