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Post by Bullshop on Oct 25, 2021 19:23:41 GMT -7
I just got in its late and I'm tired so just a picture tonight then maybe some details tomorrow. Its a heavy WT 6x7 with one long drop tine. Attachments:
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Post by Bullshop on Oct 26, 2021 10:10:53 GMT -7
First blood for the newly completed 50-90. I had already put in my days work so as the sun was setting I decided to finish the day sitting in the reapers roost watching the sun set and keeping tabs on our local deer population. Normally from the roost in the evening I can spot maybe a dozen or so. A few weeks ago I had spotted this buck quite a ways out maybe about 800 yards and I could also see a few lesser bucks with him. From that distance I had not noticed the large drop tine.
Now since that time I had not seen this group again thinking that maybe someone had either taken this one in the bow season or had encouraged them to leave. Yesterday was the first I have seen them for several weeks. This time they were about 500 yards out and I had a good chance to look them over pretty good. That big drop tine stood out at that range and I could see that he was heavy in the beams and had long tines. Not a wide spread but heavy horned.
I could have gone in and retrieved a long range scoped rifle but that is not what I wanted and 500 yards was way farther than I would attempt a shot with the iron sighted 50-90 especially in the poor light of the fading and rainy overcast day.
I kept the 50-90 and left the roost to attempt to stalk into range. I stayed in the river bottom and that took me to within maybe 250 to 300 yards still way too far for the conditions. These fields have shallow about maybe two feet deep ditches for flood irrigating and I could see with my trusted 10X Sworofskie glasses that the big guy and a couple does and a couple lesser bucks were bedded right alongside one of those ditches. I managed to crawl in the ditch to about 150 yards from the deer at an angle across where the ditch takes a slow 90 * bend. They were still bedded and I thought about trying to crawl closer but well at 66 yo I cant sneak as quietly as I once could so I decided to set up there and wait them out. I could see an area just over the ditch bank from me that had been grazed shorter than the surrounding area so I figured when they got up they would come toward me. But I could also see beyond them the same type of low cropped grazed area so they could have just as easily gone the opposite directions but I thought 50/50 odds were pretty good so stayed put.
After a short time they all stood and started milling. There was another very respectable buck with them that though not as big was a very nice buck. What seemed to be the doe in charge headed toward me and slowly the others followed. They came about maybe 30 yards toward me and the big fellow stepped up on the ditch bank broad side which gave me the perfect broad side shot. I was shooting the duplex smokeless load with the 630 grain pure lead paper patch bullet. I aimed for the base of the neck just ahead of the shoulder and whit the fairly mild report of that load I could even with my poor hearing hear the SMAK!!! of that big fat bullet impact and see the buck crumple to the ground. By the time I got him home it was dark so had to gut him by lantern light.
I will get him hung and skinned today Lord willing and have a chance to inspect the damage. I didn't have time last night to inspect the damage but in hurrying along in the fading light I did not notice an exit wound. When I was working up the load I started with a slightly alloyed lead that was still fairly soft but still could not catch one in an 18" length of dry firewood as at 100 yards they shot through. I then cast some in pure lead and with the same load and 100 yards shot they only penetrate about 6" into the dry wood but OH what a hole inside and about a 1" diameter recovered bullet. I am very curious and anxious to see what the pure lead bullet did.
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Post by todddoyka on Oct 26, 2021 12:33:23 GMT -7
ehhh.........i would've passed up on him.  that is a heck of a great buck!!!! good job!!!! i can't wait to see what the boolit did.
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Post by Bullshop on Oct 29, 2021 9:33:02 GMT -7
If your wondering why there is no autopsy report its because I have not skinned him. I split him from the chin to the open pelvis and let him cool that night lying on his back with the open side up. We have been freezing at night so he cooled out good. Next morning when I should have been skinning him I instead went to winterizing some windows and in the process put a nasty gash in my hand. Now I have to wait for some healing before I get into any blood. That means elk hunting and coyote hunting is off for a bit.
