30 Sept 22
 
“For us, hunting isn’t  ‘sport.’
 
It was a way to be intimate with nature, an intimacy providing us with wild, unprocessed food free from pesticides and hormones and with the bonus of having been produced without the addition of great quantities of fossil fuel.
 
In addition, hunting provides us with an ever scarcer relationship in a world of cities, factory farms, and agribusiness, direct personal responsibility for taking the lives that sustain us. Lives that even self-righteous vegans indirectly take as the growing and harvesting of organic produce still kills deer, birds, snakes, rodents, and insects.
 
We live close to the animals we kill and eat. We know their habits and that knowledge deepens our thanks to them and the land that made them.”
 
Ted Kerasote
 
On Thursday, Vicki and I went big-game hunting at our favorite place, Shawnee Ridge in OH!
 
Using her Robar M4 (5.56×45) offhand through her Aimpoint T1, and with Defiant Munitions 55gr TCX (all copper), she struck a Chocolate Fallow Deer (100 lbs) broadside. Range was 75m.
 
One shot, and the deer jumped and then went down on the spot! Penetration was through-and-through (12 inches). From the exit wound, it was obvious that the single bullet was fully expanded, although we did not recover it.
 
A short time later, I took a shot with my Springfield Armory VHS2 (Hellion), same caliber, same ammunition, (equipped with an Osprey/Global 1×4 optic) at a 375lb Red Stag. Range was again 75m.
 
The animal was facing me. My first shot hit him in the neck. As I caught the link, he took several steps backward and turned, so my second shot hit him broadside, just under the spine.
 
When my second shot hit him, he dropped on the spot and never moved again!  In fact, he dropped so fast, I lost him in my optic, so I had to come out of it to see where he was!
 
First shot did not exit, but we were unable to find the bullet. Second shot went through-and-through (fully expanded), penetrating eight inches.
 
This Defiant Munitions 55gr TCX is amazingly lethal, with more than enough penetration for most practical purposes.
 
I thought it on the light side for a 375lb animal, as I don’t like chasing wounded game!
 
However, my concerns proved unwarranted!
 
Both our rifles functioned perfectly, which is not surprising. I’ve been traveling with my VHS2 (much of it by commercial air) for most of this year, and it has never hiccuped. Its compactness makes it a wonderful travel-gun!
 
We relish the opportunity to go big-game hunting with our serious weapons and indeed do it every chance we get. We train with them constantly, but putting them, and us, to “The Test” is an experience not to be missed!
 
Friends at Shawnee Ridge graciously accommodate us!
 
 
Photos will be posted on the DTI Web Page at defense-training.com shortly.
 
/John