Axis and Hardcast

[HGunner]

After a slow hunting season this year I decided to take a trip to Texas in hopes of bringing home some Axis venison.  I took my only whitetail this season with my Ruger Bisley 44 magnum so I decided it was time for my Freedom Arms 454 to get a workout.  I  loaded it up with the RCBS 300 grain SWCGC running about 1270 fps.  This load is very shootable and very accurate in my 6" gun.   My plan was spot and stalk hunting and my guide was on board with the plan.  I hunted hard for two days with no luck and few deer seen.  On the third morning my luck changed for the better and we spotted a small group of Axis feeding into the brush at the bottom of the hill about 150 yards away.  My guide tucked in behind some brush and I began what turned out to be a 90 minute stalk down to 60 yards.  At this point I was on my hands and knees crouched as low as I could behind some short brush.  The only doe I could see had bedded at the front edge of some heavy cover and was looking up hill toward me.  I held my position looking at her through the brush but my knees were starting to give out as much of this stalk was on broken rock with scattered cactus and briar.  When I thought I could hold it no more she finally looked down.  I wasted no time and rose to a kneeling offhand position.  She noticed the movement but it was too late.  She was lying down quartering to me and I shot at the point of her near shoulder.  To my surprise she took off at the shot and flew into the woods at top speed.  I felt pretty good about the shot but was concerned that after all that effort I might come up empty handed.  At that moment another doe popped up from the brush and started off.  Then she stopped to look back and I decided to take the shot.  She was quartering away pretty steeply so I aimed at the off shoulder and fired.  Despite my hopes for a dramatic conclusion she also took off at the shot.   This story is not over but I'm headin' to bed.  I promise to finish it soon.

[Lloyd Smale]

very common for even a perfectly hit deer with a handgun to run a 100 yards or even more before piling up. Get out there and find them.

[Ken ONeill]

When an animal is laying down, their organs are in a somewhat different place than you are used to seeing them. It's usually not a great shot to take.

[HGunner]

Well, as I mentioned, the story is not done.....After the second shot I stood up and just watched the area looking for any sign of a deer running off.  After about 5 min my guide started to make his way down the hill and I was somewhat gratified for him to stop and say "Is that where you shot from???  How the heck did you get there?!!  Turns out he had lost sight of me early in the stalk and figured I had taken a much longer shot.  We waited together another 10 minutes then decided to go take a look.  We went to the area where the first deer was bedded and I was excited to find blood only 4 feet away.  It turned out to be a short, heavy blood trail and we found the doe only 20 yards away.  The bullet had entered just in front of the near shoulder passing through the front of the right lung and the back of the left.  Ken is certainly right that the anatomy does funny things when the deer is laying down as the bullet went in low on the right and came out high on the left - - but man did it work out in this case!  Honestly,  I could not have been more impressed.  I don't think I've ever had a deer that ran hard go down any quicker.  I remember my thought at the time was " this may be the last load I ever need for this gun! "  Now after a smile, a handshake, and a great deal of relief it's time to go look for the other one......

[HGunner]

So we walked back to where I had last seen the second deer and started looking for blood.   After a 30 minute effort and not a drop of blood we decided to take care of the first deer to make sure the venison was in good shape.  While my guide went to get the truck I spent another 20 min looking around but found absolutely nothing.  After dragging the first deer to the truck, we skinned and quartered it and had a quick lunch before heading out for another look.  We had pretty much given up hope when we decided to walk through a brushy draw over the next hill.  We had jumped a hog here the previous day and decided to hunt through the area.  A short way into the brush I heard some movement.  I got ready for a hog to bust from cover and eased in the direction of the sound.  When nothing came out I starting looking into the brush with my binoculars.  To my surprise I saw an Axis deer on its side!  I carefully worked around the thicket ready to put a finisher but none was needed -- the deer apparently used its last energy to try to escape when it heard me moving through the draw.  I was anxious to see what had happened and found that the bullet had entered behind the rib cage on the right and exited at the left shoulder.  There was a half inch hole going in and coming out and I later discovered that the left shoulder was broken.  The truly amazing thing is that this was at least 90 minutes after I had shot the deer and it was a good 200 yards away!  It turned out that the shot angle was a little too steep and I had gotten only one lung.  Still,  I was surprised how far this deer made it and how long it lived.  I couldn't help but wonder if a 250 grain XTP moving about 1350 fps would have done a better job -- probably not.  There are so many variables in hunting that I don't think any of us ever knows for sure.  I wouldn't hesitate to hunt with this load again but no more single lung hits if I can help it!

[Camba]

The lessons learned from your story is excellent.  Never give up looking unless the miss was obvious.
Great hunting story!
 
Camba

[HGunner]

Thanks Camba.  I thought the details were interesting enough to share.  Some of the stuff I have read online would have you believe that a heavy 45 caliber slug going over 1250 fps would hit like the Hammer of Thor and that was simply not the case here.  They seem to work about as well as any other quality bullet.