Hunting with my 303 and the first shot didn't drop the deer

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M

MG's

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I went hunting 11/05/07 with my 1945 Lee Enfield without a scope to speak of.Well at a 150 yards I saw look to be a doe,I aimed right at the shoulder and fired the first shot didn't drop the deer and it ran in the woods and circled around into the power line stand so I came down off the power line stand I was in and shot at 85 the deer wouldn't drop until it ran 50 feet where it was standing.The deer dropped at 50 feet ,When I got down to the creek I found that the two bullet hole were next to each other spaced about 1 inch apart.

My question is,Why doesn't a 303 have the knock down power,I was using a soft point 180 grain bullet I was on target hitting right where I need to hit but I still don't know why Bambie wouldn't die:banghead: I think I need a bigger gun with a bigger bullet:evil: Can someone tell me which gun has the I don't want to get up smack down power in a rifle I'm looking new and old C&R rifles to shoot .I love the 303 but it has failed me because I thought it had the power.I have a Nagant but it weight a ton to pack it in and out of the woods plus the bolt its not that great to mount a scope to it.I wish I could get a U bolt for it.
 
The 303 ain't the problem. Neither was the shot from the sound of it. Deer just do crazy things sometimes. Shoot a couple more before you give up on the old war horse.
 
I don't know about the deer, but punctuation (periods, mostly) can do wonders for your paragraph and for the people reading your post.
 
See thread "How far can a deer go with double lung or heart shot?"

This should tell you what you did wrong, if anything. You definitely have plenty of gun for a deer. You need to take a hard look at your bullets you are using. NOT a good track record for those 180 soft points for sure.
 
Newbie

It was the deers first time being killed with a 303 and it didn't know how to act.

This is exactly the reason hunting includes tracking, sign reading, deer biology, environmental knowlege, weather reconing, orienteering, et, et, BESIDES being able to fire accurate shots under various conditions and ranges.

You need a very full skill kit to successfully hunt and kill animals and recover them. Rejoice! It's a great sport with many questions and answers.
 
A 180gr bullet is a pretty heavy bullet to shoot deer which is fairly small. They'll usually blow clean through with little to no upset. There is only 3 ways a bullet will stop any animal (including man) and that's 1. Central nervous system disruption, 2. Skeletal destruction or 3. Circulatory system depletion. If you don't break the shoulders or spine there's nothing that's going to "stop" the deer except loss of blood. They can run a heck of a long way before they die from blood loss as you found out.

:)ROFLMAO:
It was the deers first time being killed with a 303 and it didn't know how to act.
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Blackfork, thank you. Crap that was funny.

Back to topic, amazing how the deer can keep going like that after a lung shot. the 303 at 50 to 150 should have enough power to knock out the shoulder too, which would knock down the deer but not kill it. So, I guess it's a trade...unless of course, you get lung, heart, and shoulder in one shot. Score.
 
I don't know about the deer, but punctuation (periods, mostly) can do wonders for your paragraph and for the people reading your post.
Click to expand...

Oh boy, it's the grammar police run! I'm pretty sure this forum is about hunting, not grammar.
 
Actually, I'd recommend a SMALLER bullet for whitetail. That 180 may not be constructed to open up on thin skinned game. I don't know if that old milsurp would shoot well with 150s, but that's where I'd look. Were I handloading for it, i'd go with a premium bullet if I could find one in the caliber. That's the problem with oddball milsurp calibers, hard to find decent bullets for 'em. Stick with .308" bullets and you have a great range of great bullets, like the Nosler Ballistic Tip I use in my .308 or the Barnes X I also like in that gun.
 
MG,
Could be the bullet didn't open up. Did you check the wound channel when you gutted him?
At the ranges your shooting you might be pleasantly surprised what you can do with iron sites. I just got a buck with a iron sighted 1881 Marlin 45-70 at 160 yards. You can see a picture posted on this forum.
 
Blackfoot--Funniest thing I've read in a while! Thanks.

Your .303 is a fine deer round. But you could shoot 100 deer with it and only see 50 fall at the shot. Course you could do the same with a Weatherby 30/378 Magnum as well. Deer are curious animals when shot and some just seem to have excessive amounts of stamina.

Sounds to me like the deer died within sight...that is awesome performance. I mean, seriously, you don't get much better than that.
 
With Internet postss, there are no facial expressions and body language to help in making oneself understood.

"It is not your duty to understand me. It is my duty to make myself understood." That's a two-way street.

And it's the reason why proper grammar, spelling and punctuation is a Good Thing.

Art
 
The deer didn't get away, so I call that a win. Dropping a member of the deer family in its tracks isn't something you can expect to happen every time. I've never seen a moose go down that way, even if hit with some pretty potent artillery. They always seem to take about a minute to die, and may walk off or trot off in the process. As long as it doesn't launch out into some deep wet bog or lake, no harm no foul.

If you want to get more oomph out of the .303 handload with some Woodleigh bullets. They're designed for that exact cartridge and will open up at lower FPS than many other rifle SP's.
 
The 180 gr. is too heavy for deer. Switch to a 150sp or if you reload you can use the various ak bullets that are soft points. You can drive these just shy of 3,000 fps. Deadly on deer - period. Save your 180's for moose and bear.
 
180 gr for deer

180 is too heavy for deer
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W-e-l-l-l-l, I don't know as how I'd be dogmatic about that. In the last 10 days, I have shot two Texas whitetails with 180 grain .30-06 bullets. The first was a true bang-flop. The second ran all of 50 yards, leaving a blood trail 6 inches wide.

With proper shot placement, none of the meat was wasted on either deer, and they both had quick deaths.
 
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