.54 cal round ball on deer

[mooman76]

Some claim the running and adrenaline produced makes the meat less desirable or less tasty if you will. I don't know if it's true or not but a quick humane kill is always good thing.

 

[cynthialee]

I make my statement on how the meat tastes from direct observation from years of killing chickens, rabbits and deer.

A happy animal at rest that has no clue it is going to die has invariably been more tender than those who knew it was coming or were running.

And it is indeed much more humane with a quick painless death.

 

[BrownBear]

Some claim the running and adrenaline produced makes the meat less desirable or less tasty if you will. I don't know if it's true or not but a quick humane kill is always good thing.

Sure true with cattle. Just as we had pulled the trigger on a steer for butchering, we got a call that another was down with a broken leg a few miles away. Same age as the one we'd already slaughtered, and from the ear tags we learned they'd even been born the same night.

From the signs of it, the poor guy had been down overnight and done a lot of struggling. Did the deed with him too and hauled both to be butchered, keeping the meat separate at the recommendation of the butcher. Steer #1 that died without the broken leg and stuggles was superb. Even the hamburger from steer #2 was tough, and all of it smelled and tasted off. Our pack of cow dogs didn't mind, and they sure ate well that winter.

Talked to our vet, and he said it was due to the build-up of lactic acid in the meat from all the struggling.

 

[Patocazador]

I killed a large calf after it got caught up in wire and got a seriously injured leg. The meat smelled like musk even after skinning it.
Soaking the meat in salt water didn't remove that smell completely. We eventually fed the meat to the dogs.

 

[cynthialee]

the difference between stressed animal is so pronounced to me it informs how I slaughter chickens

just one bird a day. The bird is segregated and given no food for a day, just water. Then I go out with some food and give it to the bird. As the bird is blissfully eating it gets shot in the head, completely unaware.

One bird had me figured out and wouldn't calm down. So I spared him. He became our rooster for a few years before a local dog killed him.

I figure it is a mix of adrenaline, and lactic acid in the muscles. Also when an animal gets into fight, freeze or flight mode there is a spike in testosterone. Regardless of the sex of the animal. Males obviously produce more. (hyena being the exception)Probably other hormones and chemicals at work here also.

At rest the muscles are not taught.

I wait for deer to stop and if it can happen I watch and wait for the deer to get a bite of foliage. I want that deer sure he is safe. Unaware, happy and just chill...best eatin's around.

 

[rkite]

I find with the faster twist guns that .018 pillow ticking holds up better than the thinner .015 patches giving tighter groups. A .54 with 60 grains of 2F is plenty for deer out to 100. I shoot 80 of 3F which will penetrate to the skin on the other side well past 125 yards.

 

[Dave Marsh]

I agree 100%. We had an issue with 3 hogs once in the way they were hauled and then killed. Terrible meat.

Dave

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Brownbear wrote:
All these years later I don't recall any of her deer moving any further than my preferred 90 grain 2f load, and most of them drop virtually in their tracks. Most telling of all, we've never recovered one of her .530 soft lead balls from a deer. They just zip on through, and the deer is fooled into thinking it was whapped with a really hot load.

Folks please note that Brownbear and his wife are in Alaska, where I would wager the deer are substantially larger on average than the ones that I harvest on the edges of suburbia in Maryland. :wink: So a pass through shot at 50 yards is very doable with a moderate powder load and a .530 soft, lead, roundball.

:grin:

LD

 

[okawbow]

I remember when I was a boy, seeing my Grandmother, (born in the early 1880's) getting a chicken ready for Sunday dinner.

She would walk out, early in the morning to feed the chickens. As she threw out chicken feed, she picked out the "lucky" chicken, and simply reached down and grabbed its head, and with a twist and snap, pulled the head off, or at least broke the neck. The chicken ran around a little and flopped a few seconds.

She had that chicken plucked and ready to cook in a few minutes. Best chicken ever! No freezer chicken for her!

Most of their protein came from eggs, chicken, and a little bacon. Other meat was a special occasion.

I've shot many deer with a .54 Roundball. I used a very hot load of 100 gr. 3f on most. Usually found the flattened ball under the skin on the far side. Lots of damage and easy recovery.

 

[azmntman]

80 gr prb on .54 for cow elk and I have never found one, all pass throughs. Now I use a .58, still 80 grians. No recovered ball. Few broken ribs on the .54 and .58 tell me they do flatten well.

In a nut shell if ya get a round ball in the boiler room fast enough to pass thru or almost pass through yer done hunting.