First Deer with the .445 Super Mag!

Ran into one of my ranching friends at the range yesterday morning and he said he had more deer to cull. Wondered if I could come out that evening and hunt. Well, let me check my busy schedule.........YES!!

So, I met up with him at the ranch just before 4:00 yesterday afternoon. He said that he'd been seeing a bunch of deer at a dirt road intersection every evening as they made there way towards a huge planted field. Said I could sit in the bushes at that location and maybe get one with a handgun. He took me to the spot and I determined there was just enough brush to build a hide. He threw some corn in the road to stop the deer as they crossed and I set up shop back in the tree line where I could shoot in three directions.

I'd brought two handguns with me on the hunt. The 13" MGM barreled .30-30 AI Contender w/ 4x Weaver for the longer shots.



and the 10" barreled .445 Super Mag G2 Contender w/ 2x Pentax.



Shots were going to range from up close and personal out to about 200 yards. So, I settled in for the wait.

About 5:00 a spike and two 8 points wandered out in the road to my right.



and began slowly wandering down the road towards me.



They wanted to let spikes live this year. So, he got a pass. The two young 8 Points looked promising for the future and walked within about 30 yards as they came down to the intersection.



Then, they circled back around to my right and entered the brush on the opposite side of the road. About 40 minutes later, the spike and two yearling does came back out in the road to my right and began to feed. I glassed the does really hard, but determined that they were too young. Then, looking across the road and straight away, I saw three big does come out of the brush and stop in the road about 164 yards away. One of them was huge for a doe and I decided she.........was my target.

I swapped out the guns and brought the AI up to bat. If she looked as though she was going to cross the road and leave, I'd have taken her. But, she began to feed in the road facing me which saved her. Watching her for several minutes, the group slowly milled their way towards me. Maybe.......just maybe.......they'd come close enough for the Super Mag. I'd taken a deer with the AI, but never one with the Super Mag and I really wanted one.

Once the the group made it to 100 yards, I swapped back to the Super Mag and waited for her to turn broadside. But, being stubborn, she refused and kept her body oriented towards me. Just then, several bucks, including the ones from earlier came out of the brush behind the does and entered the road.

A larger buck I hadn't seen earlier showed interest in my doe and, moving towards her, pushed her my way. She began to get nervous and move back towards the brush on the opposite corner of the intersection. But, at the last minute, turned back to my left. Stopping, she curved her body to where her flank was broadside to me but her front shoulder was quartered towards me. With her ears back in contention towards the buck, I figured it was now or never.

At 64 yards, I let her have a 240gr Hornady XTP on the point of her shoulder. At the impack, she slumped and turned to my right to run. I could visibly see that her left shoulder (point of impact) was not working as the leg hung limp as she ran. Running back into the sparce brush, I saw her stop and then fall over in a violent last surge. She had traveled 54 yards.





I'm exceptionally pleased with the performance of the Super Mag. That sucker hits like a hammer on both ends.





1 - My blind.
2 - Where the spike and two 8 Points came from.
Orange Line - Their route of travel.
3 - Where my Doe came from.
Yellow Line - Her route of travel.
4 - Location of shot.
5 - Where she fell.
6 - Where the spike and yearlings were located.

I I loaded her up and took her to the lodge where the ranger weighed and aged her at 117 pounds and approximately 7.5 years old. Not bad and the second year I've taken the largest and oldest doe off the place.

After er the management paperwork, I took her home to butcher.



Everything worked out perfectly and it was a very exciting hunt. He said that I could come back and shoot another when I had the time. Oh, I'll make time!!!

Autopsy this evening.

Congratulations Good write up.

Living in a state where we are currently limited to one deer and you are lucky if you can find one, I find these stories both enjoyable and maddening. Congratulations!

Great story!

Wow..... Could have used your expertise when I was hunting bear in Alaska....

WTG Zee!
I have been enjoying your stories and pics again this year.
Glad to see you blooded the 445.

Thank you gentlemen. It has been a..............fun and interesting season.

I am able to take 5 deer on my license. But, the ability to use land owner management tags ups the number considerably. I am at 9 deer so far this season and only used 4 of my tags. The rest were management tags as issued by the state to land owners.

I'm hoping to round off at 10. But, I might have an opportunity for an 11th one.

Well done once again!

Good going Sir. I'm looking forward to the autopsy. I'm curious to the damage caused by the XTP.

And I thought I had a good season. Great season!

Is your 30 30 Al contender barrel stainless? You really have some nice looking handguns!

Here is a picture of the little blind I made.



And the view to where I shot the doe.



A- Where the doe initially came out and walked down the road to....
B - Where she was when I shot.

Getting the pics downloaded now.

Thank you! Yes, the barrel is a stainless Match Grade Machine barrel. The first one I ever got from them.

I always enjoy reading your hunting stories. Great shooting!

