A never to be forgotten first deer

Was at a loose end yesterday so decided to have a look on some land I have in the midlands.
Gave a friend who has just started stalking a call and offered to take him down for an evening stalk and try for a fallow buck.
Spotted a large buck:D at last light on the edge of a wood aprox 700yds away, watched him make his way around the edge of the wood until he was out of sight, then drove up the set aside as far as we dared (loosing light to fast to stalk up) bailed out got him loaded up and ready (got my rifle out as back up, as this would be his first deer).
As I gave him instruction, the bloody thing came back round the wood stopped dead about 100yds away totally hacked off at us started stamping his feet, snorting and postureing (looked like his rut had started early)!!
Poor lad just stared at him open mouthed, I wispered to him to kneel down for a supported shot, (sticks on the floor behind motor) the buck turned sideways on and trotted out onto the field, He chest shot him just behind the shoulder (100gr lapua psp .243) he reacted as if he had been gut shot, and started to move off, told him to reload and take a second shot then realised the lad was messing about with the bolt trying to reload. looked like he had got a round jammed( bugger :doh:)
decided to intervene at this point and went for a neck shot saw the bullet strike but it didnt drop oh ****:doh:. quick reload and went for a chest shot, buck now 150yds away again a good strike but little reaction and didnt drop,f***ing hell:eek::eek::eek:
getting worried now as only had 2 bullets in my pocket when I got out of the motor.
thankfully new boy has cleared his rifle and shoots again and drops it hallaluya
walked over to have a look at him fine beast but a very poor head.
Poor lad didnt know wether to laugh, cry do a jig or take up tiddly winks in stead:confused::confused::confused:
gralloched him in the dark with a torch and found the liver wrecked and some leakage from rumen.
I decided to dress the carcass this morning because of the rumen leaking and curiosity regarding damage caused by 4 6mm 100gr bullets, never had this happen before.
post mortem results.
It looks like the first shot hit and broke a rib deflected off it at rightangles took out the liver, nicked the rumen went through the rear leg and lodged under the skin (bullet recovered and had expanded well enough)!
my neck shot had gone through the wind pipe but missed the spine, (my fault):oops:
my second shot had gone between 2 ribs through the heart and exited between 2 ribs without touching bone or expanding (exit wound was the size of my little finger)
bullet used was a winchester x 100gr psp.
final shot hit the shoulder high and shattered the spine and left a large exit wound!
what a **** day.
Anybody else had similar experiences,
one thing for for sure he will never forget his first deer, and for that matter neither will I.
Sinbad
 
This is an interesting story sinbad as there were a few posts on this forum, or maybe it was AR, a while back concerning shooting smaller deer with a 243 and people finding the bullet exiting at the rear of the beast and taking a very interesting path. That I can recall all involved small deer, muntjac mostly. There seems to be something about the 243, or perhaps some specific 243 ammo, that causes very occasional weird behaviour.

Perhaps it is simply the case that more deer are shot with a 243 and so there is much more scope for weirdness but the 243 seems to stand well ahead of other cartridges when it comes to the bullet doing really very strange things in the animal. I'm pretty sure I read on here, or on AR, of an exit being found on the same side as the entry. Other cartridges do suffer failures or deflections but they are never as truly weirdly impressive as what the 243 can produce.

This can't be a spin stabilisation thing (some people have suggested that as the 100 grain 243 bullet is in some instances just stable in air so it becomes very unstable in flesh) as no bullet has enough spin to make it stable in flesh.
 
Two seasons ago I gave up with the .243 typically using 100grain ammo, and tried the .308 with 150gr ammo. The reason was I shoot almost all fallow, and was finding the bullets were doing very strange/annoying things. A perfect chest shot somehow goes through the stomach AND liver and still exiting the beast somewhere near the legs! Making a huge mess of the insides and contaminating some of the best bits, fillets. I don't know why as I don't know enough about the bullet properties. However the .308 is such a well behaved round, and you even get to hear the bullet slap the animal! Have not had a single deflection yet in the last 40 animals since I changed.
 
Well done though anyway! I gave a red 3 shots thinking I had gut shot with the first 2! The problem was the ammo didn't expand well through the lungs. The shoulder shot made a mess though. The .308 is the daddy though.
 
Thanks for the replies,
The main reason for posting this incident is because I have had bullets not expanding,:eek: bullets deflecting :rolleyes:and on a couple of occasions poorly placed shots:oops: but never all on the same beast.
I agree with you all on calibre, although I find the 6mmrem (.244) An excellent round for most applications, my prefered calibre is the 7mm I think a great compromise between the 6mm (.243) and the 30 calibres;)
I am taking the lad out for a roe buck later this week, Just hope things go a bit smoother next time. (He told me he couldnt sleep that night he was that wound up).
forgot to add. I was using the ruger no1 and it is the first time I have needed a second round since going to the single shot. Although I didnt get time to think about it, the reloading time didnt seem to be any different than with a bolt action.
Sinbad
 
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This is the problem with deer that have clocked you, the adrenalin is pumping and with Fallow bucks and Sika Stags in particular they can take some punishment before they decide to give in!!

None the less dead is dead and happily the beast was out on an open field. Your friend wont forget that first deer thats for sure ;)
 
as you know i finally got my first deer and on the shot it dropped and never nflinched or kicked and on opening him up the 100gr had hit a rib took top of heart then gone up and shtterd the spine which explained the none movement then excited the deer with same size hole as entry point i was using federal fusion 100grn anybody else had same with this ammo as mite change if anybody has i have loaded some 85gr spears with paul barony and they absoultly shatter on the 2 foxes i have shot
webby
 
Hi Webby
congratulations on your first deer,
I find it amazing that a bullet travelling at that sort of speed can change direction so quickly and still do so much damage.
I dont think it is down to any particular type of bullet, although I have had a couple of ballistic tips explode on impact (not a bad thing on fox) but a no no when shooting dee.
Found power shocks perform well.
Sinbad
 
When it comes to strange behaiviour by bullets, it can be a bit of a lottery, and the 308 is not immune. A few years ago I shot a roe buck with my 308 at about 40 yards. The shot felt really good on let-off but the buck hunched up as if gut shot and staggered off through a dense patch of high nettles before I could even reload, never mind shoot again. I was being observed at the time and the guy I was with even said, "gut shot, we'll wait for him to lie down and stiffen up before we follow him". A cigarette was smoked and then we approached the shot site. No sign on the ground, but his path through the nettles was plain to see. Once we got through those we found the buck dead within a couple of yards so that was a relief. The entry wound was bang on the money, but the exit was on the far side down through the back end of the stomach, his off side back leg was also broken. As you can immagine, his insides were a mess, covered in green "soup". This one would never be accepted at the game dealers so I took him home for butchering. Once I'd got the skin off I could see 4 wounds. Entry, a tiny exit on the far side of the rib cage, another, larger exit through the gut wall and another entry on the back leg. When I cut open the haunch I found a perfectly peeled back but empty bullet jacket hard up against the shattered femur. I can only assume that the jacket and core separated soon after entry, the core carrying on it's intended path and exiting, the now unstable jacket veered off and ploughed through the stomach. I got a lot of mince from that one:doh:
 
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