Congratulations Ron.

This is one of them shots where i didn't see a thing after the primer popped. The bullet made quite a WHACK when it hit; i figured it hit the deer good without anything i saw. When i went looking for it in the tall grass & bush, i found it right away, with blood right there; i don't think it moved at all. Autopsy results say it bled out from lung, and maybe elsewhere; was paralyzed by neck injury.

Sometimes looking at the country we walk in, makes us kinda almost wish we could write a poem about it....................er maybe not.

It is usually very difficult and frustrating for me when i have to hunt the prairie. It is also shocking when one stumbles upon deer real close, in wide open country that is oblivious to you being there. It took me 8 day to to fool this deer but i really just stumbled into it. When one thinks about it, hunting the prairie is almost like hunting timber; go slow, hunt with the breeze in face, and go super slow when approaching a new vista, where deer could be standing or sleeping or feeding just inches out of sight.

The extreme may be shooting pretty good right now; last time out was very fun. Time may be too tight to remove scope, mount sights, and sight it in to be ready by the 18th. Actually, i can't really see rear sights, and i have been remiss in finding a peep sight to fit the rifle. I think more shooting with the scope will be better instruction.

That small hole made by the bullet exiting the neck was a great surprise to me. I was almost convinced i forgot how the deer was standing when hit by the bullet. I wanted to make the entrance the exit and versa-visa, but i can clearly remember the shot, holding the crosshair just behind the shoulder, and the deer was most certainly looking away, not toward me.

Why meat in the size of a shoebox??? Maybe a little shoulder and neck meat was ruined, but you should still have the rear quarters and the backstraps at minimum. That should net you 20 - 30 pounds at least.

Great story and pictures, Ron. I'm usually too excited to take pictures of the other animals right after the harvest.

Congrats on the nice deer.

Nice shot. And that looks to be darn good bullet performance. One heck of an angle, a 200 grain, .40 caliber bullet traveling what looks to be about 3/4ths of the way through the body and exiting through the neck like that. I'll have to keep the SST in mind.

It is a small deer. Whenever i say shoe box it makes me smile. Our boy said that years ago, when he picked up/paid for his antelope meat at the butcher shop, and was amazed how small the container was. Today, we think up reasons to say it to each other, and laugh and laugh and......................

my dad has that same gun and it is a shooter. althought we are in thick woods and would be lucky to get a shot off any further than 100 yards . great shot !

Myself, i can't see that the bullet traversed 3/4 animal. The entrance was near the center of the rib cage, and it exited the neck. Seems that would be some less than 1/2 animal.

You're right about the angle. I drew down on the deer, and was waiting for it to turn broadside, or at least quartering away. As i waited, i noticed how steady the cross hair was on that spot just behind the shoulder. After a short time, i grew tired of waiting and took advantage of the, to me, unusually steady hold, and squeezed off the shot. The rifle wouldn't have been more solidly steady, if it would have had an attached bipod, and i have no idea why.?!? Perhaps it was the lack of loose elbow, due to whatever old people disease apply.

Great story and pics... thanks for sharing.