Good story and nice shooting. Always more fun to tak one with handgun.

Cartridge: .445 Super Mag
Bullet: Hornady 240gr XTP
Muzzle Velocity: 1,977 fps
Distance: 64 yards
Angle: Quartering Towards
Impact Velocity: 1,750 fps
Distance Traveled: 54 yards

Entrance


Entrance Under Hide


Exit From Shoulder. Shattered the scapula and lower shoulder bone into pieces.


Entrance Under Shoulder


Entrance To Thoracic Cavity


Entrance to Lungs


Jacket Found




Core Located




I haven't cleaned up and weighed the bullet yet. But, I will. Considering the velocity on impact and that the bullet struck a major bone immediately on impact, I am not surprised that it separated. But, the core still drove through the lungs and came to rest at the back.

Damage was done to them, but the deer did not bleed from the entrance. All the blood came from her mouth as she ran. There was no blood at first, but then about halfway, the flood gates opened until she stopped. The picture in the original post show that location and the blood present.

I really like this cartridge............and the 240gr XTP is flat out awesome in every chambering I've used it!!!

No. Not always. I have had many a memorable hunt with longarm and bow. The hunt itself makes the memories. The tool used is just a piece of the puzzle.

What type of shooting rest is that?

Bog Pod with PSR Top.

Thank you!

Congrats and nice shooting!

Grats again to the "Eyeless Hunter".

Here's what is left of the 240gr Hornady XTP bullet after smashing through the shoulder bone at 1,750 fps.





There is even a large chunk of bone imbedded in the center of the core. The bullet got thrashed, but it did its job well and I don't have any complaints.

This is the 3rd animal taken with the 240gr XTP this year. Two pigs and a deer. Muzzle velocities ranged from 1,977 - 2,325 fps. All have been super effective. Even when driven faster than generally prescribed.

While i I might not choose them for elk size game, they have no peer in my book for deer sized game. Other bullets work equally well, but none better that I've seen.

Looks nice. Have u ever tried the 280gr a frame bullet?

I have not tried them yet.

Good shooting. I'm a 445 SM lover and I took my first deer ;a doe, with a 15 inch encore barrel with muzzle brake by MGM last year. Very pleased with MGM barrels and company. Have a couple barrels by them and plan to purchase a couple more this year. Doe was DRT. awesome round and yes it's has definite authority on both ends.

I also load the 240gr XTP in my SM and pushing at 2050 fps out of my 15 inch barrel. Quite pleased with XTP performance. Congratulations.

Excellent write up and always enjoy the pictures.

What is your load data for the 240gr XTP?

30.4 grains of WW-296 over CCI-200 primer.

Everything I've read suggest using standard rifle primers so that's why the CCI 200 were used. The 30.4 grains is not maximum mid level. I finally found a pound of AA 1680 and want to reload first chance I get. The only published data I have found for the 445 SM is Hornady and Seirra and I prefer the Hornady data with the XTP bullets.

What's your load data for the 240 XTP in your SM? Do you use a published data?

I envy where you live and the availability and access to local ranches to hunt. I am going to assume TX by the terrain and time of year of still being able to deer hunt. It's a terrible job but someone has to step up forward and do his duty. What are friends for. My oldest grandson lives south of Waco; and I visit him as much as I can, so the pictures resembled the areas that I have traveled in TX.

I used the Hodgdon on line data and am .5gr below their max. It's most accurate in my gun and my barrel says "that's enough powder".

240gr Hornady XTP
Starline Brass
Federal Large Pistol Magnum Primer
32.5gr H110
1.925" COAL
Full Turn (Heavy) Crimp
3-Shots / 25 yrds
.294"

Hodgdon has data on line:

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com

Go to their pistol data and you'll find the .445 Super Mag.

Yes Hodgdon does have load data on Web site and I did print off and have it as well. Looking at trying the heavier Hornady bullets when weather permits.

I'm running some 325gr WFN-GC Matt's Bullets through mine at 1,700 fps as well. Haven't taken any game with them, yet.

There was no data for that, so I worked up to it. Beware!!!

Good shooting.

That 445 Super Mag looks like a great round for my needs here in the woods in Missouri. Seems like it falls in between the 44mag and the 444. I'm guessing the recoil falls somewhere in the middle too. I have shot my buddies encore 15in standard contour barrel 444 with the wood grip. It was not what I would consider comfortable but for hunting it is doable. What barrel length do you think would make the 445 comfortable to shoot? A 13-14in full bull with internal brake shouldn't be bad at all should it?

No, a braked full bull would tame the recoil considerably. As it stands in my G2 with 10" barrel............it's a handful. But, not painful. Just........a serious handful.

The .445 SuperMag is an AWESOME cartridge! Excellent for medium game with the 240gr XTP right at 2,000 fps and should be stellar for larger game with my hot 325gr WFN-GC loads at 1,700 fps.