2024 hunting season

Since you all have been so patient, here's what we got September 18th!

Both my dad and I are shooting traditions St.louis hawken rifles that I built us from kits and rebarreled them in 54cal to meet Colorado minimum for elk.

My dad used 70gr 3fg Gearhart-owen, .530" round ball and .020" patches lubed with Frontier's Bear Paws patch lube.

Everything in my rifle was the same, except I used 80gr 2fg Goex ( the new stuff )

Sunday I came up by myself, early in the day so I could get more rest. Later that day I met some fellows elk hunting and told them what I was after. We ran into each other multiple times on the trail, waved, the usual friendliness.

Wednesday comes around on the way back to camp, there's a big bowl cut out and I spotted 2 deer down in the middle! I parked my atv, ran into the tent and told my dad to get ready!

Ran to the truck where his gun was stored and turned around and noticed a UTV parked on the road watching the deer.

Crap!! How the heck did I not see them before!

Next the driver door opens and the bow hunter steps out, looks back at me and raises his arms above his head with his fingers sticking out, letting ne know there's a buck.

Turns out, it was the same fellers I'd been seeing and had spoke to!

The deer ran off into the trees, so they backed up closer to camp and told us what all was down there and one led me around some brush to show the direction they ran, then spotted them.

I laid down and got ready. The man told me the 2 deer I see were dies. Crap! I had Dad swap positions with me and he sighted down his doe and squeezed the trigger.

I couldn't see anything but deer running around so I got him reloaded.

Our good buddies left after I thanked them for keeping watch.

We couldn't tell if he had hit, so the 3 of us, dad, brother and I to go look around.

We found the doe and in the process, I spotted the other doe watching a good 75-80 yards away... but no buck!

We watched for a while and high up and to my left, the buck takes off trotting towards the doe!

He stopped perfectly broad side, maybe 40 yards from the doe, and I squatted, took aim and then he completely turns away, 1/4ing hard away from me!

My heart sunk, but I knew if I aimed far enough back, it'd take out his lungs.

I tool aim behind his last rib area, squeezed the trigger and saw him hunch up HARD! He stumbled and did a slow, very slow walk away from us and then just stood there.

I was shaking good with adrenaline by then and stumbled in my reloading. By the time I got loaded, he was out of sight.

We have him a couple minutes before we headed up the mountain in search.

I found him quickly with the 3 foot wide blood spray he left.

He sure isn't breaking any records but man will he be tasty!

The doe my dad shot was hit in s 1/4ing toward position, hitting the shoulder blade at the front and completely destroyed that shoulder along with the Internals. She did not go far at all.

We took the following day ( today the 19th ) to relax, sight see and grouse hunt. No grouse to be seen, but some amazing scenery!

The story behind this .530" round ball! Shot with 80gr 2fg new owner brand Goex, .020" patches, entered the animal ( my buck )at around 75 yards behind the very last rib. The animal was 1/4ing away at a steep angle and turned the insides to a brown red jello and shredded both lungs to ribbons. The liver was also clipped during the process.

Needless to say, the animal only traveled possibly 25 yards and left a 3 foot wide blood spray trail.

The ball entered behind the last rib and was recovered just under the hide, on the opposite side, behind the front shoulder.

This was also cast from pure lead.

Both hearts and livers were saved.

I absolutely have to say "I'm jealous"
AND, congratulations.

That's beautiful country!!

Hanshi wrote:That's beautiful country!!

Tom,
Leaves were turning yellow and orange on the aspens early this year.
This is truly Goad's country.

Leaves are turning here too.  It's amazing what it looks like when you see the hardwood forests and mixed evergreen/hardwood areas.  It did look very nice back down in Georgia up in the mountains; but not nearly to this extent.

Maine isn't a huge state but it is as big as all the other New England states combined!  Maine also has the most forested territory of the lower 48.  Around 80% (+ or- 5%) of the state is forest wilderness.  We're so far north and east we're more like Canada.

I don't have any documentation on this but we seem to be #1 in ticks.  Of the lower 48 we have more black bears and moose.  They've all been hit hard by ticks and moose calf survival has suffered because of them.  Calves have been with more than 100,000 ticks.  Nobody lives here and I like that.  You can hunt anywhere that hasn't been officially posted; private, public, makes no difference.

I'm a native Georgia Cracker and can tell you that Maine is a truly, card carrying, weird place.  I know out there you have sasquatch to worry about.  Up here we have "Assquatch".  They have a BIG, huge butt and kidnap people (just temporary) but spend hours sitting on them before releasing them.

There's lots more but that's for later.

[quote="FrontierGander"]The story behind this .530" round ball! Shot with 80gr 2fg new owner brand Goex, .020" patches, entered the animal ( my buck )at around 75 yards behind the very last rib. The animal was 1/4ing away at a steep angle and turned the insides to a brown red jello and shredded both lungs to ribbons. The liver was also clipped during the process.

Needless to say, the animal only traveled possibly 25 yards and left a 3 foot wide blood spray trail.

The ball entered behind the last rib and was recovered just under the hide, on the opposite side, behind the front shoulder.

This was also cast from pure lead.




I use to try and recover the balls I shot deer with but only managed to keep from losing a dozen or so.  Here are a few, mostly .45 but a .50 far right and maybe that one far left.

That shot you posted about just above is interesting because I killed a deer years ago with almost the same shot. The results were the same a you describe and I'm sure Ray Charles could have followed it. No searching was actually needed because it fell so quickly and noisily. A good shot like that is just so satisfying to pull off.