LittleHorn draws first blood
 

Number 2 son was successful this evening. 25 yards standing offhand shot. 50 gr triple 7 ,250 gr lehigh short black harvester sabot . story and one pic to follow. Busy processing his harvest since it is in the 80's. Gonna get it in the freezer and will tell the story tomorrow. He is one happy 11 year old tonight. I can taste that venison steak already.

Congrats to LittleHorn! Looking forward to the picture and the rest of the story.

congratulations to your son and his harvest..

WHUT????:arms:

Tell him CONGRATS!!! :barmy: :kt: from an old guy... But now if it were me, what excuse could I use to get out of the honey do list

Congrats to the both of you:cool15:!

sweet, thats great

Congratulations to both of you, can't wait to hear the story!

Fantastic! He must have been excited when the smoke cleared.

Congrats to your son.

Tell him Congrats!!! I can't wait to read the story!!

That's great Chet, I'm looking forward to the story.

Congratulations:woot:

Awesome.

:groupwave::groupwave::groupwave::groupwave::group wave::groupwave::groupwave::groupwave::groupwave:: groupwave::groupwave::groupwave::groupwave::groupw ave::groupwave::groupwave::groupwave::groupwave::g roupwave::groupwave::groupwave:

It's :barmy::barmy::barmy::barmy::barmy::barmy: TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats to the young fella!!! and I'm sure Dad isn't all too happy either.:rolleyes:

HA

That's awesome! Tell him congrats!

The joy in a kid's eyes at that age after a hunt is about the coolest thing I can think of.

Congratulations to your son Chet. Congratulations are in order for you also...spending time with your kids taking them hunting.

Alright....can't wait to hear the story and see the pics.

Now for the rest of the story :
We headed out about 2:30 pm. I had left the blind up in the shelter belt and figured I would take him to the same spot as his brother with the same plan. Temp was in the high 80's so I didn't think much would be moving. I was even wondering if anything would move before dark. Around 5:30 I saw 2 deer sneak through way east of us and head into the corn. I figured the blind had things spooked seeing that it was new intrusion into their area. But we were resolved to sit it out and see. Around 6:30 i tooked the tripod down , collapsed the legs and figured the last hour we would work the alfalfa field . Most of the time the deer bed down on tribal ground then mosey in to eat the alfalfa before dark. we were just getting ready to crawl out of the blind., but when I stood up I saw a fawn about 10 yards away then I saw what looked like the mamma about 5 yards behind the blind. I ducked down and told Micah to get his gun that there were deer there. I peeked up and out and the bigger of the deer was walking away . Then I heard a snorting to my right. I glanced that way and saw a buck looking and snorting. I knew we wouldn't have much time. I told Micah he would have to take the shot offhand as there was no way we could get the tripod set back up. The doe was about 20 to 25 yards away. He got into position. The only shot he had was standing because he isn't tall enough to see out the blind any other way. We waited what seemed like forever but was probably only a minute or two for her to turn enough to get a good shot. The second she turned I told him to shoot. He took the shot. I saw her jump but couldn't tell if she was hit. When the smoke clearded she was gone. We crawled out and walked over to where she was standing. There was fresh scat, so I told him that he scared the crap out of it. He said said his heart was really thumping. I couldn't find any blood at all. Looked for about 10 yards , no blood. I asked where he aimed and he said right behind the shoulder. I marked where we last saw her standing and decided to travel down the trail and look. I went about 60 yards. No blood anywhere, then I spotted her piled up against a tree. I called Micah and he was one happy boy. He shouted yipee Oh boy.. I got it.. Smiling from ear to ear. His very first deer and with a muzzleloader he got in July for his birthday. I only had a phone so I took 2 pics for him to have as a keepsake but with the temp. I was more interested in getting it field dressed and butchered. The shot turned out to be a good shot. No blood trail but the body was filled with blood . We took it home and I got it skinned and quartered. The kids usually go to bed at 8 but I let them stay up and cut up and put the deer in the freezer. The three of them cut it and ground up everything except the back straps.They went to bed exhausted at 10 oclock.Susanna is next in the hunting rotation. This is also the first deer the kids have processed themselves.
Knight LittleHorn
50 gr Triple 7
250 gr Lehigh
25 yards. standing offhand shot

Chet...
The clamour for the story is starting to get near the 'overwhelming' point and because of this I really think you should contact Semi to help you ghost write this article... With his ability to embellish the written word - you might have a best seller...:arms: huge!:barmy:

Chet, that is a nice, interesting, well written hunting tale. Thank you!

