Opening Day in Michigan -500 JRH
Nov 15, 2022 12:57:46 GMT -5
dougader, tullymars, and 9 more like this
Post by jack on Nov 15, 2022 12:57:46 GMT -5
So today was the deer opener here in Michigan it was 25 degrees, snowy, calm, perfect! About 8;30 am the little guy in the picture came into a scrape about 40 yds to the right of my stand, and was really giving it the workover.
i.imgur.com/yaNRqvV.jpg
I hit him right in front of the right shoulder 1/4ing on, and the bullet went through to the back rib on the off side. It was a 385 gr HP from an MP mold - 70/30 alloy, PC, 1420 ish FPS. He ran more or less toward me and broadside, leg was clearly dragging, and he was obviously ill. After a lurching stumbling 40 yd scramble he stopped dead broadside, and most likely would have expired nicely on the spot. BUT better safe than sorry so I put a spare through the center of his ribs for good measure - Game over. The first bullet was just under the hide - spot on 240 gr retained weight.
i.imgur.com/BCE3jPu.jpg
Now the fun began - what you can't see in the next picture is the walking boot on my right leg. Last Friday I broke my tibia a little bit on that side. The doctor and I had strong discussions concerning the impending opening day, and he got his way on everything except the part where he didn't want me to go out hunting, and the part where I climbed into a tree stand, and maybe a couple other things - But MOSTLY he got his way. Anyway, being a little gimpy, I had to recruit my little brother for aid in retrieval. Since he was sitting in my best valley and was only a half mile away and since he was freezing and was near death from hypothermia *(He is wimpy about coolish weather on an epic scale) I volunteered him to come help so he could get his circulation back in order. Thing is, he forgot to mention that his left thumb and hand are screwed up, and he is in need of another repair surgery (He had this done a few years ago, but apparently not too successfully) So there we stood in the middle of the woods, a one legged man and his one handed brother, and seriously close to becoming some sort of politically incorrect deer camp joke . . . . Anyway, we butched up, and after much grunting and groaning and cursing the fact our children became responsible adults that go to work on opening day, we got the deer to the road. I will spare everyone the visual of what it took to get the deer INTO the 4x4 and just include the end result -
i.imgur.com/Y2YJM8t.jpg
i.imgur.com/yaNRqvV.jpg
I hit him right in front of the right shoulder 1/4ing on, and the bullet went through to the back rib on the off side. It was a 385 gr HP from an MP mold - 70/30 alloy, PC, 1420 ish FPS. He ran more or less toward me and broadside, leg was clearly dragging, and he was obviously ill. After a lurching stumbling 40 yd scramble he stopped dead broadside, and most likely would have expired nicely on the spot. BUT better safe than sorry so I put a spare through the center of his ribs for good measure - Game over. The first bullet was just under the hide - spot on 240 gr retained weight.
i.imgur.com/BCE3jPu.jpg
Now the fun began - what you can't see in the next picture is the walking boot on my right leg. Last Friday I broke my tibia a little bit on that side. The doctor and I had strong discussions concerning the impending opening day, and he got his way on everything except the part where he didn't want me to go out hunting, and the part where I climbed into a tree stand, and maybe a couple other things - But MOSTLY he got his way. Anyway, being a little gimpy, I had to recruit my little brother for aid in retrieval. Since he was sitting in my best valley and was only a half mile away and since he was freezing and was near death from hypothermia *(He is wimpy about coolish weather on an epic scale) I volunteered him to come help so he could get his circulation back in order. Thing is, he forgot to mention that his left thumb and hand are screwed up, and he is in need of another repair surgery (He had this done a few years ago, but apparently not too successfully) So there we stood in the middle of the woods, a one legged man and his one handed brother, and seriously close to becoming some sort of politically incorrect deer camp joke . . . . Anyway, we butched up, and after much grunting and groaning and cursing the fact our children became responsible adults that go to work on opening day, we got the deer to the road. I will spare everyone the visual of what it took to get the deer INTO the 4x4 and just include the end result -
i.imgur.com/Y2YJM8t.jpg
