Chapter 3: The Broken Toe Buck!

We got home to the newborn about 1:00 PM on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised that my toe was still indeed attached though it had grown quite a bit and took on a nasty purple color... A fella doesn't realize how much he uses that little guy until he can't anymore. Especially in the rocky mountains...

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Anyhow, I wasn't about to waste a good evening hunt on opening day so after an ice bath and a few hundred mg of Ibuprofen it was back out to another burn I had found some more bucks in and with 20 minutes of good shooting light and while glassing the basin a nice wide 4x4 came into view 220 yards away. Grandpa was with me as well as the blood boiling Addy. I let her find him in the Meopta's and asked if I should shoot him. Her response would have been the same would it have been a yearling forkie but it was an excited yes in a loud whisper. I decided I was going to shoot him since I had my dad for help and I still didn't have any clue how crippled this little toe situation is going hamper my hunt. Plus, he is just a dang nice buck and I knew he was a nice opening day buck even under the best of situations. After all, our business that day was to kill nice bucks and business was good.

I leveled my Ruger American Predator 6.5 Creedmoor on the shooting sticks and sent the 129 Nosler LRAB. The bullet hit hard, right on its mark and it was over for the old boy in a few wobbly steps.

I love Addy's "trying to be awesome" pose but please excuse the bloody tongue pick. My dad is old school and isn't programmed to notice things like that and I never did either while we were taking picutres!

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We got him home and hung in the shop and skinned out. A few gory pics of the terminal damage. I do believe I'm going to find a little stronger bullet. This bullet hit like a hammer and exited from a slight quartering too shoulder shot, plus it shoots little bitty groups from my rifle so it preformed good but it looks like I stuffed a grenade in this guys chest cavity and pulled the pin. Too much damage and bloodshot for my liking. The bullet leaves the muzzle at 2925 FPS with my load.

The entry side. I see why some people call them Accubombs... Bloodshot from the brisket to the top of the back and softball size entry. . I've never experienced this with regular Accubonds so I'm going to try some of them.

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The exit side. The bullet did leave a quarter size exit. Please note that I do not consider this bullet failure at all. It worked great just way too much damage for my liking. Especially out of a moderate Creed... There is pretty much a 360 degree bloodshot ring clear around a mature muley buck.

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Anyhow, Thanks again for following along. I still have a couple of elk tags in my pocket and 7 full days of work free hunting, I just hope my toe allows for some hiking that is going to be necessary to find some elk.

Good luck to you all and thanks again for tuning in!

Todd