# My first day deer hunting this year.



## Ghillie (Dec 4, 2008)

Maybe I am lucky but I spent a lot of time looking at topos and aerial photos and listening to other hunters in the area.

Never got a chance to take the bow out this fall. Always seemed like there was too much work to take a couple of days off.








This my hunting buddy's son and me.






BTW... It isn't a huge rack but that .500 S&W sure makes it look small.


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## Ghillie (Dec 4, 2008)

Can't let that post count stay.


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## scotclayshooter (Dec 4, 2008)

Nice but we have to be sensitive to Stihl Sawing who seems to have been hunting for 6 months and never seen a deer lol and you bag one first day out!


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## yooper (Dec 4, 2008)

Nice deer, great photos! hey you even have a little snow down south!


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## Ghillie (Dec 5, 2008)

yooper said:


> Nice deer, great photos! hey you even have a little snow down south!




Thanks. Yea, a little snow, it was gone the next day!


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## tawilson (Dec 5, 2008)

Congratulations and great pics.


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## stihl sawing (Dec 5, 2008)

Nice one, Looks like he has a tall rack.


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## stihl sawing (Dec 5, 2008)

scotclayshooter said:


> Nice but we have to be sensitive to Stihl Sawing who seems to have been hunting for 6 months and never seen a deer lol and you bag one first day out!


LMAO, That's just wrong and really funny. But true.lol


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## PA Plumber (Dec 5, 2008)

Nice buck.  

I'll probably carry the .357 mag, and ear plugs, tomorrow. Doe opens in our area.

Happened to use my buck tag today so I guess I'll get a thread started with some pics.


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## deeker (Dec 5, 2008)

*Shhhhhhhhh......*

Stihlsawing is looking for some other kind of "whitetail"????

Nice pics, nice buck.

Kevin


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## stihl sawing (Dec 5, 2008)

deeker said:


> Stihlsawing is looking for some other kind of "whitetail"????
> 
> Nice pics, nice buck.
> 
> Kevin


LOL, I would probably strike out on them too.


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## ShoerFast (Dec 5, 2008)

Nice Hat-Rack!

Gotta love it when a plan comes together.  

What did that .500 do to the buck? 

That .500 has as much energy at 75 yards as a .454 Casull has at 25 yards, and more then a .44 mag has at he muzzle!

The .500 is close to twice the energy of a .357 Mag across the board.(no pun PA, .357's take a lot of deer.)


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## PA Plumber (Dec 5, 2008)

ShoerFast said:


> Nice Hat-Rack!
> 
> Gotta love it when a plan comes together.
> 
> ...



No problem here. I have shot a .500 and can honestly say I did not enjoy it. 5 rounds in quick succession. The best I can describe it: It's like catching a baseball bat at full swing. 

The .357 on the other hand is quite pleasant to shoot. Load'er up with some 38 special and you've got a great "plinker" that's easy on the wallet and fun to shoot.


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## bowtechmadman (Dec 5, 2008)

Great buck Ghillie...looks like it's very symetrical and I really like the chocolate brown antlers.


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## Ghillie (Dec 8, 2008)

*Not for the week of stomache.*



ShoerFast said:


> Nice Hat-Rack!
> 
> Gotta love it when a plan comes together.
> 
> ...



Thanks.

Actually I was a little surprised at first at the terminal performance. My first shot was right behind the diaphragm and pretty much destroyed the liver. He ran though. Which is what surprised me. I was pretty confident in my shot but when he did a half circle around me and stopped in some brush at around 75 yds (first shot was 50 yds, with my feet facing 180* away as they snuck up behind me).

When he stopped, he didn't look well but I shot again (after some time to find him through the scope) and he jumped like it was a hit and took off again.

I went to the spot where he was when I first shot and there was no sign of a hit. Nothing on the fresh snow, no blood no hair NOTHING! My heart sank.

I followed his trail to where he was on my second shot and again nothing.

Followed the trail for another 20yds and there was some dark blood. Kept following and about every 5 yds there was more blood. OK looks good.

Then he started throwing big clots every couple of feet. Not far from that is where he collapsed.

The second shot had destroyed the shoulder and lungs. I would say he had run a total of 100 yds after the first shot. Judging by the trail he was leaving from the first shot (all dark blood and clots) he was dead but just didn't know it yet and would not have gone much farther. 

I took the second shot to hopefully put him down, wasn't needed but I did not know that at the time.

I really haven't looked at the ballistics lately to compare the to the .357 or the .44 but at 200yds there is still over a thousand ft/lbs of energy with the .500 and 350 gr hollow points.

I borrowed this gun from a friend (actually I finished mounting the scope for him) and wanted to do some field testing. I usually use my .44 Desert Eagle.


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## Ghillie (Dec 8, 2008)

bowtechmadman said:


> Great buck Ghillie...looks like it's very symetrical and I really like the chocolate brown antlers.



Thanks. I will try to take some better pictures, he actually has 6 points on one side and 4 on the other. Some may not count one of them as a point but I am not going for any records so in my mind it is a ten-point.


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## Ghillie (Dec 8, 2008)

PA Plumber said:


> No problem here. I have shot a .500 and can honestly say I did not enjoy it. 5 rounds in quick succession. The best I can describe it: It's like catching a baseball bat at full swing.
> 
> The .357 on the other hand is quite pleasant to shoot. Load'er up with some 38 special and you've got a great "plinker" that's easy on the wallet and fun to shoot.



That is a very good description of shooting it!! There is very little muzzle flip due to the brake, but I was comparing it to shooting 12ga slugs with a pistol grip.

I have quite a bit of mass to absorb recoil but I don't think I would shoot a cylinder rapid fire. Especially at $3.50 a pop!

BTW.. I love shooting the .357, it was my "back up" that I left in the truck in case things didn't pan out with the .500.


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## Ghillie (Dec 8, 2008)

*PPE for the .500*

Aaaaaannnnnnnnndddddddd..............

I was wearing electonic earplugs while hunting but I should have been wearing eye protection also.






Saturday I took a shooting rest on a tree in a fence row. 

The blast from the cylinder gap *WILL* impale bark from said tree/shooting rest into your eyelid!!!

Had me a little rattled, stumbling around with blurry vision and a piece of bark sticking out of me.


and I missed the shot!


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