This has been an amazing day. I'm so wiped out and giddy.......I don't know where to start.
If you remember the other thread regarding the .460 S&W Encore and the range report from today after testing loads..............you'll remember the hassle of the broken forend and the repair I had to complete. You might also remember that.......at the end of the range report.........I had exactly one round left over.
Not wanting that perfectly good round to go to waste, I decided to go hunting this evening and try to take a deer with it. So, I packed up and headed out to the property I'd been hunting most this year. As a side thought............I decided to take my 7mm Remington Mag. I figured, I hadn't taken any game with this rifle yet and ya never know. So, I packed it as well. Once at the ranch, I gathered my gear and started my walk into my hunting area. I thought, this isn't so bad. I don't have that much to take with just my pack, my Encore in a shoulder holster, and the SPEC-Rest. Oh wait.......CRAP.......I almost forgot the 7mm Mag! Luckily, I hadn't gone far from the truck. Grabbed it and took off.
About 1/2 mile later, I reached my usual spot. The one where I'd taken the doe with the Casull and that I'd sat at many other time watching deer. The neighboring field was being harvested as I set up along the fence line.
Deer travel this long fence line from the river bottom to the wheat fields behind me. I thought it would be a good spot to catch the deer moving right towards me and hopefully in range of the .460 S&W. As the clocked ticked by.......there didn't appear to be an end to the harvesting on the neighbors field. I thought.......it's Friday evening! Don't they have other things to be doing? Guess not. It was getting late, there were no deer (as there should have been by then) and I needed a back up plan.
I quickly packed my gear and headed back towards my truck and the wheat field I'd crossed getting to where I was. I didn't thing there was much hope any deer would make it to the field from another direction before dark, but I was out of options this late in the game.
So, I tucked back into a patch of palm tree real tight and waited.
The sun began to set and I though I was out of luck. It was still a beautiful evening and I enjoyed being there, none the less. Hey, I got to watch the sun set behind me! Beats the Hell out of a couch, right?
Right after I took that picture, I turned back around and continued glassing. DEER!!! Coming my way from the river bottom!! I look back at the sun, then look at the deer, and prayed they hurried up. They were over 300 yards away and it was getting late.
Apparently, they heard my willful pleading........or their tummies were grumbling. Because, they picked up the pace and trotted along towards the wheat field.......and me.
As they got to the wheat, they crossed the fence and spread out to feed. I picked out the biggest doe and followed her in the crosshairs. When she entered the field, she was 150 yards away. Moving along, she was directly facing me as she progressed. I didn't want to take a frontal shot particularly...........so I held fire until she turned. Finally, after meandering a bit.......she held still quartering to me at 123 yards with her right shoulder.
BOOM!!!!!
The impact was amazing! She instantly sat back on her haunches, flipped onto her back and rolled to her left side. I saw her legs kick once and that way it. It happened so quick.......the other deer didn't even run. They just looked at her on the ground........looked over in my direction........and looked at her again. They didn't know what just happened. Literally, they just stood there as if dumfounded. In fact, they showed no sign of leaving!!! So, I took out my camera and snapped a picture.
The white strip to the left of my muzzle is the doe laying on her left side. Just to the left of her and before the next wire, are the other three deer just standing there. I waited a few minutes to see if they left as I didn't particularly want them to see me. I finally stood to slowly gather my things. Quite happy with the performance of the .460 and the 250gr XTP bullets. I was rather impressed. Standing there, I raise my binos to look at the other three deer. Hey.............that in the distance............those are ANTLERS!!!! BIG ANTLERS!!!! Holy Crap!!!! That's an Axis buck!
I instantly felt like Barney Fife with my one round expended. I had NO bullets left for the Encore. I quickly grabbed my 7 Mag and sat back down. The Axis was coming from the same place the deer had come. But, I could only see his antlers as his body was below the horizon. I watched in agony as he slowly made his way towards me and the view through my scope got dimmer and dimmer. Finally, i could see the white throat patch above the tall grass and eventually, his body loomed like a shadow into view. I could see him now..........but I couldn't see the fence barbed wire fence strands anymore!!! I could shoot him in the field he was in as it was part of the ranch I was hunting.......but I didn't want to risk what may be my only shot EVER at a big Axis buck and hit the fence!
