Well, deer season was short but sweet. I got to my stand about 6:40 am. About 30 minutes later, I see a mature buck coming my way. At 25 yards he stops and starts eating browse. It was a tough shot- sharply quartering-to me, and a sharp downward angle because I was 20 feet up in a tree. I considered waiting for a better shot, but buck fever got the best of me, so I laid the hammer down. The buck stumbles forward about 15 yards and collapses, almost right in front of my tree stand. This is what I got:
A nice typical 10 pointer. For the area I hunt in, this is a pretty nice deer. Actually, the best buck I've ever got, and even sweeter because it was with a muzzleloader!
The bullet entered here:
The bullet angled downward and back, clipping the blood vessels on top of the heart and then thru the liver:
By the way, it was a 185 grain Lehigh DOA on top of 80 grains of T7 3f. It was the last of a sample pack I got. It shot within 1" of the 200 Shockwaves out to 100 yards that I had sighted the rifle in with, and I decided to try and take a deer with it.
I ended up finding 2 of the petals in the off-side shoulder when I was processing the meat:
I had only been sitting up in the tree for 30 min, so I reloaded with a 200 Shockwave and decided to stay longer. About 25 min later, I notice a doe in the brush behind me. I watched it for awhile, and saw that there was 2 does there. Eventually, 1 doe worked its way down to the salt lick that we had set up. I didn't have a clear shot, plus it was a little Bambi doe. But soon, the 2nd doe came in, and it was much bigger. As it came towards the salt lick, it stopped in a shooting lane about 40 yards away. I pull the trigger, and the 200 Shockwave blows right thru her, she stumbles 10 yards and falls over.
So I end up getting 2 nice deer in about a 60 minute time span. Not a bad way to start of the hunting season!
By the way, this was the first deer I have taken with the 185 Lehigh, and the first with the 200 Shockwave. I was very impressed with the performance of both bullets. I got complete pass-thru's with both, and neither made it more than 15 yards. I was using 80 grains T7 3f in a .45 with both bullets. The entrance and exit holes with the Lehigh were the same size, but internal damage was massive. Internal damage with the Shockwave was similar, but the exit hole much larger:
Overall, a great hunt! I spent the past 24 hours processing all the meat, canning 36 jars of meat and freezing a lot, plus some going to the processor. Best season I've had!!!
Got me a 2-fer!! (Graphic Pics)
