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Old December 2, 2006, 12:36 PM   #1
Pappy John
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First buck with the little rifle

I took this one on Monday with my Ruger Frontier in 308. 100 yards across an open meadow surrounded by forest. Hit once, he went 30 yards to the forest edge and stood with his head down. Twenty seconds later he was still standing so I hit him again. He went twelve more yards, just inside the woods, and crashed into a brush pile and died. Both lung shots.



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Old December 2, 2006, 01:19 PM   #2
Trip20
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Great buck and nice rifle. What's the spread on that sucker?
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Old December 2, 2006, 01:23 PM   #3
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Very nice buck. Also like the rifle. So it that what they are calling the ruger 77 mkII scout carbine these days? Maybe I need to get one.

More info on the buck (weight, spread, etc..) and more info on the rifle.
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Old December 2, 2006, 02:14 PM   #4
Pappy John
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Inside spread 19". Outside 20.5" Northern PA (Potter Co.)

I wish we would have had a scale to weigh him with at the cabin. No data.

Heavy is all I can tell you. Luckily I had four friends in radio range to help drag him out, since I need two of those crutches to maneuver in the woods because of a bad left leg. A single crutch serves around the cabin and on flat ground for short distances, but I need both to get far enough away from the road to really feel like I'm hunting. With both hands busy, I use a modified safety harness to drag with. That's also why I like a small weapon. I have to sling it diagonally when on the move and don't like a long barrel snagging brush. It's either the carbine or a handgun and this would have been an awful long shot for my Redhawk. Too long for me without a rest.

The weather was too warm to bring him home intact or hang him for very long. Bled him out Monday with bags of ice in the body cavity; skinned, butchered, packaged and iced down in a cooler by 1:00 P.M. Tuesday.
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Old December 2, 2006, 03:00 PM   #5
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nice!

I feel your pain about the crutches. I just managed to kick mine after about 3 years of wearing them. Still can't wander far though. I am kinda interested in a superlight setup and am looking for something new so that scout carbine really perked my interest.

Hows the recoil on that short barreld light setup compared to a nomral 308? (this way could let the wife use it too). Noticed they offer 7mm-08 as well. Many this looks tempting.

Anyway congrats on the buck.
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Old December 2, 2006, 03:14 PM   #6
Pappy John
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It jumps up off the bags when bench shooting, I guess due to the 16" barrel, but is not bad at all shooting offhand. I usually stick to 150 gr bullets, though I have sighted it in with 180s once with no pain. I stuck a recoil pad on it mostly to get a longer length of pull than for recoil moderation. LOP is only 12.5" out of the box and I'm a six footer, so it seemed a might too short for me to get cozy with.

Congrats on losing the sticks.

Mine are permanent. Femur was replaced with a titanium shaft to save my leg, but lotsa nerve damage makes it pretty much immobile. But hey...it could be worse. I'm still gettin' out there, and I've got friends to help with the hard work.
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Old December 2, 2006, 03:24 PM   #7
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7-08 would be real good, good sectional density, a real killing round and light on the shoulder. I have had 2 and liked them both ( Cooper and Rem 700) might go for another one this next year.
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Old December 2, 2006, 03:47 PM   #8
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darn you guys to heck!!

First Wildalaska is tempting me (just yesterday) with a steal of a deal on a SWMP in 40cal and now you go and show me pics of a near perfect rifle setup for myslef and my wife. Plus it doesn't help any that they offer it in 7-08 whic would be perfect for an up close elk or those 200 yard mulie shots (I am moving to arizona and I gotta take my wife elk hunting maybe even a mt lion). DArn you guys are gonna get me in trouble with the wife. She said no more guns, but my fingers are itching to call my gunsmith and order one right now. Gotta think this one over. Of course it will happen just need to figure out how to keep myslef from sleeping on the couch with the dog.

As far as kicking the sticks, yeah it was a good feeling, but the bummer is that my spotter who got hit at the same time as me and ended up losing both his legs actually is better off now than when he had them. He always had knee problems and now with his artificial legs he actually improved on his run times for PT and is still in the service. Me, I went from a 11min 2 mile to just being lucky to walk 2 miles without stopping. Oh well at least we can still walk and are here to tell the stories to the grand kids.
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Old December 3, 2006, 01:26 AM   #9
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Quote:
Ruger Frontier in 308. 100 yards across an open meadow surrounded by forest. Hit once, he went 30 yards to the forest edge and stood with his head down. Twenty seconds later he was still standing so I hit him again. He went twelve more yards, just inside the woods, and crashed into a brush pile and died.
When you named the cartridge, I somehow expected better results...What kind of bullet were you using and did it expand well as evidence from large or small exit wounds?
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Old December 3, 2006, 07:25 AM   #10
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Feature this.....Both Remington Core Lokts passed through the rib cage without nicking a rib, either side. One catching both lungs and the other one nearside lung and liver. Very little to no expansion evident. Exit holes looked much the same as the entrance holes. I had some handloads available that I made with Nosler Partition bullets, but I wanted to use up the factory Remingtons first.

Frugal.

Maybe the short barrel loses too much velocity for the bullet to perform properly. Or maybe the air-filled lungs didn't offer enough resistance to create expansion. Maybe I'll use the rest of those Core Lokts on paper targets.

