Ingwe"s Swiss deer reminded me of my first antelope. I was crawling up an easy rise hoping to get a shot down the other side where a small group of antelope were grazing. Unknownst to me they were walking up the other side, almost straight towards me. Well before I reached the top, a nice, younger, but very shootable buck sky-lined himself right in front of me at about 100 yards. He turned almost broadside and stared at me, and posed like a statue. I was quickly in a classic kneeling position to clear the intervening grass and low sage and the first shot went. Not a flinch or the bat of an eyelash of reaction from the buck as the bolt action seemed to operate itself, the cross-hairs settled and the second shot was off.
Again, no reaction whatsoever. My mind reeled as the bolt operated itself again. "I can't believe I am missing." "Is my scope knocked out of wack?" "Am I shooting at a phantom? Did I actually see the buck move before I started shooting?" "Could I be shooting at a decoy?" And then the third shot was on its way.
Again, no reaction. Three shots in about three seconds. "Am I shooting blanks?" "I give up! Lord, what is happening here?" The buck is still staring at me.
As I stand up erect, the buck slowly crumpled straight down in its spot. Very dead.
On the Campfire several folks are fond of saying we never get to shoot 3-shot groups on game. Well, sometimes we do.
Nicely placed on the chest were three 7mm holes in less than two inches. On the offside, three holes only slightly bigger, in less than two inches.
This occured very early in my big-game hunting career. I wasn't familiar with antelope, and I hadn't seen "statue-mode" before. Also, I expected my 7x57 to just "Knock 'em right off their feet like the Hammer of Thor" shooting the high-pressure Norma factory load with their 150 gr semi-pointed "Torpedo" bullet. After all, Mr Bell shot elephants with his 7x57.
That bullet would probably be good on elk. And before someone squawks about a sky-line shot, I was well aware of what was in that direction (wide-open prairie for miles). For you Easterners, if you haven't hunted Wyoming-type terrain it is hard to imagine. Like hunting on the moon, with grass and lots of low thorny stuff. And the only other human (or vehicle) within miles was my hunting partner well to my rear. Had he been up close to me he might have seen the first bullet impacting the hair on the chest in a good spot and been able to tell me to just take a couple of deep breathes and wait for the crumple.
Every hunt gives us another chance to learn something about our bullets and about the animals we hunt, and how they can react many different ways to the shot.
