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A 6.5 Creampuff goes for a walk and takes a 123 SST hunting Fallow.
Just acquired a Sauer XT 100 in 6.5 Creedmoor, ( from @faregame) with the intent being to replace my T3 .243 as a dual purpose Wallaby and Fallow rifle, the plan being to get the 100gn NBT working as the allround pill for it. But the bloody thing doesn't like the 100gn stuff, the factory 130 SST Superformance stuff was ok, the 143 ELD-X was ok, but the lights really came on with the 123 SST at 2950fps 3/4 moa and 130 VLD Berger at 2850fps 3/4 moa - job done. Loaded up a bunch of the 123 SST's and took them down South with me.
Dawn finds me sitting in a familiar saddle on a dull overcast (but clearing) cold day watching a Red stag holding 3 hinds and fending off an annoying smaller stag, but well out of my reach, a good 800yds above me and no cover. With daylight getting a shift on, needed to move to get to the spot I wanted to hunt, so off I go, and bugger me! across about a 3km stretch of hill (that's mountain to Nth Islanders) 5 different Reds being noisy, one holding 2 hinds, hinds seemed to be in short supply in the area. All quite safe from me, not sure about the ammo I had on a large Red, and I was set on Fallow anyway!
Carried on toward the river I wanted to get to, had a large tussock flat to cross that was well in view of the mid height faces I had in mind, so my walk across was real slow, stride kept short and arms and rifle held close to the body with frequent stops to glass the faces,(1300 yds away), spotted a small mob of Fallow grazing on the move from one gut to another, stood still and watched untill they went over the top and down the other side, now I had to make a choice, use the river for cover and work my way along to the front of the gut where they would likely have bedded up, with a warming day carrying scent upward, or cut back and start climbing and cross gain on the hill above, I chose to climb the hill.
Halfway back to the hill I catch a flash of colour and stop and out with the binos, 3 more deer bedded down on a grassy flat out in front of the gut I was going to target and looking in my direction. Noted the ears were pointed back behind, so I knew I wasn't spotted, stood still and watched untill they found somewhere else to look, and moved off to the hill, and then really pulled finger gaining to mid height and closing the gap across, with the occasional dropping down for a look to confirm they hadn't moved.
Got close to where I needed to be and then had to make another choice, target the deer on the flat, or the deer on other side in the gut with an unknown location, but with the risk of being spotted from below, made the decision based on "the bird in the hand" and dumped the pack, put my ear plugs in and wormed my way down the blind side of the ridge, got to 100yds above the mini mob on the flat, had to (very gently!) shift a couple of rocks that were messing up my shooting position and line up on the big doe, my normal habit is generally put the bullet near the spine on it's way to the vitals to get the "drop it right" there shock, a habit I picked up Tahr hunting as I generally hunt Tahr from above, not below and don't want runners, works a treat.
Pulled the trigger, she rolled over, kicked a couple of times with the front legs and was done. The other two buggered off and the mob over the gut did about a thousand miles an hr over into the next valley! Climbed back up to get my pack and scrambled back to the valley floor, cutting up a deer on a soft flat surface, luxury!. Had not used this SST before and at the short range it behaved....... frangibly! really big entry wound, heart and lungs gone, would have been bad karma had I aimed for bone! Neck and behind the shoulder for this pill I reckon, same as the 155 TMK
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Will be a great cheap wallaby pill too, the 130 VLD for anything bigger as they shoot to nearly the same POI out to 300yds, as usuall the trusty old K2 pack did the carrying duties, so good having a pack that will comfortably carry lots and carry the rifle where you can get at it quickly without dumping the pack!
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Had lunch and a brew and started back out, biffed a rock at a Wallaby that couldn't decide what to do as I a walked up a tussock face straight in his direction, couldn't be arsed shooting him for some reason, back at the truck in daylight, rather good that! Full freezers, happy wife, happy dogs, happy neighbour, just spreading the joy everywhere!
The Sauer has a fantastic trigger, nearly as good as my M12, same factory, may be the same trigger group even, leaves the stock Yankee triggers for dead, carries and points nicely without a suppressor, no half bolt but the safety is good, with this trigger the safety is important!
My neighbour is a foody geek and lit up like a Christmass tree when I gave him a fat Fallow leg to play with, he normally buys in farm Red, brownie points there I feel!
Will be off Tahr hunting for a bit, not going anywhere there are deer for the next couple of weeks!
