Not a stud – 2 ½ year old 8-point 148 lbs but it’s the first deer with the Express.
It should have been the Under Deer but when I pulled the trigger the first time it just clicked. I reset the safety and took a high shoulder shot with the Over barrel and he dropped in his tracks. It was one of those shots where the back end of the deer dropped and pulled the front half down with it.
I opened the gun and the ejectors shot the empty brass and the not-fired cartridge over my shoulder and into ankle-deep water in the oak flats. I reloaded in case the deer got up but he didn’t. After getting down I couldn’t find either brass in the slurry of pine straw, oak leaves, mosquito larvae and tannic water so I didn’t know whether it was the gun or the shell that had misfired.
When I got to the deer he was gasping so I decided to test the firing mechanism on the under barrel and finish the deer off at the same time. It worked on both accounts so I’m pretty convinced that it was just a bad bullet.
One of the worn-out cliches that guys tell themselves when springing for a double is that the gun can shoot a fast follow-up if the first barrel doesn’t go off. I guess that’s better than a fast follow-up if the first shot is a clean miss or a gut shot.
I really don't know what's going on, though. The deer was fat as a pig, his neck wasn't swollen and he didn't stink. Did I miss the rut or did it not happen yet?
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