Not the largest buck in the woods, but I'm sure happy with him. This is the first deer I've ever tagged with an inline. All my previous successful muzzleloader hunts were with traditional styled caplocks. I have to say, sabot bullets do a lot more damage than the patched round balls I'm used to, and this set up is a lot better suited to my current hunting area too. It's also the first deer I've had a chance to take with a muzzleloader in 2 years.
For anyone interested in thedetails, here it is.
Thompson center omega Z5, 250 grain shockwave bullet, 2 pyrodex pellets, the shot was quartering away at a hard angle at 30 yards, the bullet entered in the left side at the last rib (breaking it) and broke a rib on the way out right behind the shoulder on the right side. Both the enterance and exit wound were about the same size, about the size of a nickel. The exit hole was a little more "torn" looking, like shards of the rib were forced through the hide.
WOW!! it sounds like you really have a good load there.. Congratulations on the deer.
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We are ALWAYS interested in the details Wiggy. How far did that fine looking load of meat go after the shot, or did he just fold up?
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My wife says I'm totally nuts, but I think I'm Semisane.
Things I've Learned: (1) It's not possible to please everyone, but quite easy to piss everyone off. (2) If you love animals as I do, then you're not a vegetarian. (3) There's no need to act stupid, even if you're very good at it. (4) If you eat right and exercise, don't smoke or drink, you're going to die anyway.
We are ALWAYS interested in the details Wiggy. How far did that fine looking load of meat go after the shot, or did he just fold up?
He made it about 80 yards after the shot. All this went down in a field so it wasn't a very hard recovery. He was down by the time the smoke cleared. Very little blood trail actually, just enough to follow if I had to. It seems that either the last rib shattered through the diaphragm wall, or maybe it was just the shock from the bullet, but the gut was punctured and material from that clogged the wound and stopped much of the external bleeding. Both lungs were liquified, and the heart was only missed by about an inch or two. The quartering away angle was a little harder that I would have liked, but the actual wound channel was amazing. If I had aimed just an inch more forward I would have hit the opposet shoulder bone on the exit, and probably would have clipped the right ventricle of the heart.
Congrats
That shockwave went through allot of deer,I'm suprised it didnt have a bigger exit hole
Was it the yellow or blue tip?
It was the yellow tip, and the plastic sleeve was black. Honestly, those shockwaves and the 2 pyrodex pellets with winchester 209 primers was the first load I tried for it. After four shots to sight in the scope, I was getting 2" groups at 100 yards. Before next year I'll be switching to loose pyrodex to fine tune those groups, but for this season I'm more than happy with the current results.
This was also the first wally world package deal that actually worked as advertised for me. And the best part is, it's made in America.