I Just thought that I would share my latest whitetail hunting experience with y'all. I was hunting on a friend's 60 section acre ranch in McCamy, TX. With the drought this year, there was next to no vegetation present, most of the shrubs in this part of TX are only about thigh high (allowing the deer to see you coming), while the only cover is scraggly Mesquites down in the draws.
It was the last day of the regular season and a cold front has blown in during the night. I actually called for predators the night before until 6:25am and got a nice bobcat to come up. Anyways, the deer were just not moving any with the change of weather. After hunting nearly all day on only 45 minutes of sleep and covering 90% of the 60 sections, I decided that if I saw a deer I would shoot, no matter big or small, perfect shot or not. I was using my .300RUM in REM Sendero SFII, with reloaded 180gr BAR TTSX at 3315 FPS. I ended up standing in the back of the truck with a bipod on the roof, while my brother and friend walked a draw trying to either find deer bedded down or chase the deer across the road. Well, they ended up chasing the deer across the road at full throttle. Nothing I could do could get them to stop. After I pulled the trigger I heard the horrible sound of bullet going through tree limbs and then a thump. I could not tell if I hit the deer or a tree trunk. My brother then emerged and found the deer acting as if I hit it in the head/neck.
Now here is the interesting part, I hit the deer on a full run and it skidded and bounced for about 10-15 feet. The bullet unfortunately entered in the left rear flank just in front of the rear leg and just under the tenderloins. I expected the intestines to be destroyed. At first I couldn't find any exit hole (there should be considering the gun and the short 75yard distance). After gutting the animal I found there to be no visible bullet damage to any organ or any meat whatsoever. Upon further inspection I found that the bullet exited the right side of the animal's neck midway between the shoulder and head!!! So the bullet entered the left rear abdominal cavity, traveled the entire length of the deer and came out the opposite side neck without hitting any flesh nor organs. All I can come up with is that I must've hit the deer just as its feet were hitting the ground and gravity must've "squashed" the organs down to the bottom of the cavity so my bullet had an empty void to travel through. Again, I just thought this shot unique. I also thought the shot to be perfectly broadside and am still not sure how it turned into a rear quartering, but maybe she turned at the last instant, I don't think the bullet could've changed coarse that much, especially since I didn't hit bone.
PS The neck was shattered with resulted in DRT.
It was the last day of the regular season and a cold front has blown in during the night. I actually called for predators the night before until 6:25am and got a nice bobcat to come up. Anyways, the deer were just not moving any with the change of weather. After hunting nearly all day on only 45 minutes of sleep and covering 90% of the 60 sections, I decided that if I saw a deer I would shoot, no matter big or small, perfect shot or not. I was using my .300RUM in REM Sendero SFII, with reloaded 180gr BAR TTSX at 3315 FPS. I ended up standing in the back of the truck with a bipod on the roof, while my brother and friend walked a draw trying to either find deer bedded down or chase the deer across the road. Well, they ended up chasing the deer across the road at full throttle. Nothing I could do could get them to stop. After I pulled the trigger I heard the horrible sound of bullet going through tree limbs and then a thump. I could not tell if I hit the deer or a tree trunk. My brother then emerged and found the deer acting as if I hit it in the head/neck.
Now here is the interesting part, I hit the deer on a full run and it skidded and bounced for about 10-15 feet. The bullet unfortunately entered in the left rear flank just in front of the rear leg and just under the tenderloins. I expected the intestines to be destroyed. At first I couldn't find any exit hole (there should be considering the gun and the short 75yard distance). After gutting the animal I found there to be no visible bullet damage to any organ or any meat whatsoever. Upon further inspection I found that the bullet exited the right side of the animal's neck midway between the shoulder and head!!! So the bullet entered the left rear abdominal cavity, traveled the entire length of the deer and came out the opposite side neck without hitting any flesh nor organs. All I can come up with is that I must've hit the deer just as its feet were hitting the ground and gravity must've "squashed" the organs down to the bottom of the cavity so my bullet had an empty void to travel through. Again, I just thought this shot unique. I also thought the shot to be perfectly broadside and am still not sure how it turned into a rear quartering, but maybe she turned at the last instant, I don't think the bullet could've changed coarse that much, especially since I didn't hit bone.
PS The neck was shattered with resulted in DRT.