308 on Muntjac

[Beowulf]

Hi all,
I was in a local gun shop the other day and over heard some of the usual suspects gathered around the till. You know the type, spend all day in the shop buy very little and talk a load of donkey poo and are the best hunters known to man! Anyway I over heard a discussion about the use of 308 on muntjac. This great wise oracle said that most muntjac shot in this country were shot with a 308. I thought okay maybe thats right, but what sort of damage would that cause to the carcass?
I know that munties are hard little buggers and usually difficult to shoot due to all the cover they get into. So has anyone used 308 on 'monty' and what was left of the carcass?
Thanks in advance.

 

[duggers]

.308 ON MUNTJAC!

hi beowulf,
i as you know do like my munties, i myself as a stalker for over 16 years have always had only the 1 rifle.
it is my trusty parker hale .308 fitted with a shmidt and bender 8x56 scope and i have shot muntjac, roe, fallow and red deer with this to great success.
i have also been over to germany and shot boar with this rifle.
i use a quite heavy load of 150 grain, normally winchester or federal factory loads.
it does cause a little burn on the muntjac if heart shot but not excessive damage if the shot is placed correctly - however...........
i did place a shot on a muntjac several years ago and it clipped the top of the shoulder and it caused absolute devastation to the carcass.....lets just say it hit the shoulder and came out near its arse!!!
but 99% of the time i find my .308 combination to be fine!
hope this helps mate?
regards
duggers

 

[WAYNE DAVIES]

Muntjac/308

Hi Beowulf
As you know I shoot a few Munties, I mostly use my .243 or 6.5x55 but have shot quite a few with the .308. I think its down to bullet choice and placement. My .308 with 125 nosler B/tip can make a mess through the shoulders but a 150 softpoint through the chest does probably less damage than my .243 with a 95grn B/tip?????
I have them shot with most cals on my ground and I would say mostly the damage was related to the shot placement/angle.
I've shot fallow with my .375H&H with 250grn Swift 'A' frame a nice broadside chestshot causes less damage than my .308 down to the hardness of the bullet, but I wouldnt like to see what the same bullet would do through the top of the shoulders

Wayne

 

[JH83]

Hi

I have shot all my deer with a 308, everything from a woodland red to a young muntjac and I would agree with all that has been said, so long as you place your shot carefully you wont go far wrong with this round. Any meat damage I have seen has been due to a error in placement, which would have happened with any deer round. In fact there is a strong argument that slow heavy bullets do less damage than fast light ones ie 243.

Cheers

 

[monynut]

l have used a 308 since l started stalking and have shot many munties with it, in the early days l used norma 150 grn which worked fine then l started reloading using hornady 130 grn sp's and they work just as well especially if you are presented with a big mature buck, at the end of the day its all down to shot placement.

l was out with someone last year they was using my 308 and a young doe presented itself at about 40yds l gave them the nod to take it they hit it in the shoulder and the front end was completely wiped out and the little bugger still went 10 yards, hard as fecking nails these little creatures are.

Admittedly these days l do prefer to use my 243 on them as most of my stalking is roe and munties for me its enough gun but l do like to take old trusty out now and then .

 

[Beowulf]

Thank you all for your advice. I use a 243 on the Muntjac at present, but totally missed with a well placed shot the other day. The Muntjac doe just turned and looked at the air just above her back then wondered off to the woods to carry on browsing! I could not believe it. I think that the bullet hit a small clump of hogweed stems and 'bounced' off over her back without touching her. I think that if I had used my 308 with a 150 grain soft nosed bullet I'd be eating muntjac stew right now. The ground is challenging and the grass very high. Hopefully the 308 will do the trick.
Again thanks all for your help.

