The load I used was with a cast bullet - mold #454629GC - the
bullet developed and sold by Freedom Arms. This is a 300 gr. flat point bullet
designed for use in the 454 Casull. It has proven to be a good game bullet,
having a nice wide meplat. I had it loaded over top a healthy dose of H110 for
about 1300 fps. The main reason I used this load was that it had proven so
accurate in this gun. For hunting accuracy is the first criteria for me. Once
that has been established then I look at the power question. I worked my way up the ridge trying to be as quiet as possible,
going slow and keeping my eyes moving, looking for any sign. The top of the
ridge was fairly flat with no large boulders and only low scrub brush. I looked
it over carefully and then began to move across it, angling toward the cliff on
the east. Suddenly out of nowhere a large Mule Deer buck materialized to my
left! I had looked the area over carefully (I thought! I could have sworn I
did!) He just sort of appeared out of nothing about 40 yards away! He began to
run across in front of me from my left to the right. The gun came up, the hammer
was back and I fired. And missed. At the shot he ran on past me and disappeared
over the cliff.
I ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down to see him
scrambling for the bottom. I had the hammer back and the sights on him as he
reached the dry wash below. He turned to my left and began running along the
bottom of the cliff back across in front of me. I led him with the sights and
fired and down he went! He thrashed around, then jumped up and I fired again and
he went down again, thrashing around on the ground. He flopped himself over
under a Palo Verde tree and lay still.
The first shot had been well over 80 yards... almost straight
down. The second was a bit further. I still was not sure where I had hit him and
could see that he still had his head up. I worked my way down the cliff meeting
Dale who had heard the shooting. I put my binoculars on the buck and could see
he was done for, though still breathing. I eased up and put a "for sure" in his
head.
He was a big-bodied deer, one of the largest I have
ever taken with a handgun. His rack was high but narrow. The first shot had
taken him along side the spine, down through the right lung and shoulder. His
right front leg was useless. It was a fatal shot though not a quick one. I have
done better shooting and was not real happy with my performance. It took a long
time and a lot of hard work to get him out to where I could get the 4WD in to
pick him up, but it was worth it. He fed us all winter. For that I was grateful.