The rifle cracked and a high racked eight-point kicked skyward indicating a solid hit. When the animal touched down, it wheeled and bolted for the nearest cover. Instinctively I followed up with a second shot as the whitetail disappeared from sight.
Hurriedly I rushed to the spot where the animal was standing when my shot rang out. Clumps of hair and spattered blood confirmed that my second shot wasn't necessary. An easy-to-follow 25-yard blood trail lead me to my prize.
Shot while quartering away, a .270 Winchester Model 70 loaded with a 130-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet in front of 58 grains of Hodgdon H4831 powder did its job to perfection. The bullet entered through the rib cage and exited the opposite shoulder leaving a hole roughly the size of a quarter.
The shot was made from a paced 190 yards and there was never a moment of doubt that I could make the shot. A summer full of shooting, handloading, shooting and shooting some more taught me what my rifle and trigger finger were capable of.
Prior to my whitetail success on November 15, the .270 Winchester accompanied me to Montana where we collaborated on a Boone and Crocket antelope running at 200 yards and a respectable 5x5 mule deer buck taken at nearly 300 yards. Both animals were taken with a single shot from the same batch of handloads that later produced my whitetail.
Up until a year ago my shooting was limited strictly to factory loaded ammunition. Like many hunters I was intimidated by the apparent complexities of handloading. Although I knew deep down inside that handloaded ammunition is superior to factory loads, it took a kick in the pants from a friend and avid shooter before I took my first plunge into handloading centerfire rifle cartridges.
The results have been astonishing to say the least. Not only has my shooting improved on paper, but my confidence and ability to make humane kills on big-game animals has skyrocketed.
Handloading brings many advantages to the shooting table. Besides allowing tighter groups, handloading makes regular shooting a more affordable endeavor. Savings of 40-50 percent over the cost of factory ammunition are realistic.
Even more important than the economic benefits, handloading allows the hunter to vastly improve the performance of his ammunition. Combining quality bullets, powders, primers, and brass yields a cartridge that is flatter shooting, harder hitting, and more likely to deliver humane kills.
A couple years ago while deer hunting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I learned first hand how some factory loaded cartridges are built using bullets that are a compromise at best. I made what should have been an easy 100-yard shot at a doe standing in a power line right-of-way.
The animal bolted but showed no signs of being hit at the rifle blast. Running as though the winds of hell were on its tail, I followed up the brown blur with a miss and was about to cut lose a third round when the deer suddenly stopped, wobbled and collapsed.
When I reached the animal I was amazed to find that my first bullet had taken the animal cleanly through the rib cage. The bullet entered and exited the animal with holes the size of a pencil. The bullet failed to expand, allowing the deer to run over 100 yards before piling up. The incident made me wonder how many animals are shot and escape to later die because the bullet, not the hunter failed.
Handloaders have at their disposal a wide variety of premium bullets in calibers and sizes suited to all North American game animals. Selecting bullets suitable to the game hunted assures the handloader of a finished product that will expand properly on impact and deliver a clean kill.
With so many quality bullets to choose from, hunters have the option of selecting flat-shooting boattail designs, hard-hitting partition-style bullets, or copper hollow-point bullets that deliver awesome penetration by mushrooming and retaining most of their weight after impact. The game and hunting situation dictate which bullet will perform best.
For whitetail deer and other thin-skinned big-game animals, a jacketed soft-point bullet is best. A good whitetail bullet should expand to twice its diameter on impact, and retain enough mass to penetrate through the animal. The Nosler Ballistic Tip, Sierra Spitzer Boat Tail, Hornady Boat Tail Soft Point and Speer Spitzer Boat Tail are excellent bullets for the whitetail hunter and equally effective on antelope or mule deer.
Besides accuracy, cost, and performance benefits, loading your own ammunition involves you deeply in your sport. The hours spent reloading ammo and test firing the resulting product are all part of the hunt. A part that many hunters miss out on.
Getting started in handloading centerfire rifle ammunition isn't difficult or expensive. If you can read and follow directions, handloading is a skill you can learn at home in your spare time.
A video tape that outlines the basics of reloading is a great place for the beginner to start. I purchased a video titled An Introduction to Metallic Reloading from Hornady Manufacturing Company, Box 1848, Grand Island, NE 68802. This comprehensive video covers all aspects of rifle and pistol reloading in an easy-to-follow step-by-step format. The video retails for around $20. Call Hornady (308-382-1390) for the exact price and ordering information.
Getting started will require a basic list of equipment. In addition some other items are recommended but not absolutely necessary. Reloading kits are available that provide the beginner all the basic equipment he or she might need at a price substantially below the cost of purchasing these items separately.
Tomorrow we'll look at the equipment list in detail.
Copyright (c) 1997 Mark Romanack. All rights reserved.
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