Rancher friend needed to cull a couple deer to give to the folks who take care of his yard. He wanted to try and take them with his Remington 700 in .223 Remington on Sunday evening. Well, we went out and saw lots of does and yearlings, but he wanted to take young/cull bucks and none showed up.



He asked if I had any guns I hadn't taken deer with and I said, of course. So, he told me to bring them on Monday afternoon and we would see what we could do.

I decided to take my Dominator Pistol in .35 Remington and my Benchrest Rifle in .260 Remington. Figured I had everything from 0 to way out there covered.

If they came to the feeder, I'd use the Dominator Pistol.



If they came to one of the sendaros, I'd use the rifle.

Eventually, some does and yearlings came out in all the places and we watched them awhile. Finally, a 4 point walked out by the feeder and I tried to get lined up on him. But, he never would stand broadside and eventually walked back into the brush. After awhile, a spike came out in one of the sendaros and my friend told me to head shoot him with the rifle. Sure.

So, I got set up and aimed in on him. He was moving around and watching a doe and fawns. Not standing still for very long. But, my friend started recording and whistling at him, so i guess it was go-time. Right at the shot, or right before I guess, he dropped his head to feed and the bullet went right over his head as I aimed between his ears.

The gun goes off, the dust kicks up, the deer all jump and try to figure out what just happened. Surprisingly, he didn't bail out of there. Now.........I gotta reload a single shot BR Rifle without an ejector! I open the bolt, remove the spent case from the extractor, grab another round, drop it in the action, and ease the bolt closed as the rifle has a 3 ounce trigger. I find the buck in the scope, he stops and stares my way............bad move.

I put a 140gr A-Max smack dab between his eyes. POP!!! And down he went.

Early enough in the evening, so we waited to see if anything else would come out and after about 20 minutes........they did. Does and BIG bucks!!! Sure were nice to look at.

Just when we were going to call it quits and retrieve the first deer, the original 4 point came back out to the feeder. This time, he was interested in eating and I got lined up on him.





At 104 yards, I launched a 158gr XTP at 2,242 fps at him and put it behind his shoulder as he quartered slightly away. Dropping him on the spot. Something I didn't really expect.

And like that..........we were done.

The .260 Remington Benchrest Spike



The bullet blew his head up like a balloon. Popping his eyeballs and crumbling his skull into tiny pieces. At a MV of 2,920 fps, the bullet wither didn't exit, or exited out his left ear hole area as there was a ton of blood coming from that location.



The .35 Remington Dominator Pistol Buck



This is the fruition of a dream. I had always wanted a Dominator as a young man. Reading articles and seeing pictures of Bob Milek hunting with them. It was a dream come true to finally get one 33 years later and take a deer with it.

Thank you, Ernie. We helped each other in this case.

Loaded the deer in the setting sun and headed to the barn.



At the barn, the folks were waiting for their deer. I just gutted them as they were going to take them whole. So, I didn't get to do the usual autopsy on the .35 Remington results. But, here is the abridged version.

Entry Quartering Forward



Broke 2 Ribs on Entry and 1 on Exiting the Chest Cavity



Entry to Lungs



Exit from Lungs



The bullet lodged under the hide of the off side shoulder without striking any large bones.



Retaining 125.9gr of it's original 158gr weight.









At first glance, I'd say the bullet held together, mushroomed, and penetrated. But, when I look at the "base", it appears that the core separated, reversed itself, and refused with the core. I don't know. But, I cannot separate the two without the possible use of tools. Looking at the jacket, it looks inside out.

Either way, an unquestionably DEAD deer, some well fed people, and a very happy hunter. It was a good time, the fulfillment of a dream, the use of a BR Rifle built by a friend, and time spent with another.

How can that not be a great day?

Here is the video of the luckiest and unluckiest deer of the day.

https://youtu.be/D7QND780dqQ

And the Dominator Buck

https://youtu.be/RnpRAezVvv0

So excellent!

Congrats! Couldn't get the link to work.

Good shootin,congrats!

Well done, with awesome pictures.

Great shooting! I always look forward to reading about your hunts.

Try the videos again. I think I fixed the settings.

Got it!

Man, 35 Remington pistol 👍 very, very nice! Congratulations! I remember the Handgunners from the past 😉 killed a lot of elk with the 35 Remington in the TC Contender

They're working for me now.

Good going!

Nice!!

