.375 H&H on a white tail deer

R

Rugerno1shooter

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.375 H&H 300gr SGK 2500fps Ruger #1 with a Burris 1x Short Mag on it-

obliterated both lungs on it's way through as well as taking off most of the top of the deer's heart on a perfect quartering shot (off hand range finder said 40 yards after everything was said and done.

-Broke the entire shoulder, humerus etc. (deer was uphill a bit as we had stalked them through two fields...and it was walking up the side of the mountain from the field when we got a clear shot).
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virtually no meat damage...unlike .243 win, .308 win etc. etc. big slow don't get in my way .375 H&H
I've got lots more pics but they're more ...detailed...we tend to figure out how each deer died how the bullet/cartridge performed etc. and document it
 
So you are one of the ones that shoots in the woods and it sounds like some cannon went off. I hear those big guns go off all the time at a distance and think what the heck are they shooting. Probably couldn't have killed it any more than that. I once shot one with my 300 win mag just to see how it would do. It knocked the deer down with a vengence. I usually stick to the 30.06.
 
There is a shoulder fired 57mm Recoiless Rifle that might be slightly more effective. A .375 is a bit of overkill on a whitetail, unless it is on of those 350 pounders in Saskatchewan....
 
haha I figured I'd get a bunch of responses like that. But as I said...it did less damage to the meat than my brother's .308. The deer didn't get very far because the shot placement was perfect (she stood just right!!). The deer weighed in at 150lbs. She was one of the bigger does we've seen.

see the bullet only going 2500 fps just punches a big hole through it with a bit of expansion...

the deer shot that day (yesterday-last day of rifle season) on that land (7 square miles of property) were-
3 bucks-shooters used .257 roberts, 30-06, 300 win mag
2 does-shooters used 375 H&H and a .308 winchester

the .375 damaged less meat than all of them..even though it went through a shoulder...it didn't mess much of the shoulder.

the rest of the deer either had only one usable shoulder or two bloodshot shoulders.

try it some time big slow bullets=more meat for you!

*(anyone care to see a picture of the wounds and or heart/lungs???)
 
Reminds me of the time I shot a coyote with a 12guage slug, never did find that coyote. I think I sent it into the next county.
 
One positive to using that .375.........you don't need to break out the grinder to make venison burger......that's all taken care of.
 
entrance-barely any meat damaged (lots of blood though since It's lungs were mangled and the aortic arch etc was totally cleaved off of the heart).

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Exit-again pretty much all the meat except for where the hole is...was usable!! hoooorah!

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I guess most people are after bucks etc....personally I'm after the meat... the lless meat I mess up the happier I am!
 
Doesn't look like any more or any less damage if a .243 or '06 had gone that path, from what I've seen over the years...

Art
 
if i can get my website to host it ugggg


interesting tid bit the .375 using a 270gr bullet=ballistics of a .30-06 with the traditional 06 180gr load......just with a bit more power
 
I'm not surprised at all...even though the fps isn't that great, the ft-lbs keep that thing booking right on through anything it hits. Looks like the bullet was just right too, no outstanding expansion or anything. Very clean shot too might I add...

Looks like you got yourself a deer gun though!

F-C
 
The meat is more tender in an overkilled versus killed animal unless the temporary stretch cavity exceeds the volume of the animal in question. I know that seems counter intuitive, but tenderness is a technical term and cannot be applied to vapor/particulate material, so disintegrated animals cannot be "tender".

I suspect the 57mm Recoilless Rifle is a "Destructive Device" as per the BATF and regulated as such. I'm not sure recommending hunting with one is responsible advice ;-)
 
I'd expect the "in" and "out" holes to be bigger if this were a case of true overkill, so I would suggest a .416 Rigby next time.
 
Had to have it for the lung penetration as the lungs are so amazingly tough.
The local gun store said they had some 700 nitro ammo I could take with me (they insisted it would give me the lung destroying power I wanted). They said the .375 wouldn't do the job I wanted!!! Guess I showed them!

See circled objects for reference.

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It also did a number on the acromion process- Which really wasn't apparent until we started dismembering it and took a peek.....forgot to take pictures of that but it should be noted.

Wound channel through the lung.
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