 

[swampy]

you are right

i have used .243 and .30-06 on muntjac. the .30-06 causes less damage. I use 150gr soft point bullets with the .30-06, they are going about the same speed as 150 gr from a 308 win. there are so many myths. bigger bullet does not mean more damage. In my opinion a heavier soft point bonded type bullet is a better killer than the lighter, faster thin skinned or ballistic tip bullet. bullet choice for the type of game and conditions is the key.

steve

 

[apollo]

.308... 150 soft point... 47.5 grains of powder

 

[Beowulf]

Wow nice Buck Apollo! As you, Swampy and many others have mentioned 308 150grain does seem to do the trick. I think I'll take the old cannon out next time!

 

[Duncs]

Having read some of the comments about " tough" little buggers got me thinking...yeh yeh. Well, having shot plenty with a .243 and all dropping to shot, and hitting several with a .308 and all dropping to shot, I thought i would just share what happended a few days ago. Munty about 25 yds away. Stop car, Bang, no reaction to shot.... Thought F#ck " I hate this sport!" Went to where he had stood...more blood , lung, heart than i have ever seen. The blood trail was simply massive, tipped paint, would describe it. And yet the little fella manage to go at least 20 yards through thick scrub! On examination, two holes, One huge at exit, but no bone hit at all. Bullet went straight through, and I can only assume that due to less resistance than if hitting bone, he was able to stay on his feet. Anyway in fridge now, but .308 , 150grain didnt even knock him over!!! So the justification of "tough little buggers" remains true!!!l

 

[Kent]

Never had the chance of Munties non- up here yet! But can vouch for big bullets making less mess than fast light ones. my std load in my 7-08 is a 140 grain Gameking and it does a lot less meat mulshing than my .243"with 100 grain pro- hunters or 95 b/tip.
Something i will have to try these muntjac, i just find stalking fees too rich for myself in the South.

 

[Beowulf]

I am really getting into the Muntjac now. I love stalking them, they are so difficult to get at! I've decided to just sit in one place, make myself comfortable and wait. I've mentioned before about one deer path that runs across a ride and the munties use it all times of the day. I sit with the rifle set up on the tripod and wait. When one comes along I make just enough noise to make the munty stop and look at me and 'bang'!
Saying that i did it the other day and the deer just stood there, I went to reload and the munty must of thought 'sod off mate you had your chance'! The bullet strike in the ground was 12 inches away from the deer. What had happened is that a nut from the front sling stud had come off and lodged tight in between the barrel and the stock causing the shot to fly! I removed the nut and the rifle fired just fine again. That was a lucky Muntjac!

And yes I did spend all morning checking that the deer wasn't injured. Nothing, I went over the ground like CSI Miami.

 

[Andy L]

I know what it is like. Even though you are 99% sure you missed it clean, you still have to zig zag backwards and forwards just in case.

 

[swampy]

stop

I was at in a high seat with a really eperienced ranger doing some culling. a doe trotted out onto a ride and he said "i'll stop it" i thought he was going to make some ace squeaking or barking noise......no he put his hands round his mouth like a megaphone and shouted "oi" the doe stopped instantly. and looked at us. i nailed it with some .30-06 magic. i don't know how long she would have stood. you need to have your cross hairs on them when you shout.

it's a top tip

swampy

 

[Beowulf]

Yeap, 'Oi' is the age old deer call I use. Unless I'm creeping around and a startled muntjac breaks cover two feet away from me then its " Fack me you silly sod, are you trying to give me a heart attck!'

 

[Duncs]

I have found whistling makes them scarper rather sharpish. I resorted to just tutting or clicking the safety catch. If they are looking, just moving an arm slightly seems to make them freeze to see what is is moving. The moment they realise it is a human....gone with the flick of a tail.

 

[monynut]

A short sharp cough often does the trick for me.

The secret is not to miss them once you have stopped them, if you do they will associate the same noise what ever you use next time, deer learn quickly.

 

[Beowulf]

I once got a lot of heat on this site (in the bad old days) for suggsting that Muntjac tut! I'm glad to see that you tut at the munties Duncs to stop them. I used to do it all the time, sometimes the males would even challenge me. I think they do it when they think a rival male is about.