Moose and I reconvened on Friday afternoon. We still had doe tags to fill. He went to Jagende Hutte. I went back out to Midway. For me, it was a typical mid-season boregasm in a cloudy gloom. For Moose, it was something else entirely. All I can say is that I heard a shot from over his direction around 1700. When I didn’t get an answer on the radio, I figured he might be busy.
When Moose picked me up that night, he had quite the story. Sure enough, at 1700 he had seen a doe at what he estimated to be close to Faulty Towers, the remains of the first barn. The doe seemed small, but he got a good sight picture and took the shot. The deer fell immediately, but then sprang back up and he saw a white tail dashing down the hill towards the cedar thicket. He knew it was a solid hit, and went to investigate.
Nothing
A half-hour’s search revealed no blood on the hillside beside the barn. Before he was done, he had searched all the way down to Hootin’ Holler Creek without a sign. He was on his way out when he found her, just downhill from the house. In the failing light, he saw the ample blood trail, that started in a spot perhaps 150 yards farther out than where he had estimated. The length of the shot was a solid 285 yards from the Jagende Hutte. Moose had delivered one straight to the boiler room and taken out both lungs and the far shoulder. Her run had actually been a series of flops down the hill towards the old well. This came close to doubling the camp’s previous long shot, and it was purely accidental.
We dropped her off at the processor and went on to dinner.
I filled my doe tag in far less spectacular fashion. Saturday Morning, I returned to Midway. I had changed out the 7mm-08 for O.T.’s custom Mauser in 25-06. O.T. was my closest friend in the neighborhood. He owned the mower shop near Browning’s Corner. When O.T. went blind and knew he was dying, I offered to buy the rifle and keep it on the ridge. O.T. and the rifle had been a bit of a legend in their time.
I had shelved the rifle after trying it with loads on the heavier end of 25-06’s spectrum. My lasts successful attempt was in 2014
I was using 117 grain Hornady Interlock SPBT. Though the round hit home, the doe ran quite a ways, albiet in a looping circle that I mostly witnessed. I found the terminal performance less than impressive. One of my first reloading projects when I retired was to find this rifle’s sweet spot, and tried 100 Grain Hot Cor Spitzer Soft Point. I had this load out last year, but did not get a shot.
I don’t claim to be psychic, but I can usually predict when the deer will show up at Midway on a morning hunt. The clouds had still not lifted, so I was looking out at a Twilight Zone murk, but something told me to put down the book. I had been late on this earlier in the week and had not gotten my mid-sit coffee and snack before the buck had shown up at 0905. I got my inner calling at 0847 and was licking the last dribble of coffee off my beard when the doe showed up in the middle of the Garden of Stone. She watched me bring the rifle up and decided it might be time to leave, but she only sauntered. The trigger broke with plenty of field left in front of her. She flopped to the ground. Done.
No. Wait. She got up and made for the treeline. She was gone before I could jack another round in. Moose got the call to bring the truck, but it was obvious the outcome was in doubt. I went out in the field with a round in, not knowing what to expect.
It was a pleasant surprise when I found her just at the fenceline in the weeds. She had not gone more than 10 yards.
Back at the meatpole, I got to see the effect of the 100 grain round. Look, I am not an expert. I’m am also not a 30-06 snob. However, with both rifles this year, I find myself comparing them to the round that gets the most work around this camp. In the case of the 7mm-08 and the 139 grain Hornady IL, the comparison was favorable. Every animal I’ve shot (doe, buck, and boar) the animal has gone down immediately. It does the job of the 30-06 on deer sized game.
With this 25-06 round, I was optimistic when my runner turned out to have only taken a 10 yard run, but the damage in the thoracic cavity made me rethink. There was a hole in both lungs and a hole in the top of the heart. There was a decent exit wound on the far side. I can say the bullet expanded properly. However, this was all damage, not devastation. She had been obviously hit, but hit with Mini Cooper and not a dump truck.
We schlepped the deer to the processor then went to Bub’s for another all-day breakfast special. Foxtrot Charlie got to camp mid-afternoon and was able to make it out for a hunt at Hollywood. Angus had been held up at his bagpipe practice and did not get out.
Angus was the only one who went out Sunday. He pulled several hours at Midway and saw nothing. We loaded up and went back to town. I stopped at the processor and picked up my doe from Saturday– 24 hour turnaround is something I’ve never seen before.
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