Got my first (two) ... thanks for the help!

[Snakum]

Was stalking one of my spots and heard them in the woods. Sighted them in the scope and waited till they hit the clearing. Shot the biggest one first right thru the boiler then put another in him when he kicked up (just like they do on TV). The second smaller one (just a spike) ran about ten feet then started coming back so I drilled him with two. The first one ran into the thicket and we followed a bright red blood trail for a quarter mile and lost it at a creek. We're going back in a few minutes to look again. Got the smaller one dressed and found a nice neat hole right thru the lungs.

Hunting redneck style ... a scoped AK-47.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Rob96]

Got the smaller one dressed and found a nice neat hole right thru the lungs.

You don't want a nice neat hole. You want the "boiler" destroyed. Sounds like you aren't using the right ammo if the first ran a 1/4 mile.

If you are going to use an AK use the right ammo.

 

[Snakum]

Didn't have the slug gun with me, the AK with HPs was all I had.

The smaller one dropped within ten feet and we found the big buck about 50 yards past the blood trail end. Those Brown Bear HPs went right thru. Need to get some SPs in case I get stuck using one of the WASRs again.

 

[blackops]

Are you using FMJ's? Where did you shoot the one that went a quarter mile? Use a larger bullet maybe and the SP's as you said.

 

[Flintknapper]

No Pics= It didn't happen....


Come on man....don't post your hunting story without sharing some pics!

 

[Snakum]

Got pics of one of them being skinned. Will send it up.

As far as the bullet used: I had an AK with HPs. It was either use that or not shoot my first deer. That's a no brainer. I have SPs on order but the HPs are legal and they worked.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

You don't want a nice neat hole. You want the "boiler" destroyed. Sounds like you aren't using the right ammo if the first ran a 1/4 mile.

If you are going to use an AK use the right ammo.

Amen, +1.

the AK with HPs was all I had.

If you don't have the right tool, then you don't attempt the job.

 

[Rob96]

If you don't have the right tool, then you don't attempt the job.

Amen Brother!!!! I have yet to see a Russian manufactured HP expand. All have performed like FMJ. Even just get yourslef a used 30-30. Plenty of good Hunting ammo for that.

 

[Snakum]

We'll have to agree to disagree. It's legal. It was all I had. It worked. See ya.

 

[Rob96]

Well hopefully you will use this advice for next season.

 

[Snakum]

As I mentioned numerous times, I have SP ammo on order. But I have also read in the last couple of days many people use HPs in their hunting AKs and SKSs because the Brown Bear HP is more accurate than anything else (numerous online tests and personal testing) and it will get the job done inside 100 yards. The HP made about a golfball size hole in the second lung and rib cage of both deer, so it either bent (as one source suggests) or it tumbled. The smaller one (130 - 140 lbs) dropped within 10 feet, but yes, the big buck ran a while before he dropped. But it got the job done. I didn't have anything but the HP with me and no slug gun or the 7mm mag, so I used what I had and it worked.

I will be testing/sighting in the SP ammo before going again. But if the SP ammo is as inaccurate as some sources say - or as inaccurate as the US made SP ammo I tested this summer - I may use the HP again or pay someone to handload something for me. Because shot placement is also critical, and I can print 2" groups with a scoped 10/63 kneeling with the BB HP. And Saturday morning proved I can do it with my heart racing like crazy, as well. Both animals had a perfect first shot thru both lungs from around 60 yards.

I appreciate your input Ron. I really do. And I have researched available x39 ammo and ballistics test results after thinking on your posts. But the guy who suggested that I buy a used 30-30 to hunt with ... dude get off the pipe. This will definitely be my last hunting story here.

Thanks anyway to all the guys who provided much needed advice in the other thread when I was first starting out. I'm having a blast and quickly filling a full sized freezer.

 

[interlock]

Snakum,
be cool... this is the internet. try to sort the wheat from the chaff. Soft point is best... for sure, just find some your rifle likes and use it.

well done on your hunt.

interlock

 

[wankerjake]

First off, congrats on your first deer. Nothing like filling a freezer for the on-coming year. We just got an elk over the weekend and are after another one next weekend. And lets not even start to rag on the 30-30. That is a proven deer killing cartridge. Not a thing wrong with that suggestion Now get some pics up!!!

Second, I guess I dont see the big deal about using hollow points for close range lung shots. Should get great expansion right in the boiler room...not a bad thing. Let's remember that lung shots are usually not DRT, you may have to follow a blood trail. Animals are tough and they go aways sometimes. Yeah soft points would have been better, but it doesn't make him wrong to shoot a couple deer with hollow points. If they were Berger VLD's nobody would complain, because hey they're expensive so they must be ok. Just because people do stuff differently than you, doesn't make it wrong. There are lots or right ways to kill deer. Everybody always thinks the only right way to do it is they way they do it, which is aggravating when you make a post about a good hunting trip and everybody criticizes you for it because they would have done it differently.

I shot a bull elk last year with soft points out of my 30-06 at 200 yards, which I'm sure nobody is going to argue whether or not that was ethical. He was standing still and I had a rest. Anyway, I hit him thru both lungs and exited the other side, and he ran 200-300 yards before he died. No blood trail either. He had a neat hole right thru both lungs, which is what you get from soft point bullets, and he still went aways. The important thing is following the tracks or blood trail until you find the animal. People who should get criticized are the ones who don't go look for blood after an animal doesn't fall, which happens all the time. He followed a blood trail to a dead deer, that's the important part of his story. Not saying an bad advice was given, but it could have been worded more friendly. Most people don't like being told what to do by strangers, even on the internet. That's what I think.

 

[Kansan]

Snakum, thanks for the story! I wish I was out hunting this season but the Army had different plans. As far as bullet selection... You shot and killed 2 deer right in a row. Sounds like the right bullet choice to me. Well done.

 

[Rob96]

But the guy who suggested that I buy a used 30-30 to hunt with ... dude get off the pipe. This will definitely be my last hunting story here.

I merely mentioned that as a cost savings measure. More than likely the bullet did tumble a little. As I said, Russian JHP, from what I have seen, do not expand. What Dr. Winslow and I were stating is that you should use the right tool from the tool box. I am all for assault style rifles, but the AK is not a very good field gun. No deer should have ran a 1/4 mile with a well placed shot. I guess there are hunters who just like to research and use the proper load for what they are trying to accomplish, both quickly and humanely. If you insist on using the AK then look for loads like this:

http://www.hornady.com/store/search...=256&categoryid[]=1147&categoryid[]=&x=23&y=9

http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/centerfire/core-Lokt.asp