First stag of the season :-)

First stag of the season, pretty chuffed:D

T'was a beautiful sunny day on the shores of Loch Awe, my Father and I took the Argo up into the the hills were we help the landowner manage his hill reds. The coming two weeks we've promised to take 10 stags off the hill with the majority young spikers, hummels and other such cull beasts - of course, with the freedom to shoot a few trophies if we see fit.

Well well well, Friday 10am sees us park the Argo, walk for a small mile, and then spot this magnificent 8 pointer, with around 10-15 hinds with him. I stalked into around 100 yds and took position with my Sako 75 Hunter .243 and a norma 100g ready to fly off the bipod. ...........then 1hr later he is still laying down, but as the hinds start to move off towards the brow of the hill, he stands,,perfect broadside - and bang, bulls eye Heart/Lung shot. Stag dropped to its knees, gets up again, turns, drops down again. 5 seconds pass, he struggles to stand again, turns with the other broadside, begins a stumble/walk, and I deliver a 2nd perfect H/L shot. He drops, 20 seconds later, looks very dead. Gralloch confirms both bullets expanded perfectly and took out the top of the heart and the lungs from both directions. Again, confirming my thoughts the .243 is a capable stag-machine, but NOT with the knock-down power I wish to bring onto the hill. A Second stag by my Father later in the day (nice 8 pointer too) with the 6.5 swede and a norma 150g vulkan, same shot, same distance, drops like a sack of potatoes.

Two great stags, mine the bigger head, but only weighting in at around 160lb larder weight, my Fathers weighting in at just over 200lbs larder weight.

Saturday brings heavy fog and mist, and 7 hrs of 50yd visibility, no stags...leaving us with a needed bag of 8 cull stags next weekend:D
 
Well done PKL cracking start for you, but if he was not for standing from 100yds away it would have been a neck shot! 243 well up to that task.

I therefor assume that shot was not on...
 
Well done PKL cracking start for you, but if he was not for standing from 100yds away it would have been a neck shot! 243 well up to that task.

I therefor assume that shot was not on...

Thanks mate! Considered the neck shot at one point, but my morals are never to shoot a laying/sitting deer unless it's injured or similar so I stuck to my guns - no pun intended.
 
Well done PKL.
I don't see anything unsporting about shooting a couched animal in the neck at 100yds. If you have got that close and have the rifle on him undetected you have had your sport. If you are going to be shot you may as well be as comfortable as possible when the end comes!.
I agree with your comment re .243, red deer, on occasion, but by no means all of the time, just take that wee bit longer to succomb, even with perfect shot placement than say .270 or similar....but that is trolling ground well trodden on this forum in the past!.
Cheers.
S.
 
Thanks for the positive comments guys.

One of the other reasons I wouldn't have necked him, is because my .243 is zeroed at 180, which means at 100, holding 2" low. If neck shooting, I like it to be at a POA and POI match. Had I left my zero at 100 for the hill, I would have felt more comfortable about it as well - even though I try to await a broadside H/L shot at all times/when feasible. I'm a very straight shot, but the idea of seeing a mis-placed neck shot and a running stag over the hills is something that frightens me, and which just wasn't worth the worry on such a beautiful day;) I wouldn't attempt a H/L shot on a 'couched' animal either, judging the placement of the vitals is very difficult. Anyway, the 1hr wait brought a lot of time for reflection and opportunity to observe such a beautiful animal in its natural un-disturbed habitat, which is always nice. May have cost the opportunity for another cull stag, which is a bummer, but still, that's what next weekend is for, as long as the weather keeps at bay..............
 
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