mule deer doe

[gomerdog]

Shot a mule deer doe this morning with my Handi 25 Remington. Put a sneak on a bunch of does and fawns to about 100 yards. She was the first that offered a motionless broadside shot. Didn't have a camera, but she looks a lot like this one I shot last year with the same rifle.

Last year I used 117 gr. Hornady SST's. Thought I'd be a little more traditional this year and used 117 Hornady RN. The bullet hit a rib going in, the hole big enough that I could stick my thumb in. I originally didn't see an exit hole. I thought she was pretty much directly broadside at the shot, but upon field dressing I found one lung had been punctured, the other one only appeared to be nicked, and the exit hole a lot farther back, so far back that it appeared to puncture the paunch. The liver was not hit. The exit hole was also smaller than the entrance, which I thought was strange, but it had residue of paunch in it. Anyway she ran about 60-70 yards over a ridge at the shot. When I found her among the sagebrush and bitterbrush, she was very dead.
 

[petemi]

Some nice eating venison there.  It sounds to me like your bullet came apart on the rib and only a piece of it exited.  That's why I like the big, slow and ugly.  Like the postman, nothing keeps them from their appointed rounds.  But, then again, I don't hunt the kind of country you're in.  If I did, I'd probably choose a flat shooter too.

Pete

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  .25 Remington....Wow, didn't know anyone still knew about the caliber let alone hunted with one....   This fall used my marlin ..rebarreled to .25-35 on a whitetailed doe...much the same result as yours..she ran maybe 30 yards..Used a handload of H4895 and 117 grain Horn. rn..Usually try to use this rifle on either a doe deer or antelope...nice little round..used a factory load last year with good results...

[gomerdog]

.25 Remington....Wow, didn't know anyone still knew about the caliber let alone hunted with one....   This fall used my marlin ..rebarreled to .25-35 on a whitetailed doe...much the same result as yours..she ran maybe 30 yards..Used a handload of H4895 and 117 grain Horn. rn..Usually try to use this rifle on either a doe deer or antelope...nice little round..used a factory load last year with good results...

It's ironic you mentioned the combo of H4895 and 117gr. RN, as that is the combo I used in the old Model 14 slide action 25 Remington my dad gave me many years ago. I don't use that rifle much anymore and not at all for hunting as my older eyes don't perform as well as they once did using open sights. I use R15 in these Handi loads.
 
Have you put any .25-35 rounds through a chronograph to check for velocity?

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  No I never checked for vel..my pal has a companion rifle to mine..he has cronied his but I never did...shot in about 2-3in high at 100, I could easily hit a deer or antelope in the chest at 200..my Marlin has a 2.5 weaver scope on it....fun little gun..load 75 gr. vmax for p. dogs etc..but they must be loaded single shot fashion...

[cwlongshot]

I tell you I REALLY like them Hornady boys RN bullets!!! I use them is every caliber I shoot or have shot. (Thats a aweful lot of them!!) The bullet simply performs!!!
 
 CONGRATULATIONS!!!
 
CW

[gomerdog]

I tell you I REALLY like them Hornady boys RN bullets!!!

And their flat nose bullets ain't too shabby either. (170 gr. FN)