By Varminterror

December 28, 2014

My wife and I spotted this buck out at 250yrds during her first season whitetail hunting. Since it was her first time, I hadn't even brought my own rifle along and she had only practiced to 200yrds with her rifle, so I had to borrow her Marlin 1895 Guide Gun in 45-70, loaded with Hornady LEVERevolution 325 grn FTX's. While 250yrds isn't generally considered "long range," the old 45-70 isn't the flattest shooting of cartridges. Out of the short barreled Guide Gun, these are trucking along at 1792 fps average, good for exactly 30" of drop at 250yrds. I held what I could eyeball to be 4" above the tips of his antlers and let it fly. He ran about 10 yds, jumped a fence, and crumpled into a pile.

I couldn't have asked for better impact - double lung and heart, half of each lung was jelly and the heart was split in half. I recovered the slug on the outside of the rib cage, just under the hide on the far side.