yeoman

I took a very bad shot on Saturday. The 370 grain 50 cal. maxiball pushed by 90 grains of pyrodex was no match for the shoulder bone of the beautiful 10 pointer at 45 yards. 5 tiny spots of blood, 3 small bone fragments 3/8 x 3/4" or less, one tuft of hair.10 hours of searching on foot and hands and kneesover ground 30-40% snowcovered and not another drop of blood for 200 yrds in any direction.

In 40 years of hunting deer, I've followed some sparse sign, but never so sparce as this. Too many tracks of other deer to use his.

I overestimated the power of the firearm and underestimated the strength and flexibility of bone. A very sad day near the end of a very good season.

22 hours on stand, 35 antlerless and 18 antlered sightings. 5 dandy bucks of 140+ caliber and finally, a 150 inch 10 at 45 yds. Only shot taken, and this is what I do.

Lord, forgive me, and I pray, relieve his pain and suffering.

cayugad

It happens to all of us at one time or another. That's a good load you were using. Must have been one tuff buck!

PA Bow/Flinter

I've only been hunting with a ML for 3 years now and only have 1 deer to my credit with it....but I can't believe that the bullet wouldn't break the shoulder. I mean a 370 gr bullet and 90 gr of powder still has a fair amount of energy at 50 yds.

To me it actually seems like you must have shot low and hit the leg. That would account for the sparse blood and the bone fragments. As you were tracking through the snow did it appear as though one of the legs was dragging? That would indicatea broken leg.

Or, depending on your set-up, if you were using an inline that was sighted in high at 50 yds...(say dead on at 100)..you might have shot high and just clipped the top line of the buck. That would produce the hair and bone fragments as well.

Like I said, I'm rather new to ML hunting..(I shoot a T/C flinter, 350 Maxi-hunters, and 100 FF powder)..but I really can't believe that a 370 gr bullet wouldn't penetrate through a shoulder bone.

No matter where the shot was, whats done is done and we can't fix that. It sounds as though you put forth as much effort as possible into finding him, and you should be comended for that. Deer are very good healers, so he is probably out there somewhere alive.

Encore50

That is a sad ending but as bad as you might feel, its refreshing for me to know how mucheffort you made to trackthatdeer. I wish more hunters would make that kind of effort to track down a wounded animal.

I had a haunting story very similarabout 15 years ago. I can only imagine how you feel. I looked the best part of a day and again the next day before giving up. It stills putsknots in the stomach when I think of it. I only hope I get a second chance.

RedAllison

Yeoman I wonder if you didn't hit the shoulder higher than you think? Like in the notorious "dead zone" that is above the shoulder and below the spinal column? That load of yours should've made mincemeat of ANY whitetail shoulder and at least cleaned out one lung and probably both. The bone fragment you got could've been ribs or chips from the top of a shoulder or even the bottom of a vertebrae? The lack of blood indicates no exit and if you hit one that high they have alot of internalbleeding before they fill the body cavity too the point where the blood starts pumping out the entrance wound (this is why I demand an exit hole!).

Don't discourage yourself from that load if it works for your gun. Just might wanna re-check your zero and make sure it isn't abnormally high, or heck if he was a nice one like that you could've had plain ol' buck fever... lol we all get it. If you don't then you need to take up golf!

Better luck next time,
RA

Tree climber

as cayugad said ; it happends to us all at one time.
that doesn't make it any easier.just check your gun and sights. the load you have should do the job right.sounds to me like a low hit into the leg just below the chest. my wife hit one with her rifle in reg season last year. same as yours very little blood and several pieaces of bone.

it's hard, but put it behind you and go from there.

good luck next year.

yeoman

Thanks for the empathy guys. I had this weapon at a range just 3 weeks ago today. This load combo produced a 7 round group I could cover with my hand at 50 yds.. I've used this same combination for 30 years. It is a sidelock Kentucky rifle and there was a pretty long ignition delay.

I considered the possibility of both a leg hit and "no man's land". After the shot, he tore out 30 yds. farther into the field then curved sharply back 50 yds. to the cover of the pines. I was able to watch him that entire time and he appeared to have full use of all wheels. I believed he was on a death run, head low, tail straight-out and flopping, gurgling sounds with every breath, clawing to cover ground and with reckless abandon. The kind of run I've seen end in a somersault or collision with a tree.

The bone fragments were large enough to show a radius indicating they came from a round bone, suggesting somewhere below theshoulder blade and above the ankle. Had it been spine, he would have gone down on the spot. A rib fragment I think would have been flatter. The clump of bullet cut hair was about 2 inches long, too long for leg. Brown tipped 1/3, grey stem 2/3.

My muzzle was 14 feet above the animal at 45 yds. so about 11-12 feet above impact. It was my thinking that no man's land begins at thetop point of the blade north to the spine. HadI not had the fragments, I'd have said entered no man's land and landed inthe far side lung, no exit. Maybe what I have are rib fragments. Don't guess I'll ever know.

It's really sad.

Roskoe

You will never know where you hit that buck or what the bullet failed to do; but I would personally consider going to a bullet that makes a bigger wound channel. The Maxiballs are going to punch right through even a really big animal with little or no expansion. This level of penetration isn't reqiured for deer. I would switch over to a Maxihunter or a Buffalo Bullet.