Thread: Introducing Larry

It's kind of embarrassing to relate in a forum full of accomplished hunters and some beginners with half a dozen deer racked up, that this is my first.
Oh well, better late than never, I suppose.

I've been out, but been an armed tramper, and come back empty handed every time.

In the last few years I flagged hunting away as too frustrating( I had lots of other frustrations at the time and one more was one too many) and learned to use a pistol instead.

A good friend knew I'd yet to shoot any deer and offered to take me hunting where he knew I'd be able to find something to zap.
We were out of the Hilux about 50 metres when his son's GSP pointed into the scrub. I snuck forward for a look, and saw a small mob 150-200m away on a small spur. All of them promptly disappeared except for Larry the spiker, who stayed to eyeball me.

I lined up for the shot, and had one of those " I'll sit down- damn too low, I'll kneel- damn too wobbly " moments where I tried both.

I went with kneeling, and put a hole in his chest with a 7mm08 120gn Nosler.

There was a loud smack, and I was confident I'd hit him. He disappeared downhill into the scrub. We went back to the Hilux, and drove to the top of the spur, then combed downhill from above the site where I'd hit him.



We found a patch of blood from a lung shot on the ground where he'd rested, but was still mobile at that point, had heard us coming and wasn't interested in hanging around.

We searched downhill awhile assuming he'd slid into some scrub, but found nothing, then we decided to follow the contour of the hill across instead of straight down.

Larry was lying off the track across the gully from us. He'd travelled 200m or so from the initial point with a lung shot.

The other two advised me to put another round into the crease of his neck to turn his lights out, so I did.

I was interested to see what damage the Nosler through the chest had done and found that it had basically whistled on through and come out the far side without doing much expanding at all. The exit wound was pretty small, not the crater that I was expecting.

There was a 20mm hole going into the rib cage where I presume it had zapped through a lung.



I named the spiker Larry 'cause he was my first deer. The next ones will not be similarly honoured.

We took the back straps and back wheels off him, and the head, which I will keep the the antlers from.



The only reason this photo's included is that the picture of the red eyed dog amuses me.

If I'd known he was like that, I'd have turned around and performed an impromptu exorcism on him.

Well done and thanks for posting, hope you have the bug now.
Larry should taste yummy.
James

Good to see you have broken your duck.

I am intrigued to know specifically what Nosler bullet you were using please. That is a mighty long runner, considering the point of impact. Was he broadside or quartering towards or away?

EDIT... okay I see it must've been the Ballistic Tip Hunting.

I would send your story to Nosler if I were you. Do you have any photos of the vitals and the holes on each side of the rip cage?

Well well well.. a 7mm putting a pinhole in something.. unbelievable, that sort of carry on is only for 270s, I read it in a book from 1972 and everyone on the internet has experienced it so it must be accurate and up to date information...


Well done on your first deer mate

Gday Max.

Wow good on ya mate. Thanks for the photos. Good luck with the demon dog.

Sako.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

Good to see you have broken your duck.

I am intrigued to know specifically what Nosler bullet you were using please. That is a mighty long runner, considering the point of impact. Was he broadside or quartering towards or away?

EDIT... okay I see it must've been the Ballistic Tip Hunting.

I would send your story to Nosler if I were you. Do you have any photos of the vitals and the holes on each side of the rip cage?

Why send to nosler?.... Because it ran so far? Nature of the shot placment isn't it. ...
Well done on the first deer. Larry reminds me of a Jersey bull who was named Larry long cock. Haha.

Well done.

Well done.
You’ve moved on from being a keyboard hunter

Forget americas zombie deer, watch out for that dog.

Awesome Max, I was like you and took years to bag my first deer so I know the feeling.
For me it was something ticked off and achieved but a little anti climactic also, I never really got a kick out of shooting Deer, on the up side they taste good.

The dog made me grin also, firstly the tongue hanging out it's mouth is half way to the ground and then after the other tread on Zombie Deer it looks like a Zombie dog. Say hi to Larry next time your chewing him

Congrats on popping your cherry
I was similar in shooting my first deer, also a spiker. The hard yards before make the moment so much more memorable.
As far as trophy heads go, you have one right there

Well done. Also enjoyed your story and I respect your decision to name Larry. Having a possessed dog was probably what you were missing. When I shot my first deer a possessed dog who belonged to the guy who took us hunting was also present. He is still there, about 800m from where I shot my hind.

I got quite a few after that and saw hundreds in range in Fiordland with no time to shoot them. Something about that frustration ruins your hunting ability. I probably have to start over now as it has been a few years.

Well done!

Its not unusual for low chest shot deer to be runners, regardless of the caliber or bullet. Higher up on the shoulder will drop them because thats where the mass of nerve connections are. Low down is the blood pumping and breathing department and it takes a while for the oxygen in the blood to be depleted - so they can get quite a distance - especially if heart shot. Well, that's how I understand it and reinforced through my own experience.

The 120 grn Nosler is an excellent projectile and Ive shot many deer with them without fault (including runners). But they are still just a lump of lead and copper so you can't blame them for not doing what we want every single time. I don't think Nosler will change their design just because Larry didn't give up the fight immediately.

I think that you should just get into it and don't go fiddling with bullets and stuff - Larry's cousins are likely as not to drop on the spot when served exactly the same medicine next time.

Thanks guys. My friend Chris wanted me to keep the head as a milestone in the sense of this being my first. Initially I didn't think it was important, but he has been killing stuff for a long time, and knew the significance of it.

I wanted to do this for another reason. To me, being able to shoot a deer completes a cycle.

1 Learn to shoot

2 Learn to reload

3 Learn to stalk

4 bring back an animal

5 Learn to butcher and store

6 Learn to cook and take time to enjoy.

7 Begin again

I was stuck on number 3. Now I've closed the circle and am learning in practical firsthand terms what it means.

"That which we learn, we learn by doing" - Aristotle

Originally Posted by Tahr

Well done!

Its not unusual for low chest shot deer to be runners, regardless of the caliber or bullet. Higher up on the shoulder will drop them because thats where the mass of nerve connections are. Low down is the blood pumping and breathing department and it takes a while for the oxygen in the blood to be depleted - so they can get quite a distance - especially if heart shot. Well, that's how I understand it and reinforced through my own experience.

The 120 grn Nosler is an excellent projectile and Ive shot many deer with them without fault (including runners). But they are still just a lump of lead and copper so you can't blame them for not doing what we want every single time. I don't think Nosler will change their design just because Larry didn't give up the fight immediately.

I think that you should just get into it and don't go fiddling with bullets and stuff - Larry's cousins are likely as not to drop on the spot when served exactly the same medicine next time.

I have less experience but was tempted to post this. If an animal is alerted and thus pumping adrenaline they can run 200m with no heart at all. Low on the lungs the animal and the upper part will still work while the blood drains out the bottom.

A ballistic tip is designed not to blow up on a wet hide at 15m when the projectile is traveling 3200ft/sec. If it goes low through the lungs and you are not lucky enough to hit even a rib on the way in, there is not much resistance there to open the projectile.

I would say it worked not too bad under the circumstances. A projectile that is 100% reliable from 5m to 500m is a paradox, but it provides food for conversation.