Your children are lucky to enjoy the hunting. You're also blessed to have them kids to enjoy hunting.





.

Great story!

It really was a well placed shot. Congratulations to you and your son. An outstanding job and a well placed shot.

Some questions for you..

Did you get a complete pass through at that distance with 50 grains of powder?

Did the Lehigh open up and do its thing at that distance with that powder charge?

You wrote there was no blood trail. Were you surprised the wound looked the way it did? And, do you believe the bullet behaved as it expected, and was the powder charge the reason for any thing that could have been better?

Excellent story Chet. And WOW, great offhand shot placement by the young man. Well done.

Congrats to you and Micah both. Good Story of the hunt.
I am also interested in how much penetration you got with that load and if that was enough velocity to shear the petals the way those Lehighs are designed to work.
Art

The bullet was a compLete pass through. I assume the petals sheared off. The entry and exit hole were about the same size which is to be expected. I was surprised at no blood trail but the damage inside was tremendous and the body cavity filled with blood. I think the bullet did it's job amazingly well. the deer went 60 yards . I didn't look for petals as I was in a hurry to get it butchered.

50 grains and a complete pass through. Kind of makes you wonder about powder charges. I have a book, it is aimed more at flintlocks mind you. In the book the author tells of his favorite deer hunting load. Its 50 grains of powder and a patched ball. His take on it is.. the ball is very accurate. It enters the vital organs, penetrates them, and then releases the majority of its power internally.

As for no blood trail I will guess the lungs took the brunt of the bullet. But lets not forget the most important part... the young man got his first deer.

That's a fantastic shot your son made. With a pass through I'm surprised there was no blood trail. I guess the bullet didn't mushroom and thus not making a big enough exit hole to let the blood flow out freely. That would concern me with that bullet and the way the petals shear off, therefor not increasing the diameter of the bullet to cause a larger exit hole. When ever I shoot a deer I want to see blood on the ground. The more the better.

The entry and exit wound being the same size was a little hard for me to get used to. But if the petals shear off the remainder of the bullet that exits is going to be the same size as going in. I am use to either a large lead conical or Barnes so the exit is usually twice as big, sometimes the size of a 50 cent piece. Dead deer either way I guess but I like lots of blood if I have to find a deer. I wont make an evaluation on one deer . On the subject of 50 grains, it was definitely sufficient for sure.

I suspect that a 250 Deep Curl with that powder charge, at that range and with that shot placement would have yielded an impressive exit wound.

I think you would be right because most bullets I use for hunting would leave a big exit hole but I guess the design of this bullet is such that it is suppose to do more internal damage rather than leave a big exit hole. Still that is hard for me to get use to. Like RoyRogers always said"people change, but not much"

If the exit or for that matter the entrance holes are two high in the body for the blood pool to drain you migh not get a lot of blood out until the animal collapses, but one thing is for sure if the petals came off internally - there should be a real decent mess inside the body cavity...

This really does not mean anything but this doe was shot a little high in the side... but in the snow the 200 grain Lehigh seemed to produce plenty of tracking material...



I honestly wonder though if 50 grain of powder would provide enough velocity to break the petals off the core? From your description of the innards - I would say that you did get a good deal of hydrostatic shock...

Still all-in-all everybody has got to feel awful good about the harvest....

mike

That snow would sure feel good.

Art - you have no ideal - how much i would like to be there now instead of at my daughters house in Kennewick... the hottest place in the State of Washington:confused0024:

I am ready to go home... An hour and a half to go and I am headed back to north Idaho...

Let's not get in a big hurry. It will be here soon enough and I have to cut wood yet. And days that I cut wood are days that I can't hunt

We are suppose to have a light frost Wed nite, It is in the 80's today. I got firewood to make too.

He couldnt have place the any better, congrats to your son.

Nice story, and congrats on the harvest!

Chet, I think your findings are interesting. The bullet exited and had alot of internal damage but no blood. I guess we will wait and see on some more Deer. Thanks for the report.

Great story Chet!! Again, congrats on the kill, it is a great feeling that first kill both for the shooter and teacher!!!