I remember seeing a picture of a Dominator years ago and thinking it was such a cool gun.

But dude, whatever you had wrong with your eyes has spread!!

Grats on wonderful day.

Thanks all.

I REALLY like the Dominator. Something about it is just svelt and handy.

The .35cal has assuredly grown on me as well.

I've used:
.357 Mag
.35 Remington
.358 Winchester
.35 Whelen

And I WANT a .35 Sambar (it'll never happen)

35 WSM...Nice

ZEE: CONGRATS ON THE DOMINATOR KILL. GUYS MAY HAVE TO RETHINK THE USE OF THE 158 gr XTP IN THE MAX AND THE 35 REMINGTON FOR DEER, INCREDIBLE WHAT IT DID AT SUCH A HIGH VELOCITY.

I?d like to try the 158gr and 180gr XTP our of my .358 Winchesters as well.

For science!!

Is that the Holland bag your resting the Dominator on?

Nice work as always, Zee! Congratulations!

Zee,

I haven't taken any game yet, but the Speer 158 Deep Curl may be worth giving a try - now that they are available again. I've loaded several and shot in my new Talo 686 - they're just as accurate as the XTP's. I'm thinking with the bonded jacket, they should be as good or better than the XTP's. Hopefully I'll get some data with them this season.

Yep.

Let me know.

I have several hundred of the XTPs. Both 158 and 180 grain. So, I am unlikely to reinvest anytime soon. I have not found their wall yet.

Maybe the .358 Winchester.

Good to know they can take it lol im getting ready to work up some 180s for a 357 max I havent even opened the chamber up and I can get a little over 2000 fps with the 158s sounds like they won't blow up at least

This was a 104 yard shot and I didn?t hit major bone. I can?t speak for a closer shot that hits a shoulder or what not at this speed.

Though, I?d like to try.

I know some guys that have used the 180 gr XTP'S in the 358 JDJ for deer...they work....but, that's probably at their velocity limit...good deer bullets though. I too bet the Deep Curls would work pretty dang good

Well done on the shooting and pictures as usual. I am also glad to see a hunting handgun being put to work rather than gathering dust in a collection .

I do love a 35 Reminton handgun! I admit to being a traditionalist and sticking to the 200 grain weight. It is interesting to see experiments with lighter bullets driven faster. I tried the 180 Hornady SSP and have taken several animals with the 200 grain FTX, but always come back to the 200 grain round nose.

Congratulations and great story behind the hunt!

Thank you all for the kind words.

I like revolvers.
I like BA SPs
I like Break Action SPs




If you get the chance to shoot or own a Dominator.........do so. If you like a 1911.........yeah. It just feels right.

Zee likes falling block SP?s....

Only problem with trying a hyper velocity shoulder shot with the 158 is what if it doesn't get past the bone lol if you had back up id imagine one going that fast would knock a small deer over long enough for someone to put the down... As for me I was worried about the 158 making it through a large ohio bucks shoulder at any velocity... I hunt a 40 ish acre lot surrounded by some kind of agriculture for a few miles on every side... Yeah 300 pound deer are the rule not the exception... I even feel iffy with a 180 at 2000 on that large a deer but im going to find out this weekend my 357 mag barrel is getting a lift to maximum and I can already get 1800 out of a 180 so we will see....

Ah yes, my apologies.

The Maximum.........owns a place in my heart as well.

As much as you torture test your bullets, I'd love to see what kind of damage you could do with/to a Barnes XPB. Just an idea if you ever get around to it.

Even if the bullet fails, you'd still have 158 grains of lead and copper particles, as well as an assortment of bone fragments, shredding everything in its chest cavity.

Some folks do not deem that as acceptable.

I refuse to pay the price for a Barnes.

I had a friend in CA send me some .223 Rem Barnes ammo as his state is switching to lead free ammo. Asked me to test it.

I shot the biggest hog I?ve shot in years at 80 yards with it. A truly big pig from a ferrel (not fenced) standpoint.

1 shot through the heart and he ran some distance to pile up dead. Recovered the bullet for him in the classic Barnes ?X?.

It worked. Dead pig. Just like all the other ammo I use on pigs. Don?t need to pay that price for a dead pig.

Other animals? Well.........depends on the animal.

I?m in the business of making things dead as efficiently as possible. Why pay more?

Fair point.

Great shooting, video, and write up as usual. I like the results!! Congrats zee!

You have such a way with words.