Let's pause for a second while I explain something. Living in Texas.........there have been several animals I've wanted to take. Over the many years I've been here, I checked them off one by one from my grail list. First, a Black Buck. Next came my Gemsbok. Then, another Gensbok and eventually two Aoudad. Big Aoudad!! I was ecstatic at that point. After that, I set out to try and find my remaining grail animal. An Axis buck. For the past 5 years, I've hunted a few places that had Axis on them but never saw any. I wanted a free range animal. Just like my previous Blackbuck, Gemsbok, and Aoudad. All free range low fence hunts. Buit, I couldn't find my ghost. My Axis buck.
Then, I was given permission to hunt these fields this year and eradicate the hogs that were destroying the wheat. In the process, the owner said I could take whatever deer I wanted and anything else that showed up. Literally, it's three big fields in a row with no cover save a grove of palms in the middle. But, the deer come from miles away to feed there at night........so did the hogs. Those.......I fixed. And, in the process, I lucked out and got a really nice Blackbuck last month there as well and later the doe with the Casull.
Fast forward to this evening...........I'm now staring at the sole remaining animal from my grail list and it's getting dark fast. Not risking hitting the wire, I waited painfully until he made it to the fence separating the wheat field from the alfalfa he was in. Standing quartering to me with his left shoulder up against the fence.......I could judge the gap from the barbed wire. It was now or never.
BOOM!!!!!!
POP! Coming out of recoil, I see him hunch up and lurch forward to his left. I knew I hit him, right? I mean......I heard the impact! He just took a 162gr A-Max through the chest.........right? Why is he running? He ran to his left about 40 yards and came to a stop right next to an irrigation pivot. I could barely see him now through the scope. But, that was him.......standing there quartering slightly away. I know i hit him! I think I hit him. Did I hit him?
BOOM!!!!
I fired again and he disappeared. It's now almost dark, so I grabbed my lights and hurried to the last known spot. Arriving.......I can't find where he was standing in the tall grass. I KNOW I HIT HIM!!! TWICE! Right? Almost in a panic that my final grail animal had once more eluded me..........I find him. Just 20 yards further back from where I'd hit him the second time. Yes, he soaked up two 162gr Hornady A-Max bullets from a 7mm Remington Mag going 3,195 fps at the muzzle. Both shots were in the chest. The entrance of one and the exit of the other were within inches of each other! That was one tough Axis!
Here is the action board.
A - Where I shot the doe.
B - 1st Shot on Axis.
C- Where the does and Axis came from.
D - 2nd shot on Axis.
Having found the Axis, I walked over to the doe to check on her location. Then returned, gathered my gear, and headed the 1/4 mile to the truck. Dropped off my stuff and returned to the doe. Drug her the 1/4 mile to the truck and returned to the Axis buck. Drug..............pant.....pant.....drug......gasp..........drug.........oh God I'm gonna DIE..........drug that big.....heavy bastige to the freaking truck!!! I thought I was going to pass out. I had absolutely NO clue that Axis were so BIG!!!!
After I regained my lungs and put my spleen back inside my body.... I took pics.
.460 S&W
250gr Hornady XTP
Muzzle Velocity - 2,250 fps using the SWAG method ( Scientific WildAss Guess)
Impact Velocity - 1,615 fps (SWAG)
Bullet struck her on side shoulder. Shattered her scapula in about 5 pieces..........and STOPPED in the hide behind the opposite shoulder!!!! Yes......STOPPED! With a sliver of jacket protruding from the hide.
7mm Remington Magnum
162gr Hornady A-Max
Muzzle Velocity - 3,195 fps
Impact Velocity - 2,971 fps
Excuse me while I post a few more pics of my sole remaining grail animal.
And, just so you all don't thing I'm sitting WAY behind him to exaggerate his size.........
......that's a bent elbow with my hand resting on him. Sucker was a BEAST!!! I had absolutely no idea they got that big.
To cap off this grand adventure.........I am blessed to have had such a wonderful season and taken so many animals this fall. I am blessed to have finally completed my list of grail animals. I am pleased with the performance of the .460 S&W Encore after the broken forend. I am pleased with the performance of the bullet. Both the XTP and the A-Max.
I am blessed. Simple as that.
I'm tired......I'm sore..........I might have lost my liver out there somewhere dragging that buck. But, I'm too tired to look for it right now. It's 3:00 in the morning..........I'll post the autopsy photos tomorrow evening. After I can move.
