shakari Posted November 19, 2012 Report Share Posted November 19, 2012 Just had a weekend of stalking the Iberian red deer up in Castelo Branco here in Portugal. We had lousy weather but the rain stopped just at the right time and just for long enough for me to take this. Rifle was a WWII Mauser in 8x57 with Timney trigger and open sights. Range was 183 metres or 200 yards on the rangefinder and the shot was what might be termed a radical raking shot and only a few degrees off of being a texas heart shot. The bullet entered on the left side and a fair bit behind the ribs and exited an inch or two below the right anter. - It was that shot or nothing as he was about to follow a female into the thick stuff so as I felt very comfortable with the shot so I took it and the animal went straight down. I've gotta say, the whole weekend was fantastic with good company and hunting. In case anyone is interested, the agent handling the hunting there is Athina hunting tours and you'll find them with either a Google or Farcebook search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay222 Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Lovely looking beast, well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 Very nice, a real challenge at the distance with open sights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 blimey nice animal but shame the gralloch was probably a nasty business Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakari Posted November 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 (edited) No, the gralloch was easy as pie. The bullet passed just below the spine so no intestinal damage and very little meat damage whatsoever. We even got the inside and outside fillets out in perfect condition. I'm sure there was a bit of damage to the neck portion but we left that as we have an obligation to leave some behind to feed the vultures that are endangered in the area. The other thing that made it especially easy was I didn't have to do it myself as it has to be done by an appropriately qualified person and that was the guys with me. LOL! Regarding the shot, I've shot with open sights for well over 30 years because of my African hunting time and I need a charge stopping rifle there so I'm considerably more at home with open sights than I am with a scope.... I was also blessed with a very good rifle that had a great set of open sights on it. 200 yards with open sights sounds a lot to most hunters nowadays but the truth is the Krauts were using them very effectively at far greater ranges on a daily basis during WWII so it's really only a matter of being used to doing it. Edited November 20, 2012 by shakari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redgum Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 Nice trophy, I probably wouldnt have taken the shot but great outcome. Could do with a few of them vultures on my patch then I could leave the head and legs with the grallock. well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakari Posted November 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 (edited) As odd as it sounds, I'm not sure I could have made the shot with a scope and certainly couldn't have made it comfortably but it wasn't a problem for me to do it with open sights but as I said previously, I've been using open sights for over 30 years and even longer if I consider all the years I've been hunting. I'm not suggesting I'm a particularly good shot just that my shooting experience has been a bit different to most others and I shot with what I was used to..... I was offered the use of a scoped rifle but opted for the K98 instead. Edited November 27, 2012 by shakari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.philmypower. Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 He's huge. Nice one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakari Posted November 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 I've gotta say I'm delighted with the hunt but these are Iberian red deer and they have much larger trophies than the Scottish reds that I'd hunted before. This one would be classified as a good representative of the species but not particularly large as trophies in the area go. Here's an example of a good trophy for the area: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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