Its good weather for hanging meat and since he is such a big fellow its likely a good idea to let him hang for some time. The hide on will keep it from drying too bad so its all good. I am chomping at the bitt to go elk hunting though. Maybe a couple more days and the wound will be closed over enough, I hope so !
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Post by todddoyka on Oct 29, 2021 10:17:31 GMT -7
hope your hand gets better!!!! early muzzleloader doe, saturday to saturday(thurs, fri, sat for rifle for us cripples and old folks ) was a bust for me. i did see bucks tho. a spike, three 4pt, two 6pt and a small 8pt. one the 4pt had huge antlers, in a couple of years, if he survives, he'll be a whopper of a buck. the other bucks looked like they had pencils for antlers. |
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Post by missionary on Oct 29, 2021 16:05:39 GMT -7
Howdy Dan
Thanks to God He sent that big fella before carving your hand happened.
Nothing like a caliber 50 to put critters down and out.
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Post by Bullshop on Oct 29, 2021 18:08:44 GMT -7
Down and out is what it did for sure. He went down so fast it looked like he was being pulled under by a graboid. On opening day I did go to that gun show in Butte. I didn't get any guns but did get some beads and trinkets. One of those is a Tom Ballard 50 caliber weight adjustable smooth tapered cup base paper patch mold. Its not that I needed it or really even wanted it and I had looked at it before and each time I told the vendor it was getting rusty and he needed to attend to it. As always he said. "yea I know "" so I knew he wouldn't make any effort to clean it. I knew Tom Ballard well and have several of his molds and all are treasured pieces. I knew if I didn't rescue this one it would soon be ruined. He was apparently tired of hauling it to gun shows so he said $40.00 and it is now mine.
I set to cleaning it up as soon as I got home and it was just in time as it was just beginning to develop a ring in the cavity where the top of the base plug was adjusted to. I cleaned and brushed it really good with a bronze brush and Kroil and there is a stain there but no erosion.
Next test was to run some bullets and since I had an order for some soft bullets I ran some in that soft alloy about BHN-8. I first ran some at 560gn then adjusted it to 650gn and ran a bunch of those.
If you remember I am still working on loads for the late muzzle loader hunt and that is what the 560gn was for. The 650gn was for the 50-90 and to say I am well pleased with the shooting performance in the 50-90 would be a gross understatement. They are fantastic !!! Patched with cotton fiber 9 lb bond paper then run into a .509" lube sizer with enough lube pressure to put a very thin film on the patch and hand seated in fired but unsized cases and using a slightly adjusted duplex smokeless load of 11gn IMR 4895 and 61.5gn WC-870 and 100 yard groups just shred the bullseye. The gun is heavy enough and the velocity of 1250 fps with the 650gn bullets is not at all objectionable in recoil. This is exactly what I had in mind building this rifle, a launch platform that could consistently accurately deliver very heavy very soft bullets the limit my ability with the sights being used. A system with real killing power but still work at fairly low velocity so there is very little meat loss. You can get the killing power with any number of modern magnum cartridges but you cant get it with minimal meat loss unless you take only head shots. I have over the years seen a few elk at the close of the season dying a slow death with a broken jaw from a missed head shot so that is not really as good a plan to prevent meat loss.
If you read in Leo Remiger's book "" The Encyclopedia Of Buffalo Hunters "" the historical records show that it was a 50-90 that ran the closest to a 1 to 1 ratio of shots per kill and nothing else came close. In the 30 or so years that I have off and on used a 50-90 I have witnessed the killing authority of the cartridge.
