Slow Burn

Today was a great day to be afield here in Tennessee. Over this past weekend we had rain and high winds. This morning it was 27*F here in Indian mound. The frost was very heavy and I opted to stay in bed where it was warm. I don’t deal very well with cold weather. I managed to get up and make a cup of coffee and set at the dining room table and watch the deer down in the pasture field behind our home. I watched several doe come and go for about an hour and then this poor little 1 antlered spike comes on the scene and chases the doe around a while. My son Harley was home from college and he sat with me and we laughed and joke about the poor little buck. As mid –day approached the deer disappeared back into the hard wood hills surrounding our home. My son Harley was off on errands and so was I, but Harley assured me that he would be in the blind on the far side of our farm. He hunts predominately with a .50 caliber Pedersoli Blue Ridge. I arrived back home later than I had anticipated. So, I grabbed my TC Encore and opted for the Matrix stand again. I really didn’t expect to see anything but I could only hope. I had been in the Matrix about 10 minutes when a doe and button buck should up and began feeding on some tender new grass that had begun to grow. I had my TC loaded with 120 grains of Pyrodex RS and a 240 grain .458 XTP. It is zeroed at 100 yards and shoots fairly well. I have made some minor adjustments thanks to Cayugad from replying to my post last week when my daughter had some unforeseen issues with my rifle. I ended up taking the breech plug and wrapping the threads with Teflon tape and taking a 1/8” drill bit and cleaning the flash channel out. I only shoot pyrodex but wow was the crud built up in the flash channel. Now my rifle is very dependable. Thanks Dave. I sat and watched the deer feed for a little while when the doe started getting real skittish acting and retreated to the woods. Approximately 10 minutes later out steps a good buck… at least I thought so with the sun shining on those white antlers they looked twice the size they were and I knew better, but I couldn’t help but get excited. If you don’t get excited, when you’re hunting; you’re a liar or you need to find a new hobby!!! I quickly raised my rifle figuring he was approximately 75 yards away. I eased the hammer back and settled in for a shot. This is where I really knew better. The buck was quartering away and slowly walking and looking at the button buck. I moved the rifle slightly in front of the buck anticipating that he would stop, but he didn’t and I felt the shot. I immediately thought that I had made a horrible mistake. I did, as the 240 grain XTP sailed into the left side of his paunch and lodged just under the skin of his right shoulder. The buck ran fast and that just caused my excitement to escalate more. I quickly reloaded my rifle and almost immediately went to check for blood, but none was found. I entered the wood line on the far side of the field and checked for blood, but still not a drop. I looked very close and I could not find a single drop. I thought to myself could I have missed? No, I know that I had a high chance of making a poor shot due to space, time and speed during the shot. I had thought that I had hit the deer in the stomach and I had prior to taking out a lot of vital organs. I was ready to go to the house and wait for my son to return to help me. As I walked out I had thought that I heard him making a horrible gurgling/grunting sound. Upon my return to the house my son Harley told me that he had heard the same noise and it was approximately the same area that I had stopped looking. So, I ate a sandwich and drank a cup of coffee and we grabbed our lights and headed for the place where he had thought that he heard it. Now mind you I had not found a drop of blood earlier. As I walked within 20 yards from where I had stopped looking there was a place where the buck had been laying and blood was everywhere. We immediately started following the blood and he went all the way to the hollow and died. Upon examination of the buck we discovered that the slug was under the skin of the right shoulder. I have not weighed the bullet to see what weight it had retained but I would say that it had more than done its job. I am pleased with the XTP’s and their performance. I made a poor shot and was very lucky to have recovered the animal. I know there are bullets out there that may surpass the performance of the XTP, but for the price I will take them any day. My sons Harley took mercy on my poor broken body and dragged the deer straight up the hill. I only carried its heart for the special treat of our family pet. Me, Harley and Pepper will set down and have fried deer heart for lunch.

stripercrazy

congrats on your deer, nice

Breechplug

Congrat's on your Deer!
A .458 XTP??? they dont make any. All I shoot is the .452 240gr XTP MAG in .45cal and I have Never Lost a deer shot with one of them, it's all I will ever shoot, Period!
(BP)

Semisane

Good deer Slow Burn, and a well told story. Congratulations.

cayugad

That XTP really expanded!! And that's a nice size eating buck there. Congratulations on the deer. Many good meals ahead there.

falcon

Congrats on the buck.

dakine999

Nice one man!

OLDBOB

Nice buck, and I'm glad that you took a second look. Years ago I tracked a poorly shot buck that another hunter had shot with a bow and it went through my brother property. I followed a meager blood
trail with him for hours. When it got dark, we quit. I had to leave in the morning - the season was over. The following spring I found the bones not more than 50 feet from where we stopped looking. I was really upset when I saw those bones.

onetohunt

Congrats on the deer!!

Slow Burn

Breechplug,
I am glad you caught that. I have had my sharps Hartford model on my brain for the last few days. I have been so excited over taking it hunting up in Webster County, KY that I inadvertently put.458 instead of .452. Again I apologize for the error.