.338 Berger OTM vs. Doe. .338 wins!

[tackdriver10]

After getting a decent load developed for my .338 Lapua, I was really anxious to get out a flatten a whitetail. Didn't really care if was a buck or doe, just as long as it was a legal deer. Heck for me, the trophy is in the freezer anyway. So I get to one of my favorite spots, lay down prone, and get settled in. After an hour or so passes, I see three yearlings step out. I get on my gun and can see plainly that 2 of those were button bucks. Rather not shoot them. So now I'm hoping mama steps out. Lo and behold she does a few minutes later. Quick range check with my Leica and she is at 276 yards. Not a miraculous distance I know, but I was gonna take what I was given. Dialed up 3 minutes and didnt account for any wind since it was from 12 o'clock and barely 2mph. I look over at my daughter who was sitting right next to me and told her to hold her ears. She says "ok daddy, just do it, do it daddy". Ha I always get a kick out of that. Got back on the gun, loaded the bipod, put the crosshairs behind her shoulder, and squeezed the shot off. She jumped straight up and nose dived back down into brush, where she might have made it 15 feet from where I shot her.

The first pic is how I found her with the exit plainly visible. The 2nd is with my 5 year old, after I drug the deer out in the open. If you'll notice, thats the entry side, no blood or anything. And the 3rd is a closeup of the exit.

Now since I dropped this one off at a local processor, I didn't get a chance to examine the insides to see just how bad the damage was. But I do know that when I rolled her over to drag her out, that I could hear her insides sloshing around. So that was a pretty good indication of what happened within the cavity. I'm positive it looked like red soupy oatmeal, as expected. I'm happy so far with the bullet and can't wait to get on another one. Hopefully I can get a longer shot before the season closes..

 

[Bravo 4]

Always fun with the little ones!

Looks like that Berger did it's job, been thinking about trying them out.

 

[angus-5024]

Good story! Its great that your passing on the tradition with you little girl, hopefully she enjoys it enough to take one herslef oneday. I cant wait until my little boys are old enough to come out with me.

I only have 60 SMK's left, then Ill be switchin to burgers as well.

 

[tackdriver10]

Thanks. I have a 3 year old daughter as well that I want to take, but she is a bit of a handful if you know what I mean. Maybe next year she can go too. They don't seem to mind the thought of killing Bambi, and have no problem eating venison, so maybe I can keep them headed in the right direction..

Now if I just get my mother-in-law off my back, I will be doing good! She's just uneducated on the subject of guns and hunting..

 

[trebark]

Now if I just get my mother-in-law off my back, I will be doing good! She's just uneducated on the subject of guns and hunting..

Here in VA, M-I-L's are in season January thru December...no limit!

tackdriver - thanks for the write up. Glad to see hunting tradition passed on and to hear the good results with the new Berger bullets.

 

[WildRose]

After getting a decent load developed for my .338 Lapua, I was really anxious to get out a flatten a whitetail. Didn't really care if was a buck or doe, just as long as it was a legal deer. Heck for me, the trophy is in the freezer anyway. So I get to one of my favorite spots, lay down prone, and get settled in. After an hour or so passes, I see three yearlings step out. I get on my gun and can see plainly that 2 of those were button bucks. Rather not shoot them. So now I'm hoping mama steps out. Lo and behold she does a few minutes later. Quick range check with my Leica and she is at 276 yards. Not a miraculous distance I know, but I was gonna take what I was given. Dialed up 3 minutes and didnt account for any wind since it was from 12 o'clock and barely 2mph. I look over at my daughter who was sitting right next to me and told her to hold her ears. She says "ok daddy, just do it, do it daddy". Ha I always get a kick out of that. Got back on the gun, loaded the bipod, put the crosshairs behind her shoulder, and squeezed the shot off. She jumped straight up and nose dived back down into brush, where she might have made it 15 feet from where I shot her.

The first pic is how I found her with the exit plainly visible. The 2nd is with my 5 year old, after I drug the deer out in the open. If you'll notice, thats the entry side, no blood or anything. And the 3rd is a closeup of the exit.

Now since I dropped this one off at a local processor, I didn't get a chance to examine the insides to see just how bad the damage was. But I do know that when I rolled her over to drag her out, that I could hear her insides sloshing around. So that was a pretty good indication of what happened within the cavity. I'm positive it looked like red soupy oatmeal, as expected. I'm happy so far with the bullet and can't wait to get on another one. Hopefully I can get a longer shot before the season closes..

The smile on that kid is the trophy.

Nothing like getting first blood on a new rig and putting a smile on your kids face at the same time.gun)

Congrats.

 

[T3-OleMan]

Luck with the mother-in-law, the 5 yr old is priceless!