Oh deer...Two long shots

This week I took a call from the owner of the cattle farm on which I conduct animal control duties each week. He wasn't interested in small-talk though, he called to advise me that, "there are fucken deer's everywhere", which, when I delved a little deeper into the scenario, equated to him having seen four over the last week or so.

I had my doubts about whether he saw four different deer or the same one four times, but he insisted there was a deer infestation and I had to do something about it. He was right of course, as the licensed culling shooter for the property it's my job to keep the number of pests down. I vowed to keep an eye out for those four deer the next time I was there and he seemed content with that.

A few days ago I was heading out there after work and decided I'd actively seek out those deer, as they seemed to bother the farmer, rather than do my usual thing and cull kangaroos.

The thing with deer is that they're skittish, they bugger off well before one sees them unless one is quiet and stealthy. So, when I'm wandering about looking for kangaroos I'm probably spooking any deer that may be around and never actually seeing it. So, I had to do things a little differently.

When I spoke to the farmer he told me where he'd seen them, basically around one corner of the vast property, and I made a plan around that. It was a simple plan involving a snipers hide and this strategy: Move little, look a lot.

I've spent a lot of time laying prone behind a rifle so am quite used to it; these days though, the old bones protest a bit because I'm 153 years old...but I'm still rockin' it like a 32 year old and managed to get set up and figured I'd deal with the pain later.

I brought the appropriate long gun, see the image above, as I knew I'd be shooting at a reasonable range.

This rifle, in 6.5mm Creedmoor, will deliver a projectile with enough punch to kill effectively at well over 1600m (one mile) and is very accurate with me behind it; it's the perfect thing for this purpose. My usual culling system is my .243 Tikka CTR but for this job I wanted more energy to impart into the target than that one delivers due to the range I'd be shooting at. I laid there and waited and watched.

It wasn't long before along came...I waited for fucken ages.

Again, something I used to be able to do quite comfortably in pretty much any conditions, but these days...snacks are required. I nibbled on some trail mix and chocolate, slurped down some water...ate more trail mix and chocolate, drank more water, ate more chocolate, more trail mix, more water and...more trail mix and...then I saw a fucken deer.

I'll be honest, there was four; damn that farmer for being right.

I was annoyed as it meant they were some sort of family unit. Killing things isn't something I do with pleasure and in this situation I knew I'd not be able to take them all meaning someone would be left behind; two probably. Damn it.

I did my thing though

• Range: 1068m
• Slope angle: -4°
• Wind: 2mph from 120° (eight o-clock)
• Density altitude reading 3158m
• Coriolis effect -34/178

As I inserted the information into my ballistics solver and generated a field firing solution (FFS) watching the deer the whole time; they were moving slightly closer and to the left. I ranged once again.

• Range: 1051m

The FFS popped out and I looked at the table:

• Bullet speed at impact: 1700.2fps
• Energy at impact 911 ft-lbf
• Flight time: 1.57 seconds
• Elevation dial: U 8.5MRAD
• Windage: L 0.4MRAD

_{Above is the actual dope chart I generated in my ballistics solver (StrelokPro) with 25m increments. You'll note in yellow when the projectile goes transonic.}

_{Here's the same dope chart using 10m increments instead of 25m. You can see the projectile is supersonic out to 1590m then drops below the speed of sound (transonic)}

I dialled in the DOPE and settled into my prone position for the shot with as much of my body touching the ground as possible, legs spread wide, feet splayed outward and went through my shooting process: Check level to horizon on the scope level, breathe in, pressure to trigger, breathe out to the natural pause and...squeeze.

The rifle kicked but my body took the recoil and it settled and back on target almost instantly. I racked it and had a second bullet in the air just as the first struck the deer. The second impact dropped another and the last two ran away.

I opened the bolt, the familiar smell of gunpowder strong in my nose and I looked down range through the scope even as the smoke cleared from the chamber. There was no movement, just two downed lumps. I never feel good about killing but I always feel better when my targets don't suffer.

That whole process took about forty seconds from seeing the deer to dropping two of them.

I probably could have taken longer but over the years I've learned to shoot when the opportunity is there rather than waiting and risking the situation changing; there's no time like the present. I wasn't keen to have to shoot them whilst moving as that brings an additional element of risk, and with the bullet in the air for over one and a half seconds there's too much to risk by delaying. With my need to take at least two of them I needed to shoot fast and so I did. It worked out. Both took shots behind the shoulder, a third of the way up from the belly line, exactly where I'd intended. I discovered that both were heart-shot later, causing rapid death.

I packed up and trudged down the valley to the creek, up the other side and found both where I dropped them. I GPS located the position, sent that to a mate of mine and an hour later he was there to collect, dress and hang them for the meat.

I don't eat a whole lot of meat in my diet, some, but not every day, so when I shoot deer I give them to a mate who then returns me a few nicely packaged venison steaks. It's a good arrangement. I've got eight in the freezer now, waiting for Christmas time when my brother will be here at which time we'll BBQ them up. He's got a fuck load of venison also, for his trouble.

I sent a text to the farmer later that evening and he was pleased I'd removed a couple of the deer; I took a couple kangaroos also which he was just as happy about. Overall it was a successful shoot and I was happy that those deer hadn't suffered. I'll go back for the rest, and whatever else I find out there next week.