Forum | So there I was...

If you want to see what the bullet looked like before it did a great job on a deer, you'll have to check out http://www.garrettcartridges.com.  It's actually kind of cool, if you go to the Trophy Gallery and click on North American animals and look at some of the pictures there, you'll see me with a whitetail buck and also a wild hog.  One was shot with my Marlin .45/70 and the other was with my Ruger Super Blackhawk revolver.

LOL, I'll do that if you can guarantee that the deer can read!  AND, yes the breeze did make it cooler in the treetops.  Where do you think I was sitting when the temps plummeted?  Lemme tell you, I wasn't sweating up there…

And yes, JD certainly did whack a nice buck.  Now I need to see something even close to that.

I cut and wrapped the deer that I shot yesterday.  Even though I shot it through the neck, the shot was a little low.  When I gutted the deer, I discovered the spinal column was destroyed for about 16 inches!  And to make it even more interesting, when I was cutting up the hindquarters, I discovered this.

What you're looking at is what a 420 grain Garrett Hammerhead bullet looks like after breaking the neck, traveling 16 inches down the spinal column, then veering out and lodging in the hindquarter of a whitetail.  It looks pretty good after doing that kind of damage. 

Shivvering and freezing my butt off in a treestand this afternoon.  A cold front came through, with a vengeance!  It was nice and warm when I went out at 1:30 this afternoon.  But by 4:00 it felt like the temp had dropped 20 degrees at least.  And with the wind, by 5:00, I was froze…

So I managed to get out of the tree without falling and was walking home when I heard a whitetail snorting…between me and my house!

I froze in place, hoping that the deer scent on my drag rag would cover my scent, and I gave a couple grunts on my call hoping that the deer standing between me and home would just go away and leave me alone.  That didn't happen.

Then I heard at least one deer moving.  In front of me, a doe stepped out on the trail I walk to my stand.  I froze in place.  Then another deer stepped out on the trail.  GREAT!  Now I had two deer in the way, both antlerless from what I could see in my scope.

I looked over both deer and calculated the bullet trajectory, and decided that they were about 50 yards away, and directly in line with the landowner's home!  Even if I wanted to, I couldn't shoot with a clear conscience.  So I waited.

While I waited, the deer continued to snort, stomp their feet and bob their heads in my direction.  By this time, I was VERY cold, and now had to pee.  I was getting a little ticked off that they were interfering with my comfort.  So I decided that if one of them gave me a shot opportunity that didn't involve putting a hole in Jeff's house, I was going to take it.

Both of the deer continued to snort, stomp and head bob at me, but coming closer all the time!  Finally, my bladder had enough and the deer were clear from me shooting any houses.  I put the crosshairs on the neck of the largest of the two and pulled the trigger.

The .45/70 bucked against my shoulder and the deer never stepped from its tracks, simply folding in place.  I walked up on the deer, thanked the Lord for putting more meat in my freezer, and hot-footed it back to my bathroom!

Then I got my truck and picked up the deer.  It's now hanging in the garage, gutted and cooling for the morning when I'll skin it, cut and wrap it.  I've got some very tender venison just waiting now…