This morning I got an opportunity to go deer hunting - it?s been almost two years since I?ve killed a whitetail. The wind was out of the east and I knew of a good trail that would be perfect for hunting that wind. I was set up in a pine plantation that has a fire lane that?s about ten yards wide. The trail I was hunting crossed the fire lane and also ran alone the fire lane with several scraps along the trail.

I got in and set-up before daylight. Once I got my seat and video camera set up and ready, I went ahead and put on my face mask and hearing protection. With the way I was set-up, I knew a deer would be very close when I first seen it and wouldn?t be able to move putting on hearing protection.

Just as it got legal shooting light, I was about to do a video intro when I seen a deers head emerge from the tall weeds about 20 yards in front of me. I got the camera oriented toward the deer while he was hitting a licking branch and then began cocking and raising my FA83 44 mag. Just about the time I was leveling out the FA, he spotted me moving. Curious, he turned toward me and took a few steps my direction. By now, I?m focusing on the front sight and beginning to put pressure on the trigger. With the front sight settled on the frontal shot, the roar of the FA broke the morning silence! The deer buckled a little, the turned and ran - making it only 40 yards before retiring.

I?m shooting a 260gr PC Keith bullet (cast by Sixshot) over 10 gr of Unique. No where near a magnum load, but still packs plenty of punch.



A view from the deers perspective ....



The bullet struck the buck between the brisket and left front leg...



...and came to rest under the hide at the rear of his right hind quarter (at tuft of white hair)...



The bullet retained 100% of its weight and had no deformation at all (other than rifling).



The end result was a nice young buck that made some fine grilling material tonight for supper...



...video added...Disclosure:

Below is the link to my FA M83 44 Mag kill. It's video only - NO AUDIO!!!! I didn't know my battery was dead on my external mic....my apologies. You're all shooters, so your probably deaf like me and have to read lips anyway.


Spike Buck With FA M83 44 Mag

Way to go Kral. Sounds like a beautiful morning. Glad you were able to get out and smell some burnt powder.

Congrats on your success and some great table fare👍🏻

Very nice Kim. Congrats!

Good on ya!

How was the internal damage? Being as it wasn?t a ?magnum? load and a cast Bullet, I?m curious as to the temporary/permanent cavity created by the bullet as it traversed the full length of the deer.

Nice Job - Congrats!

Thanks, gents!

Zee, I didn?t have time to do a thorough necropsy, but it was pretty messy. Being that it traveled the full length and I was low on time, I decided to not play in the good stuff.

Good shooting Kim

Way to go! Perfect morning.

Gotta love those Keith style cast.

Outstanding! Good shooting and glad you finally made meat. I always wondered what a cast would do if shot through and through. I have never recovered any that I did shoot like that. I have some cast bullets I'm loading from a friend at work that have a small hollow point and can't wait to try them from my 44 Mag Ruger.
Congratulations on the deer.

Mike

Well done Kim. Can't complain about penetration. Now load that bullet back up and kill another one with it.

That has crossed my mind.

Congratulations on some fine 'eating'!

Excellent.

Do not feel bad about going two years without getting a deer. The last deer I shot was September 30th 2013 with the bow and arrow in Connecticut.

Just a very long dry spell for me.

It wasn?t so much as a dry spell with me - just not having the opportunity to hunt. But, either way sucks for a hunter.

Good shooting. You and your son have made it happen this season.

Congratulations!!

Story reminds me very much of my hunt 2 years ago that yielded a 5 point cull.

Good story.Nice eating deer.

Congratulations Kim on making a difficult shot, straight on! Great to see you filling deer tags again buddy!

Dick

Congrats.

How slow do you think the 10 grs of Unique are pushing the bullet? 900 fps?

Not sure. I?ll have to remember to check it the next time I got the chrony out. I didn?t check it before because I was afraid it would show it?s too slow to kill a deer...lol

Hahahahahahahaha! Not saying that, just curious LOL probably not too far from being around 900 fps...some questions you know are actually serious...LOL

Congratulations and nice shooting!

On a bit of a dry spell myself. No time to get out but hoping that changes in our muzzle loader season.

Awesome job!

Nice work!

you sure finished that contract...?.

I believe I clocked that load at about 1050 fps in my 6.5" OM flat top. With Kim's Freedom Arms having a tighter barrel cylinder gap I'm guessing his load would be a tick faster.

Dick

Thanks Dick..that's really all I was trying to find out

nice going kim, that one will definitely eat.

Nice going Kim!!! Seeing that you are a true revolver man at heart just send that 28 Nolser to NC.

You really should be a comedian.

Thanks for the info, Dick. I?m going to try to remember to check it the next time I got the chrony out.

Great hunt, congrats. Can't wait to see the video.

Congrats, Kim!

Congratulations Kim! Looking forward to the video.

Solid work KRal!

Thanks, gents!

Congratulations! Good eating deer...but aren't they all!
Love the gun too!