I finally got around to trying the big 500 on an animal this season. I had done some load work earlier in the year and decided I didn't need all the power that the 500 S&W could muster, so settled on a 440 grain WFNGC that is actually from a LEE mold. They are cast by Maplewood bullets and are reasonably priced, and except for the sticky bullet lube are very high quality. I tried some HS-6, Titegroup, and Unique, and finally settled on 14.0 grains of Unique with a Win Large Rifle Primer. With the bullet seated to the top crimp groove the load runs 1060 fps and will completely penetrate 3 gallon jugs of water and 8 inches of packed/folded rags (jeans, towels, etc) at 50 yards. The load will shoot sub 2 inch groups at 50 yards, so I figure that's good enough for my purpose. I had planned a morning hunt with my oldest son joining me for an evening hunt on my family's ranch. The night before brought us snow for the first time since 1985, and I wasn't certain I would be able to get out to the ranch in the event some of the roads would be closed. The alarm went off the next morning at 4:30 and I turned on the TV to see about road closures, but none were reported. So far so good, so I had some coffee and loaded up the truck for the 30 minute drive to the ranch. The snow had stopped some time in the night and left about 2 inches on the ground, and it was a wonderful sight. Made it to the ranch and parked about 1/4 mile from the blind, gathered my gear, and headed to the blind. As it began to get light, the true beauty of the snow dusted trees, cactus, and grass became evident. I have hunted this property for my whole life and never seen it like this. It took a little while for the animals to start moving, they were probably hunkered down in their beds, or perhaps didn't know what the white stuff was all over the ground. Eventually they began travel and next thing I knew there were six doe at the feeder, with a 4 point and a spike. After about 15 minutes a very nice 8 point buck came right by the blind at about 20 yards, but he wouldn't score higher than the 10 point I shot three years ago, so I let him walk. I decided that the spike should be taken out of the gene pool, and waited for the other deer to get out of the way. After a couple of minutes I had a clear shot and let one loose. The spike did a mule kick and headed into the brush to the right, and the rest of the deer scattered. I waited about 10 minutes then went to investigate. I didn't find any blood at the spot he was standing, but was able to follow his tracks and within 25 yard he was piled up in some brush. I pulled the shot, or he took a step during my trigger pull, so I hit him farther back than I wanted. Upon skinning and gutting I found that I had hit the liver, clipped the stomach, and the bullet sailed on through. Normally with a high velocity round, a gut shot would result in a very nasty mess, but with the low velocity it only resulted in a few kernals of corn and about a table spoon of undigested grass stuck on the abdominal wall. There was no blood shot meat on the entrance side and only a little tainted meat from the guts on the exit side. If I would have put the bullet up tight behind the shoulder, you probably could eat right up to the hole. I'll have to test this on something else to verify my findings.
http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/data/500/20171208_113300.jpg 
http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/data/500/20171208_113014.jpgEntrance.
Exit.
