Somewhat gory - mule deer via 7DAKOTA/160 BIB BT

[RGRobinett]

Finally got an opportunity to shoot a decent mule deer with the 7Dakota (back story too long to share, and, probably, boring). Was set up for out to 700 Yd., but it was huntin', and the 23+ MPH full value wind dictated a stalk, as opposed to "mid-range", so the deal went down at a measly 297 Yd. The meter was showing maximum velocity at 34.9MPH and minimum 19.something, with 5 second averages running between 23 and 27 MPH.

Borden Timberline; Bartlein #5 contour; 1:9" twist, 5-groove; Harrell's "tuner"/brake; H.S. Precision ("paint-coat" bedded); 7Dakota (heads/extractor-grooves rebated to Std. Mag. Dia.); Huskema 5-20 optic; Enough H-1000 to run the BIB 160 Gr. BT (these from the Detsch point-up die) at 3250 FPS; CCI 250Mag . . . and pictures tell the rest - well, except that the exit spewage was considerable for a hole which could be plugged by a golf ball.RG

P.S. When shot, the deer was bedded against the sandstone, facing toward the butt of rifle - I saw the impact, and thought, he's DRT. Surprisingly, he jumped up, faltered, gathered himself, and ran down the side-draw straight toward me - it turned out, about 100Yd. - and out of sight.
I was following the buck, and did not observe the splotch on the rock - I jumped up and ran to the edge of the main draw to make certain that he was not headed either up, or, down the bottom of the main coulee, when I heard Matt hollering, "He's dead - look at the rock" . . .

By the numbers, due to the exceptional tine lengths (I almost passed him up, but the tine lengths just looked too good!), and despite the narrow inside spread (19.5"), average mass, and lack of brow tines, via B&C method, this rack will gross about 177+ & adding 3 inches to my personal best . . . the REAL thing is the hunting and the sharing with son-in-law, Matt, who has become a formidable prairie/breaks mule deer hunter/spotter.
If any interest, I'll post pics of his nice buck.

 

[Immike]

That’s nice, thanks for sharing! He’s going to look damn good on the wall!

Edit: congratulations!

 

[HandgunHTR]

That is a very nice mulie!

Congrats!

 

[ShootDots]

Excellent rack! I have always admired large racks on nice Mule Deer!

 

[MrMajestic]

Well done Randy! It amazes me at the way Corvid can run when Stevie Wonder could follow the blood trail...

 

[RGRobinett]

Well done Randy! It amazes me at the way Corvid can run when Stevie Wonder could follow the blood trail...

That stripe running along the butt stock was that intense for the entire sprint - except for those resulting from a sharp broad-head, I've never seen such a heavy blood-trail.

Here are a couple of pics of one we did not shoot - about 160" - pic B4 he jumped, I was within ten feet: according to plan, this buck ran straight down-wind to pal Joe, on the cut-bank to Rt. of buck, and offered a 25 Yd. shot . . . Before running it out, Matt and I had observed this buck, which simply, 'disappeared'. Thus, Matt & I believing the deer had bedded in the deep sage, I set Joe in a likely spot and did a walk-about, all the while looking for antler tips . . . this time it paid off, but Joe opted to look for something bigger. I was beside myself!

P.S. Ain't the smart phones amazin'??!!?? Yep, that cagey buck was going to let me, "walk on by" . . . .

 

[17VLD]

Thanks for sharing your hunt story Randy!
That bullet sure did it’s job.Neat rifle build too by the way,the phrase
“Use enough gun” comes to mind.Sounds like a great bullet for my 284XP,if I got half that performance I’d be very happy
Matt
PS of course we would like to see your son in laws deer.

 

[RGRobinett]

For Matt’s hunt, we re-chambered one of my old, but good 1:15” twist 30x47HBR Hunter Class barrels to .300WSM, and fit to his ‘heavy’ Stiller Preditor, which cut the weight by almost two pounds - it’s now only 11# 9Oz., up and ready to hunt.

I made some 152 Gr. bullets (had some odd-ball cores), and worked up a decent shooting load, using H- Hybrid100V, which, via the 21” barrel, provided MagnetoSpeed velocity of 3200 FPS - we were ready to hunt!

Won’t bore U with details: Matt glassed up a pair of bucks, tucked in the shade (75 Deg. that day) & out of the 25-35 MPH blow. He decided he’d shoot the better of the two, so we returned to the quads to get his rifle and leave the spotting scope and other excess gear behind . . . upon return, to the saddle, the bucks were GONE!

I retrieved the spotter, and we scoured the ravines - I finally saw antler tips, then antlers, as the pair fed up the main coulee. Following a short stalk, they had disappeared again! With more glassing, we relocated the best one again, but it now called for either a 560 Yd. full value attempt, or, another hike: Matt opted for the stalk, pointing out a suitable route, and predicting that we'd be within 100 Yd. . . . we wound up with a still bedded, looking away, 35 Yr. shot! DRT - not much dependent on velocity, or, BC!

Three pics: Matt with his very nice buck (166+); B4 we touched the deer - shot was from, as viewed, rim, above the point sticking out in line with bucks body; a posed shot of the rack. Matt has learned well. RG


The pantry was FULL this year - antler growth was the best I've seen in 32 years of hunting that territory. RG

 

[17VLD]

Excellent!
Thanks for sharing another well executed hunt with us.I really like the rifle build part too,nice cartridge for big deer and elk.
Matt

 

[TZaun]

Great write-ups RG. Looks like you guys had a blast. Congrats!!

 

[RGRobinett]

Roger that, Todd, we did our best ever average - icing on another great outing to THE RANCH with Mat & Joe.
I could show U what Joe got for, "holding out", and letting that nice 160 incher (above) hop on over to another coulee. What the heck . . . here's what can happen when you get fussy! For the 200 Yd. shot, Joe used his trusty .270WSM and Barnes 110 GR.TTS, via his custom built 700 Rem. This buck, despite that right beam/G4 crab-claw, is his third 180" plus DYI mule deer: second in last four years! RG



It was an exceptional year - Mother nature kept the pantry FULL throughout the antler growing season.

 

[TZaun]

Excellent!! I am jealous.

 

[SEB-USA]

Love the 7 Dakota-Congrats!