I had the chance to come home for a weekend last friday from Washington State University and hunt some deer. After going up to my Uncle's place on the little Klickitat on saturday, I went home empty handed. We saw about 60 does and two bucks that were off of our property where we could take the shot. I went home pretty disappointed.
The next morning, I went out onto some more family land - a bit closer to home. Where before, I was hunting with my Browning 30-06, I decided to take the Buffalo Classic. Just before coming up to school, I mounted a Nikon Buckmasters 3x9 scope, and sighted in the rifle with some Remmy factory loads. After busting through the brush for about 2 1/2 hours, we hadn't seen a deer at all. We decided to take a break from breakfast and pulled into one of our friends house. We talked to him for a while, and he suggested to circle around his pasture on his ATV trail.
Coming around the fence, I noticed a group of deer standing out in the field. They were feeding and I came up from behind them. I spotted this buck out the bunch and decided I better take the shot as it was probably my last chance of the season. I took a rest on the fence, aimed steady and fired the shot.
The deer was probably 60 yards from my position. The deer was in a perfect quartering-away position. The bullet entered about 1" behind the front shoulder, exiting in the middle of his sternum. I was absolutely amazed at the damage the round did. The deer ran about 30 yards until collapsing and rolling over. The bullet penetrated straight through the deer's heart; I was actually surprised that the deer ran as far as it did. I'm now a huge fan of the 45/70. What neat round... I can't wait to get some warm handloads worked up for deer and black bear. I'd like to get an elk with the rifle, however, that'll have to wait until I'm out of school.
Not a trophy by anymeans, but a nice reminder from home for me - especially taking it with the B.C.
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