I made meat today with
my Savage 110. At 8:45 a.m., I saw movement on the hill facing my stand and put the scope on a doe. I couldn't tell if she was facing toward me or away from me, so I watched her for a minute until I figured out that she was feeding in my direction. When she looked up, I put one in at the base of her neck. Bang, flop. I waited ten minutes, then crossed the creek and climbed the hill toward the deer. She tried to get up and I put another into her neck. I should have waited another ten minutes. The frothy blood in her mouth told me that I had made a lung shot and she'd probably have bled our in another few minutes.
She's a two or three year old doe, in good fat, and wasn't in heat yet. She field dressed about 100 lbs. On autopsy, we learned that the Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet entered the base of her neck, cut the top of the right lung and departed through the tenderloin. She's at the processor's now and I'll pick her up in a few days.
Congrats!
ReplyDeleteI have been out a little here in the frozen north and seen nothing but tracks and red squirrels.
Congrats! Looking forward to Joey doing the same (I love venison)
ReplyDeleteYes!!!
ReplyDeleteNice one Paw!
ReplyDeletePatty says: I should know by now just to pass over your hunting posts. I'm happy for you, but sad for the doe.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm....venison stew.....
ReplyDeleteHey, Anonymous, that doe fulfilled it's destiny, which was to serve a higher order as part of the FOOD chain.
ReplyDelete100#? That's a whitetail? I thought they generally ran about 50# heavier than that in does, and the males 180-220#.
Out here, we have smaller Blacktail, which I've shot as small as 60#, but we also have Mule Deer, and the last buck I got dressed out at 185.
Hey, Rivrdog. Good to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteHere in Louisiana, our whitetail are smaller. (or maybe our scales are more accurate) I don't know if it's climate, or genetics, or diet, or something else, but that doe is fairly representative of the population we're seeing in central Louisiana. She's a nice doe, in good fat and healthy. Her stomach was full, so she was getting plenty to eat.
Occasionally, you'll find bigger deer in these parts, but a standard buck will weigh about 150 lbs around here. However, sometimes you see a big buck. Just last week, in the northwest part of Rapides Parish a guy killed an old buck, about 8 years old, and when I saw it the scales were "pegged" at 300 lbs. Big deer.
Oh, and Anonymous is my little sister. She's on the deer's side.
My compliments to your sister for having a big heart, but the food chain will not be denied.
ReplyDeleteWere you using the .243 that morning? How long was the shot? Do you use the hide for something or does the processor keep it? How much meat do you figure ends up in your freezer?
Sorry for all the questions from a city boy. :-)
Morning, Tom.
ReplyDeleteNo, I shot that doe with the .30-06. I used a 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip over a stout load of Reloder 19. The bullet was traveling about 2600 fps when it hit her, 140 yards from the stand.
The processor sells the hides.
I'll probably wind up with 50 lbs of wrapped meat. Any time you slaughter an animal, a good rule of thumb is that it's half meat and half waste.