I was a long time ago hunting the Missouri breaks country for mule deer. I was using one of the very first 1874 Sharps rifles produced by C. Sharps of Big Timber MT which was chambered for the 50-90 Sharps. I was shooting the 630gn paper patch bullet the same one used to take the husky WT this thread was about. At that time I was shooting 100gn volume of GOEX FFG powder. I was working my way into a ravine that was thick with juniper. As I started down I jumped a small group of mule deer one being a darn nice 4x4 buck. I didnt go chasing after them because I could clearly see the other side of the tight ravine about 100 yards away. What I did was cock that bug hammer and raise the gun about level and waited for the deer to show on the other side. In a very short time they did just that right about where I expected. The problem was that the buck stopped so that his neck and shoulder were behind a juniper and he was peaking past with just one eye showing. I held that big gun up until I was getting the wobbles pretty bad waiting for him to take just one step but he didn't. I figured hey look I am shooting 100 grains of powder with a 630 gn bullet and that juniper is maybe 8" in diameter. With that thought I aimed where the outline of the deer was telling me the heart was, right behind that juniper. When I touched off that shot I could see several large splinters of juniper go flying and the buck dropped to the ground.
When I got there I found a stone dead buck shot through the heart. Behind where the buck was standing there was a big enough furrow in the ground plowed by that cigar size bullet to start a new corn field. That my friends is why I am a fan of the 50-90 for harvesting game for meat. Its virtues, very little meat loss with body hits, enough horse power to get to the vitals from any angle, and when needed shoot through trees and shred enough kindling to start a fire to cook up some meat on a stick. Pass the salt please !
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Post by grasshopper on Oct 30, 2021 0:50:08 GMT -7
Well my friend, your last hunting story should take care of anyone who ever thought some of those “old time” calibers just don’t have what it takes to get the job done in these “modern” times. I mean, we are talking about a half inch diameter piece of lead moving at a good clip weighing 630 grains!! I love it, the stories and the fact somehow I had the wisdom way back in my youth to listen to “someone” that happened to be an advocate of large caliber, heavy cast bullets in a variety of “old time” calibers!! I sure wish I had been around when some first aid was needed, sure hate it happened for sure but wish I could of been there to help with the injury for sure! I’m not sure if you remember or not but a wound like you describe sounds like a pretty large laceration that probably needed more than a couple of stitches, I’m sure it was because had it been just a cut you wouldn’t of even mentioned it and for you call it a nice “gash” is significant in my mind anyhow. Anyway, after cleaning a wound like that as well as you can hopefully with some provodine iodine disinfectant, one of the very best things we discovered in the military when closing a wound like that needs to be taken care of without the availability of an actual MD believe it or not good ole superglue is the absolute best thing there is! Promise you brother! You know I wouldn’t steer you wrong on something like that!! You gotta start being a little more careful brother! I’m sure not sayin you’re anywhere close to being done but you’re not a spring chicken anymore either!!🤣 Like I said just wish I would of been there to fix it in person!
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Post by todddoyka on Oct 30, 2021 11:18:54 GMT -7
superglue works. don't ask me how i know.  |
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Post by Bullshop on Oct 30, 2021 13:42:29 GMT -7
Thanks guys! I did ask Tina if we had any super glue but she couldn't find any. She had some thick cotton gauze pads though and it took several to get the bleeding to stop holding steady pressure on the wound but we finally got it to stop. I think it was good though that it bled out for awhile. Seems like we did OK as there is no infection.
Your right Rob that it would have been better with a couple stitches but the only way I will see a doctor is to be carried unconscious. These days there is too much law involved with doctor visits and I want to avoid being labeled. The labels they so quickly assign seem to erode a persons rights and that irks me enough to deal with such matters in a less conventional way.
Oh and that spring chicken thingy !!!! Your right there's not much spring left in my chicken and every year I have to adjust my tolerance gauge and its getting pretty short. No worries though as I love our Lord and know he is good for his promise. Its just that when my time comes I would rather it be off in the hills and not in a hospital or such.
