Will do. I am abit aprehensive about using a target bullet to hunt with but, the guys at Hornady claim it is a great bullet to use on thin skinned critters. They shoot great I have shot most of my groups under ,5 and a best of .39 5 shot. So far they have been the best grouping bullet out of this gun.
I wouldn't worry about the bullet too much, as with ALL bullets placement is the key. I just got back from a hunt and bagged a moose and a large whitetail both with Sierra Matchkings, the critters had no idea that they weren't supposed to die when shot with a non-game bullet! Both were one shot kills, double lung...travel distance after being hit was in the area of 30 and 40 yards respectively. These were not shot at true long range distances the deer at 174 yards and the moose at 439.
My 690 yard mulie last week also didn't know it was an A-max target bullet that shredded both of his lungs. As mentioned in my earlier post, the bullet jacket separated from most of the lead core, ended up lodged under the hide on the opposite side. Would have been about 2,200 fps terminal velocity.
I am leaving in the morning to get ready for the opener of deer here in MI. I located a clear cut back in on state land that is over 400 across and just shy of 1200 long!! I am taking the 300 RUM so i have located a nic tree alongthe edge that will give me shot out to 500+ in both directions. Swamp on each ends. Will give me a chance to test my new load on a whitetail. a 178 grn hornady A-MAX I spoke to the guys a hornady and they said that they have tried it on thin skinned animals like whitetail and had great success. WIsh me luck.
Hey Steve, my son lives in Michigan and he was interested in finding just such a location. He's interested in a late in the season place to hunt as he will be traveling on business during the first week of the season. You don't have to, but would you mind sharing your spot location? Thanks.
Sure I can have him e-mail me. It is state land it is not a secret hard to get to . It took me a few trys to get a way in that was not to hard. The logging road is private access the cut is state bordered by private, 1/4 mile of land in between that is state before the private starts. I did not see any sign of other hunters 4 weeks agao. So I hope when I get ther in the morning it will stillbe with any hunter orange. Well I will be back in a week ...hopefully with a story on a buck that stepped out at 500+ and how a 300 RUM barked and a a big buck fell. Will have to see about that. See ya good hunting to all. May your shot be true.
Some years ago I shot griz with a 200 grain target bullet out of a .300 WM. I tested it first in metal washing machine drums, then in some abandoned buses deep the bush (nothing illegal). Everything looked ok. Disaster. The first shot flipped the griz straight over on to his back. Second into him on the ground and he stopped moving. Shook my buddy's hand and looked back and, as the Newfy said, "Dere she was b'y, gone." The bear was shot by somebody else a week later a km down the road. First bullet hit a rib dead on and flattened out. Second hit the shoulder level with the mid-chest and never got through. I had chronographed the load at 2800 fps. Very embarrassed. And will never do that again.
BBBruce You've a point that some may not have wondered about. I use Matchkings on game animals and have never had a problem BUT this Spring on my Black Bear hunt I used Nosler Partitions. If I'm hunting something dangerous (large predator) I'll be using a heavily contructed hunting bullet. For the MatchKings, I plan the shot and take shots to avoid large bones on large animals. When hunting predators (ones above us in the food chain by thier thinking) there's no telling what the shot angle and presentation may be, best to be very prepared. BTW, how far did the Bus go after being hit? I once tried a double lung shot on a 53 Chevy abondoned in the farm country, it didn't even flinch on impact. There was a little cloud of dust knocked loose by the round but the Chev just lay there with thoses glassy eyes stareing at me. [ 11-16-2001: Message edited by: Dave King ]
Well the results on the 178 for whitetail are in. I shot my first buck on the morning at approx (ranged a tree, would not pick the deer up) at 386 yrds. he was quarting away, just as I fired he took one more step quarting even more. The bullet caught him in the rear quarter. VERY MESSY it blew the rear leg and hip almost off and blew the insides out on to the ground. He weighed about 125 minus the rear leg part. nice 6 pt. The second one came to within 265 yrds broadside shot . The A-maxs seem to explode inside they make a mess out of efverything that I shot. Blew a hole out the other side big enough to put a softball through. Very dead deer. I also shot a doe at less than 100 yards same thing big hole. I think the bullet is ok for thin skinned game but is a destoryer of meat if taking a quarting shot. I had to thread both of the longer shots through many small saplings on the clear cut accuracy was king out there. If the bullet would not have kept good tight groups the shots would not have been able to connect. All went well on the trip a fair amount of vension for the freezer.
Up in the great north woods finding a proper place to shoot long range can be a problem clear cuts are nice. The last few years I 've been hunting a island in a river 735 yards could be the longest shot the only trouble is the last two bucks came out at 102 and 135 both dead. But when you are set to make something long seems like kind of a waste.
