Hunting with a 6.8 field report

[ccoker]

I have been hunting with a 6.8 for a few years now and just got another one from Wilson Combat

got to get it blooded yesterday

Went yesterday with my son Sean to my buddy Rick's place
it's about 2 hrs north of Austin, I love going there
it's a beautiful pice of property and has a ton of deer
Shot all my deer with the Wilson Combat 18" Recon with 3-0 Accupoint and handloaded Barnes 85g

the game plan was to take a bunch of does and a nice buck or two if we could.
A fried runs an orginization that since Oct 08 has donated 50K lbs of wild hog and I was going to take a deer or two and donate the rest

got there before daybreak and had does everywhere as the sun came up, you know it's going to be good when you see lots of eyeballs reflecting back at you as you drive into the area

My son was hung up on  a nice buck and I didn't feel like dealing with any does that early in the morning..

We stayed near the winter wheat field about 2hrsa dn then drove up to the high part of the place and jumped quite a number of does

Got him setup in a pop up and I went for a long stalk hunt and was going to be walking back the thick stuff and see if I could push any deer his direction

Walking in the tree line next to the open area two deer bolted right into the field in front of me, I sprinted to the rignt and dropped to a knee and saw one doe hightailing it.. the other froze behind a tree about 75 yards in front of me, as it stepped forward, WACK!

Down went doe #1



Jumped several others and was trying to push them towards Sean
When I got close to him he said he saw some running but they jumped the fence
no go

hunted some more, ate lunch and got setup in the killing field blind
overlooking a big field that like clockwork at dusk has deer coming out and moving to our right over to the winter wheat field

the view, you can see a litle clearing under the trees, deer come through there and to the left... that's 300 yards



Well, out come 2 doe at 175 yards
my son tried to get a video but all you hear is WACK! a deer running, sky, WACK!
well, within 2 seconds there were 2 does DRT

a 6 pt comes out and my son goes for it but misses at 150 yards...
my fault, he should have stuck with his 243 that he's used to

a few minutes later, under the trees at 300 yards I see a NICE buck
looked like lazer beams coming out of his head
he was hung up and wouldn't come forward, after what seemed like an eternity he eases forward and as he's right at the edge of the adjoining tree line, he pauses and WACK!
250 yards and he drops like a sack of potatoes and never even as much as kicked

85g Barnes hit a little high and took out the lower spine and exited the far side



the final count, 3 doe and 1 buck (one in the cooler from the morning)


r
We donated the 3 deer to my buddy to process and give away the meat

Get the horns back in a few weeks

My son and I had wonderful day together and that's by far the best and most important part!

[Cheesehead]

I did a lot of deer hunting with my 6.8 Bushmaster this year, but no shooting. Looks like you guys had a great day and the 6.8 works well.
 
Great pics and great story.

Cheese

[Dee]

Congrats, I have been thinking about a new 6.8 upper. Is ammo easy to find?

[ccoker]

it's easy to order!
not available in many places though still, though it's getting better
the BEST is Silver state armory
they also make the best brass

[Cheesehead]

Do not go to the store expecting to find 6.8mm.

Buy a 1000 pack of your favorite brass, lots of cheap and high end bullets available. I go with Rem brass with large rifle primers, works good for me.

Cheese

[Dee]

Well I'm an old reloader from way back, I guess it was a stupid question. Give me the brass and bullets, and I can reload it.

[SD Handgunner]

Congrats on a great hunt and thanks for the great report.

Larry

[ccoker]

SSA brass, CCI 41 milspec small rifle primers
small rifle primers tend to be more consitent and more recommended by the leading 6.8 builders
from SSA:
.  Q:  Is there any benefit to using a Large Rifle Primer over a Small Rifle Primer?

 

    A:  Standard Deviation (SD) have a better result for Small primer 6.8SPC rifle cartridges than for Large primer 6.8SPC rifle cartridges. But a large rifle primer will have a velocity advantage of around 50 FPS. It is not uncommon for a small primer case to have SD's in the low teens to single digits whereas a large primer case will give a SD in the 20's or into the 30's.


it's a fun gun

some good hunting pics at the bottom

http://www.wilsoncombat.com/68project.asp

[SD Handgunner]

If I read you post correct the Buck you show in the last photo was taken at 250 yards, is this correct? Congrats once again as that is some fine shooting bud.

If you don't mind I have a couple of questions. First of all what is the Muzzle Velocity of your load? Second what do you feel is the maximum range at which the 85gr. Barnes TSX will perform (the bullet not the shooter if you know what I mean) at the velocity level you are using it?

I have been considering a new Upper Receiver Assembly for one of my AR's. The main purpose of this new Upper Receiver Assembly will be for my wife to use for Whitetail Deer Hunting here in northeastern South Dakota. My wife likes my Bushmaster AR better than any Rifle she has ever fired. One of the reasons is that she can easily make the 6 Position Collapsable Buttstock fit her, while offering good ergonomics for her.

Most of our Hunting is done in the Mud Lake Bottom, which is basically a dried up lake bottom most of the year. On the north end there is the White Rock Dam and US Dam Road which severs as a holding resivior when needed to keep water from flooding up north of us. In the summer when it is dry area farmers cut the high spots (islands if you will) for hay for cattle. It is these cut meadows we normally hunt and at times shots can tend to get a bit long.

I have been considering a 6.8 for a while now. I think it would be suited quite well for my wife as it won't produce arm busting recoil. In shot any and all information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Larry

[patw]

Just got back from a hunt in Tx hill country, shot two deer with the 6.8.  I have been using an AR in 6.8 to hunt for several years now.  Got away from the big guns when I found that the little cartridges kill them just as dead and don't mess as much meat, and been using an AR since i found it would shoot as accurately as any of my deer rifles.  There is something to be said for the reduced kick and noise too, I am not out to impress anyone with my big magnums anymore.  I have used it to kill some pigs, some over 200 lbs, and have not lost an animal with it yet.  For the record, I shoot cheap 110 gr bullets, either Nosler ballistic tips or Sierra soft points.  They are accurate and do the job.

[SD Handgunner]

I hear ya there. Every year I get a year older and every year I like recoil less and less.

Larry