Funny story, when we first move here I was off exploring the hills and found an old cabin mostly fallen down. There are many of these in this area that were used by herders when this was all sheep country. Anyway after poking around inside for artifacts I went to exit a window with a log bar across and leaning all my weight on the bar it broke and I came down on my right rib cage. I heard them crack and thought one might have splintered causing internal bleeding. I was in way too far and hurt too bad to try to hurry out to where I might find help so I just sat down and thanked the Lord for such a beautiful place for my time to end and just sat taking it all in while waiting to fade away.
Well after several hours I still wasn't fading but the hurt was setting in and I was getting cold as the sun was going down. When I decided I was going to have to walk out I was actually upset about it because it ruined a beautiful plan. I guess he still needed me for something and he too was pointing out that I need to be more carful as I am no longer a spring chicken.
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Post by missionary on Oct 30, 2021 16:29:15 GMT -7
Years back we laid up a small stock of sutechers for our several first aid kits. Have not really learned how to sew a pretty mend but have not lost a patient yet. Funny thing was I got hit 7 years back with a big hunk of steel and could not reach y own wound to sew it. No one else would do it ! Even a nurse just up the street refused as she is an "office nurse so the duct tape with some gauze did it fine.
But I also agree every first aid kit needs superglue. Also a role of duct tape as it will seal and hold some ugly wounds. But some people are allergic to the adhesive on the tape.
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Post by grasshopper on Oct 30, 2021 20:53:32 GMT -7
Well, I certainly apologize as it seems I may have inadvertently hi jacked your thread pard! I sure didn’t mean too but it seems like I got on a roll talking about first aid and being so presumptuous to inform you that you were no longer a spring chicken!😁 You must be doing something right to have been blessed with the years you have on you so far! Especially after sharing more than a couple of close call stories with me that you were somehow able to survive! Thank goodness!! I must agree with you also about the law actually getting involved after seeking medical treatment. I’ll share a quick story example, my uncle who is 66 now as well had to take his 17 year old daughter to the hospital after falling off their trampoline and breaking her arm. After taking forever in her treatment my uncle was met by law enforcement because the Doctor on call thought the broken arm story was questionable to him and he thought it might actually be a case of abuse! My Uncle is a super guy, arrow straight in every way, a retired nuclear engineer with TVA here. Long story short he was subjected to numerous interviews and pretty much interrogations, had he not been able to afford great attorneys and was lucky enough to get a judge that actually listened and applied common sense logic to what was going on he might well be in jail today for something he never even considered to say the least. It’s sad but I do believe you are correct my friend about being labeled as something bad quickly and without cause! Pastor Mike brings up a great point when he says it’s a good idea for a real world/ backwoods first aid kit to contain some suture material. It doesn’t have to be pretty just needs to function. In addition to closing wounds it can also make some great field expedient fishing line, complete with hooks and all!! I do hope you on the mend quickly bud, I know you’re chomping at the bit to get back out after the game! One thing I would suggest now that you say it’s not infected or anything , keep changing the bandage, keep it as clean as possible and use some topical antibiotic application like neosporin or such on it and if it’s not actively bleeding let it get as much open air and sunlight as you can. This will promote faster healing as the air and sun stimulate the body to do what it knows to do and that air will help dry that wound and the whole scabbing over process will be faster and once that starts you know you’re well on the way to recovery! I just can’t imagine what some of the first white men to explore where you are now had to endure as far as injuries go! I mean most of them were dealing with things like you have 100 plus years before they understood germ theory!! Best wishes on a speedy recovery my friend, I’ll say it once more I only wish I was there to supervise the treatment myself!!😬
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Post by Bullshop on Oct 30, 2021 21:02:51 GMT -7
Well Bud that's just the way it is when you care about someone. When you know their down you want to be there to help and if you cant be in some way that is bothersome. I sure do appreciate your friendship!
BTW did you get the PM I sent ?
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Post by grasshopper on Oct 30, 2021 21:05:32 GMT -7
Yes sir! I just got it and I sent you a reply. Thank you once again, actually thank both you and Tina once again!👍😁
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