Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 2021 Antelope success thread

I shot him with my 1957 model 70, 270 Winchester. I even hate to say this because it will invariably turn into a giant pissing match, but I opened the door so to speak. I was shooting 140 grain VLD's. This model 70 is a particular rifle in that she only likes VLD's. Hates Noslers, Sierra's, TTSX's....despises them. VLD's? under a quarter inch at 100 yards 4 shot groups every time. For the statisticians, who, like me, don't place any validity on a statistical sample of one, I've shot over 50 head with this bullet. I have yet to have one drop right there....I have yet to have a single blood trail and I've lost two nice bucks from it blowing up on the shoulder (video'd). I'm sure the VLD crowd will try their best to flame me and I understand that.....that's how guys play here sometimes. Yet this rifle loves em so I keep giving them a chance.

He's dead. So the logical question to me will be "So how did it fail Mr. Bigshot?" My shot was 300-310 yards, icepicking the lungs. He ran, oh, about one hundred yards or so and did the little "circle and drop" thing with our son videoing it. He then got up and ran a few yards more and fell for good. When we got up to him he was still very much alive. The guide agreed with me that just a few seconds more and he'd be gone. Unfortunately that was not the case. I hate to see an animal suffer and my gun was back at the truck.....got to go back to the truck and finish the job. The guide grabbed his horns first and all hell broke loose. By that time I had gotten back with my rifle. We were looking at the buck saying "I'm not believing this....he's still kicking." I chamber a round and 2-3 minutes later he was still alive, with me then putting him down. I don't like that one bit....I should have immediately put him down but we were just not believing what we were seeing.

Some folks like VLD's and if you do, I'm your biggest fan. Sorry for being so wordy.....

Several yrs ago saw what a vld out of a rum would do to a moose. No penetration blew up on impact we could see the moose innards coming out of the hole. It was ph ucking bad, it was a winter moose hunt bud hopped on with another bud on his sled got close enough and shot it in the head. After that day I never use a Berger for anything but target shooting. My bud hasn’t used them since either.