Had a tough recovery tonight.

[dennishoddy]

Shot a 127lb doe tonight about 1630 hrs with the .223, and she made about 60 yds leaving a blood trail a blind man could follow. Problem is, she went across a double oxbow in the creek, and no way to get an ATV in there. 20' banks. Got her field dressed and rolled her over the side of the first, and then had to manhandle her up the other bank. Pretty tired by this time, and still had to clear some brush to get the three wheeler in there. Finally got her pulled up over the side, and got the field dressing done. It was 2030 hrs by this time.
As a side note, I'm not real happy with the Rem .55 gr PSP factory round. Made an entry hole you could drop a tennis ball into, and no exit wound. It evaporated in the top half of the heart. It did the job, but I like a complete pass thru. When I get enough empty brass, I'll have to look at buying a better constructed bullet.

 

[imhntn]

I've got some 55 gr nosler partitions loaded for my .223 but have not shot a deer with them yet. Probably will not this year. Since on line check in, you could have quartered it there and carried it out. Glad you got it and whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Glad you got it.

 

[bettingpython]

Nice doe DH, keep some rope handy(and a tarp) for just such occasions it's much easier to haul something up an embankment from the top where you can get leverage and theres no protrusions to catch on stuff on the way up.

 

[dennishoddy]

Problem is, the banks are near vertical, and had to belay around a tree, lift with one hand, and get slack with the other. Guess I could have quartered it, but it just never crossed my mind.

 

[dennishoddy]

I've got some 55 gr nosler partitions loaded for my .223 but have not shot a deer with them yet. Probably will not this year. Since on line check in, you could have quartered it there and carried it out. Glad you got it and whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Glad you got it.

I'll have to take a look at those noslers.

 

[ez bake]

Shot a 127lb doe tonight about 1630 hrs with the .223, and she made about 60 yds leaving a blood trail a blind man could follow. Problem is, she went across a double oxbow in the creek, and no way to get an ATV in there. 20' banks. Got her field dressed and rolled her over the side of the first, and then had to manhandle her up the other bank. Pretty tired by this time, and still had to clear some brush to get the three wheeler in there. Finally got her pulled up over the side, and got the field dressing done. It was 2030 hrs by this time.
As a side note, I'm not real happy with the Rem .55 gr PSP factory round. Made an entry hole you could drop a tennis ball into, and no exit wound. It evaporated in the top half of the heart. It did the job, but I like a complete pass thru. When I get enough empty brass, I'll have to look at buying a better constructed bullet.



[Broken External Image]

Looks like for a 55gr, it did a pretty good job. I've been reading a lot about the 55gr Ballistic Silver tips lately - they seem to be pretty impressive (I've used them to sight in, but never killed a deer with one).

Sucks that she made you work that hard for her, but that's a pretty big doe - I shot a 96Lb doe last year and had to drag her out of a wash up-hill just a bit and was weezing pretty heavy when I got her to the place where I could gut her (didn't want to gut her in the area where I could come back and let my sons shoot another or two).

 

[dennishoddy]

Looks like for a 55gr, it did a pretty good job. I've been reading a lot about the 55gr Ballistic Silver tips lately - they seem to be pretty impressive (I've used them to sight in, but never killed a deer with one).

Sucks that she made you work that hard for her, but that's a pretty big doe - I shot a 96Lb doe last year and had to drag her out of a wash up-hill just a bit and was weezing pretty heavy when I got her to the place where I could gut her (didn't want to gut her in the area where I could come back and let my sons shoot another or two).

Thanks for another tip for the .55 grain.

I don't have the pics any more, but a couple of years ago, I shot a deer at a feeder, and as it was the last day of deer season, I field dressed it right there, and left the gut pile 5' from the feeder. I put a camera on it, and for two days, the deer still came to the feeder, and had pics of them looking at it, but the next pic 1 minute later showed them feeding. During the day, crows were on it all the time, and at night the possums helped. On the third night, between shots, the pile disappeared. I suspect a coyote dragged it out of the camera range.

I just field dress them where they fall now.

 

[ignerntbend]

I hope some jerk doesn't come out of the wood work and claim that this is a cautionary tale, a good argument for the Jap rifle. That would be wrong.:violin

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Nice hunting. I think the partition would be a good bullet.

 

[RedTape]

I'm going to try my AR next year. You guys think a good 55 gr. soft point bullet is the way to go or are there any advantages to bumping up to a heavier bullet? The smallest round I've ever used on deer is a 100 gr. .243.