MarlinSlayer
Well-Known Member
So I had a bunch of powerbelts. I killed two deer with them and were both bang flop drops. Then I shot at a big buck and thought for sure I hit him. This was two years ago. I searched for that deer for 4 hours in the rain and never found him....no blood trail. I had never missed a deer before, but I also got a good case of buck fever on him so I figured I missed. Scroll ahead, my daughter missed a nice doe (or so we think). Now this girl is a good shot. She has shot a hog on the run at 80 yes and a bobcat at about 85. For some reason deer get her shaking. We went and sighted in the ML again and it was pretty good. I am using the hollow points as I had heard off the problems the Aero tips have had. I was reluctant to use saboted bullets as I've heard they really foul the barrel....
I have been wanting to try new bullets, but I didn't have time to sight in a new load before this particular evening.
So the other night during MZ, I climb a good tree in a ravine I always wanted to hunt, not far off a blackberry patch I suspect a large buck beds in. I hear a bunch of movement and an hour before dark a big doe tries to sneak by me. I bleat at her, and she comes out in an opening to take a peak and I shoot. When the smoke clears, she'd doing "the chicken" with her legs up in the air. "good", I think..."the bullets did their part". Five minutes later, she tries to get up, she starts thrashing around and actually gets on her feet real wobbly. She slowly walks, then trots, 15 yds down hill, stops by a tree, and I think "Here it comes".....just about to put another bullet in her when she falls over sideways like someone knocking over a stack of canned beans.
SO I have a plump white belly facing me 65 yds away. I mark the tree visually, and when I'm about to get down to get her in the still good light, I hear movement from the blackberry patch. I sit tight and the buck moves ever so slowly, but slips away. I get down, gather my stuff, and now it is fully dark. I walk to the tree and "no deer" I do a search of every tree in a 60 foot circle, no deer and no blood. I think, man she had to be bleeding good...so I go back to the tree my climbing stand is on, look at where I shot her, pace off the yardage I ranged her at, and see the area where she tore top the ground thrashing around.....find a wee bit o blood and follow that to where she started her little 15 yd wobble to the tree she fell at.....no blood.
Here's what I think happened. I hit her high and the shock to her nervous system dropped her and gave her the dead deer seizure. Then when the effects of the shock wore off, she managed to slowly get up and walk. As I was looking for the buck to come thru, I heard movement behind me thinking it was another doe coming thru, but I was concentrating on that darned buck. five mins before dark, I heard (in the direction she was originally traveling) something crash down the hillside. After looking for her for three hours in the dark I finally gave up. I even went to where I heard a crash well away from where she last fell. It was thick and there was no sign. 10 minutes after I left, I heard at least 6 votes fire up like no tomorrow, about in the area I heard the crash.
One interesting thing, while I was soiling up the are with my scent, guess who comes out in the dark...padding his way thru the leaves like he had no care in the world was the big bucks with a nice set of headgear. Seemed unconcerned when I hit him with the light. He was so careless, I wanted to make sure he wasn't a hog. He just gave me a look and kept walking along, and even came back to look at me while I was searching for the doe. Is that unusual, and did I blow the chance to get the buck later. I have a feeling I violated his bedding area pretty good.
Some sort of Barnes are on my list for MZ next year. I'm keeping the Power Belts only to use when I take a newbie shooting and they want to shoot a MZ.....they're for the range bag now, not the hunting bag.
I have been wanting to try new bullets, but I didn't have time to sight in a new load before this particular evening.
So the other night during MZ, I climb a good tree in a ravine I always wanted to hunt, not far off a blackberry patch I suspect a large buck beds in. I hear a bunch of movement and an hour before dark a big doe tries to sneak by me. I bleat at her, and she comes out in an opening to take a peak and I shoot. When the smoke clears, she'd doing "the chicken" with her legs up in the air. "good", I think..."the bullets did their part". Five minutes later, she tries to get up, she starts thrashing around and actually gets on her feet real wobbly. She slowly walks, then trots, 15 yds down hill, stops by a tree, and I think "Here it comes".....just about to put another bullet in her when she falls over sideways like someone knocking over a stack of canned beans.
SO I have a plump white belly facing me 65 yds away. I mark the tree visually, and when I'm about to get down to get her in the still good light, I hear movement from the blackberry patch. I sit tight and the buck moves ever so slowly, but slips away. I get down, gather my stuff, and now it is fully dark. I walk to the tree and "no deer" I do a search of every tree in a 60 foot circle, no deer and no blood. I think, man she had to be bleeding good...so I go back to the tree my climbing stand is on, look at where I shot her, pace off the yardage I ranged her at, and see the area where she tore top the ground thrashing around.....find a wee bit o blood and follow that to where she started her little 15 yd wobble to the tree she fell at.....no blood.
Here's what I think happened. I hit her high and the shock to her nervous system dropped her and gave her the dead deer seizure. Then when the effects of the shock wore off, she managed to slowly get up and walk. As I was looking for the buck to come thru, I heard movement behind me thinking it was another doe coming thru, but I was concentrating on that darned buck. five mins before dark, I heard (in the direction she was originally traveling) something crash down the hillside. After looking for her for three hours in the dark I finally gave up. I even went to where I heard a crash well away from where she last fell. It was thick and there was no sign. 10 minutes after I left, I heard at least 6 votes fire up like no tomorrow, about in the area I heard the crash.
One interesting thing, while I was soiling up the are with my scent, guess who comes out in the dark...padding his way thru the leaves like he had no care in the world was the big bucks with a nice set of headgear. Seemed unconcerned when I hit him with the light. He was so careless, I wanted to make sure he wasn't a hog. He just gave me a look and kept walking along, and even came back to look at me while I was searching for the doe. Is that unusual, and did I blow the chance to get the buck later. I have a feeling I violated his bedding area pretty good.
Some sort of Barnes are on my list for MZ next year. I'm keeping the Power Belts only to use when I take a newbie shooting and they want to shoot a MZ.....they're for the range bag now, not the hunting bag.
