444 marlins first blood, sambar deer

[Aussie Chris]

Gday everyone. Went away on a short hunt on the weekend with 3 mates. Went chasing the elusive sambar deer once again in Eastern Victoria. This was the second time I have hunted with the 444. It was a wet and cold weekend, the best type for hunting. I had success taking my second deer, a sambar hind.

I shot this hind (same as a doe) at around 12:30pm on saturday afternoon. I was just following a game trail contouring around a few gullies and heard some noise directly in front of me. Looked up and saw the hind trotting straight towards me. She was about 50-60m away and stopped dead, must have got a whiff of me. I quickly raised the Marlin, took a bead on her through the Williams peep sight and fired. It was a frontal shot and she went down straight away and started to roll down the gully. I thought she must have been hit in the spine with the way she dropped. I quickly went over to her and put one more in to finish her off. She stopped rolling down the gully when she ended up between a fallen tree and some rock. It was a bit of an awkward spot hence not the best photos. Upon dispatching the venison I discovered the bullet and also the entry hole. The 265gn Hornady Interlock had entered the left front side of her neck and travelled back through the neck/spine and was just under the skin above her right sholder blade. The bullet had performed really well and mushroomed as it should have.

It was a good successful weekend with plenty of venison to go around. Thats the second sambar that I have ever shot the, first was my stag a while ago in 2007.
It wasnt really a hunt I suppose, I was just in the right place at the right time, with the right rifle and right bullet.
So there we have it, first blood for the triple 4!

The ammunition are reloads comprised of: Remington cases, Remington 9 1/2 primers, 47.0 gns of ADI 2207 and a 265gn Hornady interlock pill. This 265gn pill weighed in at 231gns, not too bad at all.

Chris

[TedH]

Excellent!

[bdhold]

pretty animal and pretty woods - and great eats - thanks for the photos.

[Tycer]

Well done! Looks like you had to work a bit to get her out.

[Aussie Chris]

Thanks guys. Funny you should say that Tycer, this was the easiest carry out ever. The car was 330 meters away! It was way too easy. I staretd hunting at 11:00am and got her at 12:30pm.

Whereas my stag in 2007, well lets just say I shot him in the deepest darkest gully away from everywhere...

[gamekeeper]

Those Hornady bullets worked well, congratulations.

[.45colt]

Great Hunt Chris. Great Rifle. Thank You for the pictures.

[dkmlever]

Congrats, nice hunt and thanks for sharing the story.

[RIHMFIRE]

Congrats, nice hunt and thanks for sharing the story.

+1 on that! congrats

[Nath]

Can't beat a big thumper Well done

Nath.

[6pt-sika]

Cool and congrats !

I've wanted to take a decent Sambar stag for awhile now , but never have !

I have a two sets of Sambar antlers that came from the Philippines but obviousely I didn't kill either animal .

[edsguns]

Congrats! Excellent performance from rifle, load and hunter, as well. What would you guess the weight at of that hind? KGs or LBs whichever is easiest.
Thanks.

[dr walker]

Great post and pictures. Way to go on getting your deer.

[2X22]

OUTSTANDING!!!!

Ya gotta love anything in the .429-.430 range..........

2x22

[Lawyer Daggit]

Well done, having wasted many a weekend chasing these elusive beasts without success I doff my cap to you- this says a lot of your skill as a hunter.

For those readers who are not familiar with the Sambar, the Sambar is an elk sized deer that lives naturally in the lower Himalayas in India. Their natural predator is the tiger.

English colonials who always enjoyed a good shot introduced them into Victoria during the reign of Queen Victoria. They are gradually spreading north into NSW (largely as a result of catastrophic bush fires) and it is in NSW where I try to hunt them.

Please can you give us a blow by blow account of the hunt.

[2ndovc]

NICE!!!



jb

[Dave]

Congrats on a nice snap shot!

[.Dirty-.Thirty]

Nice!!! Excellent story and pictures!! Congrats .Dirty-.30

[t.r.]

Very interesting and thank you for posting your hunting adventure.

I read that a sub-species of sambar deer inhabit New Caledonia. Have you or your mates read or heard anything about the hunting there?

TR

[Aussie Chris]

Thanks for the all the kind words fellas

edsguns, I am not very good at judging weight but a mature sambar hind weighs around 150 odd kgs or 330 pounds and she was a average sized hind. Some mature stags can reach up to 275kgs or 606 pounds!

Lawyer Daggit, they are a real bugger to hunt aint they! You are too nice, I aint much of a hunter mate just walking through the bush with a big gun
And that reason you mention of the tiger being their natural predator is the real big part that makes it so hard!
It took me to see 13 sambar before I shot my first, a stag in 2007. Keep getting out there and you will get one before you know it. Thats what makes it great, the challenge!

t.r, I have not heard of the sub-species of sambar in new Caledonia however I am aware that there are Rusa over there. This link has some information: http://www.ssaa.org.au/stories/hunting-aussie-deer.html


Here is a pic of my first sambar from 2007. I know he is only a small one, but he may be the only sambar trophy that I will ever take and its special to me

[Borregos]

Nice one, congratulations, thanks for sharing

[Lawyer Daggit]

Aussie Chris, one of the biggest problems I have with them is being 'Honked'. It probably sounds strange to anyone reading this who has not heard a Sambar 'honk' but it has to be one of the spookiest sounds around, and is so disarming that it gives the bugger an opportunity to get away,

Last time I hunted I was honked at 'put one up' it crossed the road and ran through a clearing where a friend shot it. The sound of the Sambar moving through the scrub sounded like a D7 dozer. Amazing animal.

[Steve Collins]

Great work, and great looking animal!

[olyinaz]

Well done and thanks for the pics!

Best,
Oly