so in heavily hunted woods...
 

...here in NC our national forests are crowded during the deer season. If a deer you take a shot at runs 50 ft or so, there is a good chance someone else will tag him. So you have to put your buck down right now..

I have used two solutions to this, both with more or less equal success. As I said in my first post, (mistakenly posted here, but now in 'out of season' or whatever...) I grew up reading a lot of Jack O'Connor. So naturally, I got a .270...perhaps not idea for NC woods hunting, but when my hands closed on my Ruger for the first time, I felt as if I was holding Excaliber. And man..when you send that 130gr into the boiler room, that buck hits the ground so hard he almost bounces!

And I have used a .358. With a 200 gr. bullet..lots of lead exposed at the tip..that puts them down nicely too...If I had to choose one or the other, I think I would go with the .270 though...

But I assume there are other solutions too and I am curious as to what are yours?

If I had other hunters within 50 feet I'd be looking for something else entirely. That sucks. I don't even think I would hunt with those conditions.

50 ft may be an exxageration..but any deer that runs after your shot is very likely to wind up with someone else's tag on him..

and we do have our full share of idiots sorry to say...after arriving a camp in the Uwaharrie National Forest I spoke with some guys in the next camp site...asked if they had any luck that day.."No, but I did get a couple of 'sound shots." "Sound shots?" I asked..."yeah, you know..you hear the deer moving around and take a shot.."

I went home immediately. And have never ever hunted Uwaharrie again....

You made the right choice there!

Man needs a little education hope you got a chance to tell him he's a idiot.

The solution is to go deeper into the woods where most hunters wouldn't bother going. When you think about it, almost any centerfire rifle bullet placed in the vitals area will kill a deer. Usually technique is more important than technology.

Anybody that sound shoots should be shot themselves.

I drop them with a high shoulder shot out of my .243 when the need arises, it's not how big the bullet is that determines how soon they fall...

The Uwharries is over 52,000 acres in about 15-20 different tracts, the secret to hunting them is to find some spots that other hunters don't use...Plenty of folks around here don't hunt public land because they can't bait or use 4-wheelers...The crazy stories like you mentioned also affect how others view hunting public land...

I've been hunting them since 1983 and have never had a problem...In fact, I was on a tract today and had the whole place to myself...Just wear your orange hat and vest and you'll be ok...

I got this one this year.... :)



And this one last year... ;)

I didn't see aother hunter either time...

Love your traditional muzzleloader.

Agreed... I know some that like too anchor them with a double shoulder shot, which a .358, and .270 are capable of. Then there are some that prefer a neck shot, which will usually drop them in their tracks. I've only taken a few neck shots myself... None of the deer ever took another step. There was a guy at NAHC that said the neck shot is the only shot he takes. If I remember right he hunted with a 300 Savage model 99.