The author faces an edge-of-dusk opportunity at a huge buck, but he’s shooting an unproven prototype cartridge. Should he take the shot?
THE SETTING
Deer fed all around my stand, working their way along a field edge and browsing through a corner of standing beans. The rut was in full swing and I could hear bucks grunting and chasing does along the wooded hillside beyond. I was deep into my third day of hunting the lovely fields and rolling timbered hills of Missouri, searching for an above-average whitetail buck.
Being a western lad, whitetail deer are a bit of a novelty to me and I’d never had an opportunity at a really big buck. (Though I’ve hunted them in several states and still harvested some decent deer.) It was a bucket-list kinda thing for me now, so I’d jumped at the opportunity to help Winchester test a new prototype cartridge while hunting with Indian Hills Outfitters, a place known for producing big, mature, free-range deer.
I had seen two big bucks so far during this hunt, one on the second day and another at dawn this morning, but I hadn’t been able to manufacture a shot at either of them as they chased does full-speed through the meadows and timber. My hunt wasn’t over yet, but I was beginning to feel the pressure.
THE BRAND NEW 400 LEGEND CARTRIDGE
The cartridge we were testing was the yet-to-be-announced 400 Legend. A big brother to the popular 350 Legend cartridge that made its debut some four years earlier. Both cartridges are tailored for hunters to use in restricted or “straight-wall” states; places that require a hunter to use either a shotgun shooting slugs, a muzzleloader, or a non-bottlenecked, straight-walled cartridge. The idea is to shoot large-diameter slugs at slowish velocities, ostensibly reducing the chance of a projectile traveling beyond its intended target and potentially damaging something.
SEE MORE: 350 – Legend in the Making
The Legend cartridge family has accomplished that purpose and, in a stroke of genius, is designed to function in either traditional bolt-action rifles or in AR-15-type MSRs (Modern Sporting Rifles). 400 Legend ammunition offers lethal velocity and energy out to 300 yards on deer-sized game; plenty of range for most mid-western deer hunting scenarios.
Sporting a specially-designed 215-grain Winchester PowerPoint bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2250 feet per second, there was no doubt in my mind that the load would be lethal. But no one had ever killed a big game animal with it. As I sat there in my blind, straining my eyes to spot a big buck in the growing dusk, I thought about how cool it would be if I happened to harvest the first-ever animal with the new 400.
RIFLE AND OPTIC
My rifle was a simple bolt-action Winchester XPR, mounted with a Leupold VX-3HD 4.5-14X40 CDS-ZL scope. Zeroed at 150 yards my bullet dropped four inches at 200 yards, and beyond that, I would use the turret to compensate for distance. I didn’t really expect to shoot beyond 200 yards, but entered the ballistics and saved a drop-chart on my phone just in case.
THE SCENARIO
As I sat watching deer feed in my little beanfield corner and listening to deer chasing across the hillside beyond, I ranged every possible shot lane. Unless something showed up directly behind me, which was unlikely, any shot would be inside 200 yards. I practiced bracing my elbows on my knees and my rifle on the edge of the blind, trying to become familiar with the position. Most of my shots out west happen from some manner of field position, so I wanted to be comfortable and prepared in this unfamiliar setup, should a shot opportunity present itself.
Darkness was falling, shadows making it difficult to see into the timber. Deer were everywhere, but no bucks bigger than a spike. I glanced at my clock; two minutes of legal shooting light remained. Just enough time for one more thorough scan with my binocular before my evening hunt was over. Bracing on the edge of the blind, I studied the deer along the field edge. A big-bodied deer stood broadside in the shadows, and as I watched he raised his head to work an overhead licking branch. Long tines reached skyward, and I reached for my rifle. This was the moment I’d been waiting for.
TAKE THE SHOT?
Place yourself in my shoes – for years you’ve yearned to harvest a really good whitetail buck. You’ve flown across the country and hunted hard for three days and now you’ve got a buck in your sights. He’s 113 yards away, broadside in the dim light. Should be an easy shot, but you’ve got two things giving you pause:
First, the outfitter said not to shoot any immature bucks, and this one seems pretty narrow. Is it just a young buck with long tines?
Second, this cartridge and bullet have never killed anything. Ever. Will it do the job tonight?
What are you going to do? Will you take the shot?
HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED: TRUE STORY
I took the shot. I wasn’t really worried about the cartridge’s ability to kill, I knew the ballistics and was confident in my accuracy. There were some misgivings about the age of the buck, but as he licked the branch I again saw those long tines. I couldn’t see his belly line well due to the standing beans, so it was hard to tell how old the buck was by his physique. Taking a chance, I steadied my crosshairs over his vitals, and pressed the trigger.
CONCLUSION: 400 LEGEND?
The buck leaped into the woods and was gone. We let a bit of time pass and then followed a good blood trail of 48 yards. He was deep in the timber, dead as a deer can be. The 215-grain Power Point had done its job well, penetrating ribs on both entry and exit sides, centering both lungs and passing completely through. The 400 Legend had proved itself with panache. My monster buck was the first-ever big game animal killed with the new cartridge.
Would I take that shot again? You bet I would, though I would prefer a better opportunity to assess the buck’s age first. The buck’s rack was indeed on the narrow side, which is what momentarily threw me off. The guides aged him at 6.5 years old – fully mature and an ideal deer to harvest.
What about you? Would you take the shot? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.