Either way, the deer was dead on it's feet after the first hit. But not knowing that, and the thought that, being Pennsylvania opening day, there were lots of other hunters in the area that could have seen him still standing, shot, and claimed the kill, prompted my second shot. Alls well that ends well.
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Old December 3, 2006, 09:48 AM   #11
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Quote:
Maybe the short barrel loses too much velocity for the bullet to perform properly.
The bullet performed just fine. The first one destroyed both lungs. The second one damaged the liver. You just happened to miss the on-side rib to initiate more expansion. That is a big buck, and a big one like that will often take more than one shot from just about any caliber. Heck, he only went 40 yards.

Nice buck! I once had a guy tell me that a ".308 ain't good for deer." I've taken 4 or 5 deer with my .308 since then.

Edited to add: Universalfrost,

Quote:
a near perfect rifle setup for myslef and my wife.
I like the .308 carbines, too. IIRC, Ruger has a really neat 'target gray' finish on the Frontier model. Wait 'till you see it!

Last edited by Fremmer; December 3, 2006 at 10:20 AM. Reason: add comment about the ruger
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Old December 3, 2006, 11:37 AM   #12
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Wow, that is one nice buck - huge, clean, symmetrical rack. Nice job.

UF, what's your story of getting wounded?

What are your alternative rifles for same uses as the Ruger? I'm trying to figure out if it's worth you sleeping on the couch or not.

P.S. Some people prefer the scout-situated scope placement; some don't after trying it - are you sure you prefer it vs. a standard placement? Cuz if you don't, the only other reason for that placement could be stripper clip usage, but I don't think the Ruger takes strippers... I prefer the standard. If you do you, then you can have the best of all worlds for less money if you're willing to jack up a milsurp. Find a $100-$150 K31, order the rear permanent drill & tap mount from midway. It's offset so that you can still use strippers. Then, if you're willing to get flamed on the gun boards by the traditionalists, cut the stock & barrel down to make it a light rifle. What about your modified Enfield? I guess it doesn't really have the flat-shooting ballistics you're looking for.... hmm, for that matter, the K31 may not either.
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Old December 3, 2006, 11:40 AM   #13
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NICE Buck.........hpg
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Old December 3, 2006, 11:55 AM   #14
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See any bear?
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Old December 3, 2006, 03:29 PM   #15
Pappy John
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Quote:
See any bear?
Not since early October, but plenty of sign. I didn't buy a bear tag this year....no time.
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Old December 3, 2006, 03:48 PM   #16
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Nice Deer

Congrats on your deer Pappy. Thats a big feller. I like your set up too. I mailed the pics to my brother who didn't hunt this year. He's had an ATV accident way back. He can walk but not good. Tree stands are out of the question too.
I use Rem 130 coreloks in my 270. Have many deer drop between 20yds to 300yds. Never had a problem with them. I wonder if they have changed. The hydrostatic shock should have dropped the deer.
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Old December 3, 2006, 11:53 PM   #17
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Nice deer, and nice story. Use those Core-lokt bullets with confidence, they're about perfect on deer. Sometimes there's nothing you can do about an animal walking around after the shot except shoot again.

I took an impala (about half the size of a deer) with a .458 Lott using a very soft 500gr bullet at about 2300 ft/sec. Shot the thing from stem to stern, breaking the front shoulder, punching a 1 & 1/4" hole through the lungs, nicking the aorta, puncturing the liver. The bullet came out the hindquarters through a hole still about 1 & 1/4" across. Damm thing just walked off and wandered over a hundred yards before it finally gave up the ghost. Sometimes they do that, and there's no bullet I know of that will stop them every time instantly with the first shot.
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Old December 4, 2006, 01:02 AM   #18
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+1 on the comment by FormerFlyer, who explained it better than I did.
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Old December 4, 2006, 12:59 PM   #19
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Very nice deer. I've been lusting over the ruger frontier in .308 for sometime now. The local gun shop had one on consignment for $400 for a long time but I never had the cash on hand. When I finally did have it they had sold the rifle. Anyway, congrats. That's a great buck!
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Old December 4, 2006, 02:01 PM   #20
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Nice buck, Pap!
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Old December 4, 2006, 08:32 PM   #21
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Nice buck! You know, if they would make that rifle with iron sights, I'd be all over it.
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Old December 4, 2006, 08:48 PM   #22
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Thats a big ol' buck! Congrats. Fine little rifle also!
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Old December 5, 2006, 05:08 PM   #23
Jseime
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That is a really nice looking deer.

Ruger folks... If you are listening please make a frontier rifle in a lefty version and chamber it in .243 Winchester for me so my .270 can have a little brother.
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Old December 6, 2006, 01:34 PM   #24
john in jax
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Pappy if you want rapid expansion you might try ballistic tips. They open rapidly - - great for deer, but too rapidy for just about any other game (i.e. the hogs that outnumber the deer in the WMA where I hunt).

Oh yeah, GREAT buck, they don't grow them like that down here in FL.
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Old December 7, 2006, 11:06 AM   #25
UniversalFrost
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I like the balistic tips as well. Another alternative is the barnes x bullets. They have great expansion and weight retention and open up a heck of a wound channel without being too destructive. Otherwise, get yourself some of the winchester silvertips and don't worry bout' a thing.
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