MeekAndMild
New member
Well, the .308 was taken out of the equation due to a cracked stock and no way to consistantly zero it so I had no excuse to not take out my little Marlin 336 in .35 Remington and the same 200gr Core Loct bullets.
Despite my worries about getting buck fever, missing et cetera the second deer was a nice little 3 point buck weighing about 100-110 pounds. This one took off running though and ran maybe 75 yards before falling behind a log on the ground just inside a blackberry thicket. Luckily he didn't have the oomph to get any further into the briers or I'd still be there toting him out.
The shot range was paced off at 115 yards and the the buck was halfway between broadside and quartering toward me. The bullet hit at the intended aim point, just forward of the spine of the shoulder blade and with that resistance expanded well. There was a good 3/4 to 1 inch exit pathway through both lungs and the root of the heart and then out the meaty part of the other shoulder. The exit wound was about 3/4 inch diameter with bruising of the meat out to about 1 and 1/2 inch diameter.
There was no blood trail I could find except right around where he fell.
I think the key to good expansion was the fact that the shot was through the shoulder blade in this case.
The landowner and his father both use higher velocity rifles for deer such as .243, .256 Roberts, 7mm 08, .270 and don't seem to think very much at all about my .35. But they do admit it doesn't seem to spoil much meat.
Neither one of them seems to think it at all odd that a deer would run off like that when it is shot. Being a relative newby to the whole thing I just don't know.
Despite my worries about getting buck fever, missing et cetera the second deer was a nice little 3 point buck weighing about 100-110 pounds. This one took off running though and ran maybe 75 yards before falling behind a log on the ground just inside a blackberry thicket. Luckily he didn't have the oomph to get any further into the briers or I'd still be there toting him out.
The shot range was paced off at 115 yards and the the buck was halfway between broadside and quartering toward me. The bullet hit at the intended aim point, just forward of the spine of the shoulder blade and with that resistance expanded well. There was a good 3/4 to 1 inch exit pathway through both lungs and the root of the heart and then out the meaty part of the other shoulder. The exit wound was about 3/4 inch diameter with bruising of the meat out to about 1 and 1/2 inch diameter.
There was no blood trail I could find except right around where he fell.
I think the key to good expansion was the fact that the shot was through the shoulder blade in this case.
The landowner and his father both use higher velocity rifles for deer such as .243, .256 Roberts, 7mm 08, .270 and don't seem to think very much at all about my .35. But they do admit it doesn't seem to spoil much meat.
Neither one of them seems to think it at all odd that a deer would run off like that when it is shot. Being a relative newby to the whole thing I just don't know.