SmallCaliberCentral

Hunted some rough country this morning, but it paid off. Shot this buck at about 10:30 this morning, and with help from my son and a good friend, got him cut up and back to the truck by 8:00 PM. It was a long tough day, but I tagged a good one.







Regards, Guy

Guy.......Congrad!! Very nice buck you anchored. Looks like you had other company in the woods too. Thanks for the pics and the write up.
Later
Ray P

Great buck there guy! That should keep a smile on your face for a while

Nice buck Guy!!!
Sometimes it pays to get into it deep.
What were you shootin?

That's a .25-06 Rem 700 CDL with a 6x Leupold.

Load was a 115 grain Berger VLD over a max charge of Retumbo for 3200 fps muzzle velocity. This is the first year I've hunted with Berger VLD bullets. They're interesting.

Accurate. The VLD design also makes them good over long distance and through wind. Terminal results were different from other bullets I've used on deer in the past. I took two shots.

The first was a 230 yard shot at his spine. He was facing away from me, and all I had was his back, so I took it. Bullet and a chunk of spine vanished and he went down hard, but not dead. Fell down the mountain into a nasty ravine.

I closed and finished him with another shot, this one to the chest. Recovered a tiny bit of bullet jacket from there - the base of the bullet. It looks like a large chunk of bullet core exited the chest through a rib. There was a small entry wound and a narrow bullet path for a few inches, then it opened up wide. The heart and lungs were perforated and there was considerable bloodshot meat on the front quarters and the neck. Pretty devastating results from the hits. Not the bullet to use if you want a photo of a nicely mushroomed big game bullet afterwards, but deadly.

This is the fourth year I've hunted with this rifle and the third mule deer buck I've take with it. I used a 100 gr Barnes TSX at 3340 fps on the other two. That bullet gave complete penetration, and didn't appear to come apart at all - just good expansion.

BTW - I am very fortunate to get such a good buck on public land during the general season... Very fortunate and thankful.

Regards, Guy

Guy: Congratulations bud! That's a fine buck in some beautiful country. A nice buck like that on public land is getting to be an exception these days, and proves that they're still there, but you have to hunt hard to find them. Job well done!

Guy, Nice job and great pics! By the way those weren't buck tracks in the second picture! Gary

Thanks guys!

Hey - I've never shot a bear. Looking for input from someone w/more knowledge. How big do you figure the bear is, from the tracks in the photo?

I still have a bear tag...

Sweeet. Very tasty too!

Guy,

A general rule of thumb is that the bear will be as long in feet from nose to tail as the front paw is wide in inches. This varies somewhat and the medium that the track is found in makes a difference but it is a good guess.

Well, went back in after the bear - but never found him. Still, it was fun.

Carried the .45/70 Marlin when I went in looking for the bear. Perhaps next season?

Very nice. Beautiful country to boot!