Pittman Bullets - AccuMax 2016-2017 Winners

Thanks Kyle for running the contest. Here is the story on the hunt.

The gun is a Savage PTA right bolt, right port that Jeff barreled with a 28 inch 1-20 Brux, 1.25" for 5 inches, then straight tapered to 1" at the muzzle plus the break. Scope is a Vortex Viper HST 4-16x44 MOA reticle. The stock was built by Joel Russo out of the green and black laminate that I love. Its a combo of the McMillan A5 front and A3 rear. All the metal was black ice coated. I was shooting the 325 grain Accumax over 91 grains of IMR3031 and using Federal 215 primers. This was producing an average velocity of 2871 FPS and consistent 2.5 inch groups at 300 yards. (When I do my part)

I had been to Iowa on 2 previous trips and came home with a lot of good times and memories after letting a lot of young deer walk. I had it in my head the score didn't matter as much as shooting mature deer, 5+ years old. This year in second gun the weather hit perfect. It was cold, in the 20's for highs, with about 2 inches of fresh snow the first morning. We only hunt the evenings during the later gun seasons. As you can tell from the picture the country is open and there is way to much risk in bumping deer off the feed by hunting mornings. I checked the gun that morning by putting 2 bullets about an inch apart at 200 yards and loaded up for the first sit. I made it to the blind and settled in around 1300 overlooking a standing bean field. I was almost immediately covered up with deer, does and young bucks. Right about 1650 I was watching some does in front of me and they all looked over to my right. I leaned back and looked out the right window and all I saw was big frame and big body, with that sway in the belly. I knew it was a mature deer and big, so I just grabbed the gun. I got set up out the right window and he started walking to my left and I ended up jammed against the edge of the window. Not wanting to risk pulling the gun back in and moving to the front window and spooking him or another deer I took the 80 yard quartering to me shot. I shot him right at the base of the neck and the Accumax 325 absolutely crushed him, complete pass through. He ended up having 14 score-able points. So this season, 4 hours into the first sit, connecting on a phenomenal deer made up for the past years and 14 days in an blind or tree. I am really fortunate to have connected with such a great deer.

Very nice buck!

It will be hard to top that distance with a front stuffer!

Wow, on both, nice big buck and amazing long shot for sml that would be a heck of a shot even for a centerfire rifle. Congrats to both.

Great shooting, and one heck of a nice whitetail buck! Congrats

Congrats to both!

Congrats guys. Great buck and amazing longrange shot on the doe!

Before the hunt took place, me and friend Barry Newman (pictured) went out to shoot some distances with our guns. He had a 338 magnum that he had done some work on and I had my SML. That day we had shot at distances at 670 and at 800 with great results. Shooting at these distances verified my drop data for the upcoming hunt which happened on a lease that Barry had.

On the day of the hunt(11-18-16)it was around 65 degrees with a slightly quartering wind as we set up in some wrapped hay bales. The lease was adjacent to a freshly planted tree farm which we had permission to hunt and the view was unreal. Being the way that I am, I grabbed my Bushnell ARC 1 mile rangefinder and started ranging spots just in case of an opportunity. Shortly in the hunt, I spotted 3 deer coming out of a wood lot onto the tree farm. I grabbed my rangefinder and ranged what looked like the biggest doe in the group. The range was 816! Me and Barry discussed the options that we had and the decision was made to try for a shot. Having practiced out to 800 yards with my SML I felt confident that the shot could be done. Having said this, this was the longest shot I have ever done or attempted on an animal. I will not lie, I had my doubts on making the shot due to distance, wind, temp, elevation, ect. But having someone there to spot for me made a big difference. As I got into position to make a shot I was looking west as the sun was setting, making it a little hard to see with the glare of the sun through the lens of my Vortex scope. Barry had a towel in his back pack and give it to me as I draped it over my head and scope to block out the sun. I got settled and steadied myself and squeezed the shot. The impact was high, right over her back! My left/right was good but my elevation was too much. At that distance the deer did not run or spook but simply went back to feeding. And I thought as long as they stand there I will keep sending lead there way, lol. I then got loaded back up and made a correction on my elevation and sent the next one and once again the impact was high but much closer. As I hurried up and got loaded again the deer made their way to the right towards a road that the tree farmers use for access to the trees. I grabbed my rangefinder as the doe stepped into the logging road and the reading was 826! Having my other shots impact high and the deer being a tad bit further I made my final adjustments. At 826 yards I dialed to 37 moa and held 6 moa for a left to right wind and with the towel over my head to block the sun through my scope, I sent the 300 AccuMax on it's way. As I recovered from the recoil the scope settled back on the deer just as the AccuMax made it's impact. The deer fell right there in the road as I looked through my scope. The bullet impacted high in the deer's back and went completely through her creating a 1.5" exit hole. I tried to recover the bullet but I couldn't find it. Me and Barry could not believe what had just happened and what was accomplished. The longest shot I had ever made and possibly the longest shot ever on an animal with a SML. It was AWESOME!! Thanks again Kyle for a GREAT bullet!!

Jeff, I don't think it was as much as incline as it was to elevation. I done my practicing at around 2400 ft elevation but where the hunt took place it was around 3400 ft, according to my GPS. I don't know how much a 1000 ft of elevation change would change POI, but something had me shooting high that day. I would say it was a little of both.

Tim Burnette's bullets and T-Shirt going out in today's mail. Ken Breslin's bullets are currently not in stock, his package will be mailing out as soon as the 325's are received. Congratulations again to both of you for your accomplishments!