MORNING SPRINTER

Tuesday morning went for a 7am hunt along a local river amongst willows trees and grass.Clear skys,no duck shooters around,no breeze at all.Looked in a few small sand pits,amongst willows,found a couple of fresh deer prints,ah something been around here.Walked dead slow n stopndead slow and stop,trying not to make any noise myself.20 minuts later,heard a small branch crack,thump,thump,running about 70yds in front of me a buck.Amoungst a few small willows then out into the river bed,bad mistake.Lined him up,one shot broke his leg,second shot finished him off.Fast little bugger,antlers not great but meat for the freezer.Even with a broken leg,hard to get a accurate kill shot.Attachment 166815

yes I have this thing about fallow...can shoot reds deader than a dead thing NO TROUBLE...but them peski fallow cause me no end of grief...much to RUMPYs amusement I believe.....just cant seem to get it right with them at all.

Fallow are tougher than they look. Just ask @Padox

Thort about grabbing his antlers and wrestling him to ground and cut his throat.Fk that,keeped my distance and got a shot bit back from his sholders when he keeped a bit still.Dangerous little buggers.

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Originally Posted by Joe_90

Fallow are tougher than they look. Just ask @Padox

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5 270 rounds later bugger would still wouldn't die

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Originally Posted by Padox

5 270 rounds later bugger would still wouldn't die

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.270....There's your problem right there, better get a .243 and the problems will stop:thumbsup:

And watch them laugh and walk away worst I have seen was 7 rounds from a 243 and it still went bush on him

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Originally Posted by Padox

5 270 rounds later bugger would still wouldn't die

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'The biggest part' is not the correct aiming spot !

4 were good solid front shoulder hits and 1 was neck @Joe_90 watched the whole lot unfold we were both shocked from it

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Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

'The biggest part' is not the correct aiming spot !

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Normally I'd agree with you.
A couple of weeks ago a young fella shot a fallow buck, good hit just behind the front shoulder. The animal dropped and slid into a wee gut and ended up in some scrub. I slid down after it and could hear it still alive, I put another round into it from about 5 meters. Went through both lungs. It still took about a minute of trying to breath before it expired. On postmortem both shots where well placed, the SST projectiles did the job and exited with a good wound pattern.

Compared to shooting reds with the same load and similar distances, my conclusions are fallow bucks in croak are tough wee animals. I'll continue with collecting more data over time as the season and freezer requires :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Padox

4 were good solid front shoulder hits and 1 was neck @Joe_90 watched the whole lot unfold we were both shocked from it

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Had something similar happen with a 7mm08...Ballistc tips at about 100m went right through like a pencil....too fast / too close...? but my 303 (215gr RN) poleaxed him on the spot.....

Post mortam shows rounds are doing what they should not the 1st time iv had it happen

One other time i shot a buck thru the back edge of the sholders at 260yds away just befor he jumped over a old river bed fence.Ran about 50yrds into the bush.Found him by smell 4 months later.Hornady 165 SST penciled clean thru him.Tuffer than reds i reckn.

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Originally Posted by Trout

One other time i shot a buck thru the back edge of the sholders at 260yds away just befor he jumped over a old river bed fence.Ran about 50yrds into the bush.Found him by smell 4 months later.Hornady 165 SST penciled clean thru him.Tuffer than reds i reckn.

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It's all about the pill used on Fallow, light for cartridge designed to open real fast and destroy the hydraulics, the pneumatics and short out the electrics, they go nowhere after a good hit. Have never lost a Fallow, had it run, or require multiple shots from a .243 - closest 50yds, longest 350yds, sacked on the spot every time, my .270 and .308 both gave me more trouble on Fallow for expiring them on the spot. Am liking my new rifle in .308 enough that I may yet try the Speer 130 hp on them for that reason, rather than the 150 Hotcor and 165 Targex it likes for bigger critters.

Shot a couple of other deer with the Hornady white tail 165 sp.Didnt go thru but expanded in a big mess.No more walking for deer.

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Originally Posted by 257weatherby

.270....There's your problem right there, better get a .243 and the problems will stop:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

'The biggest part' is not the correct aiming spot !

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Well there is always the exception to any rule...

I shot a fallow spiker between the eyes in the torch light at 100m after an easy "take a mate and his mate" afternoon hunting that failed. (Mate's mate was too slow and wouldnt listen to me anyway).

I hit this spiker with the .243 in the forehead and he sacked as expected. I thought "i dont need to take my rifle with me, its dead as" like the other many headshot deer i've taken over the years.
I head over there with just a headlight, knife and Mate no2. Mate no1 is at the bike holding his torch on where the deer was.
I get there and see the deer had fallen into a dry creek gut and is sitting up looking groggy as! He has two long sharp spikes for a fallow. I tell Mate no2 to give me a hand as i'll grab it and cut its throat. Mate no2 decides nah i'm off to go get a rifle but doesnt listen when i tell him to stay.
I jump down in the creek bed with spiky and quickly come up behind him and grab his two spikes. Spiky realises the shit is going down and springs to life! :O_O: I've twisted his face into his side and pulled him down like i've done to other animals before, but cant get him on his side enough to get his hooves away from the ground. Me and spiky are doing donuts on the creek bed both getting cut up.
I'm squealing for Mate no2 to give me some help cause i'm running out of energy and dont want to let go of these long spikes! "It's gonna f##king spike me if i let go". Mate no2 is AWOL. Mate no1 is yelling at Mate no2 to help me! :omg:

Mate no2 finally appears after what feels an age. He dives in to add weight but i lose grip on one spike and get pushed down to the rear end and start coping hooves to my arms. I'm yelling at Mate no2 to grab the F##king spike cause im loosing the second and getting kicked to shit! :yuush:
Mate 2 is saying i dont think i can hold him! I'm thinking bullshit, i'm 60kg wet and he is 90kg fit and the deer is almost knackered!
We get it mostly under control, i get my knife out. I stab it in the neck under the chin and push the knife out forward so i dont cut Mate no2. Arteries are cut and we both jump back. Poor Spiky is finished. :(
Spiky had a 50mm round bit of skin missing off his head in front of his spikes dead center :ORLY:

Multiple lessons learned there...
Btw thats the second fallow i've seen shot unconcious and woken up. Mate no1 did it to his second deer he'd shot with the same .243 a few years before!:XD:

Im no light weight,but wrestling the buck on my own.Nop those bucks have got very strong big necks,one quick turn around with those antlers in yr old body.Youl get some serius injurys and the buck dont stop goring you when you are hurt either.They fighting for their lives.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

yes I have this thing about fallow...can shoot reds deader than a dead thing NO TROUBLE...but them peski fallow cause me no end of grief...much to RUMPYs amusement I believe.....just cant seem to get it right with them at all.

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Not sure what you mean @Micky Duck. They end up dead once you finish shooting. :D

Pound for pound I think fallow are tougher than reds or sika. I’ve lost a couple over the years. I once shot a buck at about 150yd with a 308 150sst. The shot wasnt quite on the money and looked like it broke a foreleg quite high up, but that buck ran flat out on 3 legs and disappeared into a gorge never to be seen again. I expected to find him just over the lip of the gorge as he should’ve sustained some serious damage in the lower chest region as well, but despite a thorough search I just couldn’t locate him. Fucked me off big time, was the first deer I ever lost, and reinforced to me how tough they are

Just have to watch one giving a red twice its size with 15 inches more antler a tong up to realise they're tough little bastards!