I’d already set my mind on a black buck patrolling my local hunting grounds even before the rutting season started. I quickly made my way to the meadow where I’d seen the buck from the herd grazing in the evening. There were scores of wild deer in front of me. And then, in the last gasps of useful light, out marched the buck, on to the meadow in front of the perch. I got him in my sights and placed a bullet right between its shoulder blades. The buck was right in the firing line.
A short time later I arrived at the spoils, where I discovered plenty of lung debris, hair from the point of impact and fragments of bone. The buck had been standing exactly in profile, so the exit wound was around about 5 cm wide.
Buck hunting in rutting season with RWS Evo Green
In the middle of the rutting season, I made my way cautiously to an open area where I suspected the buck might be. Arriving at the tall hill, I caught sight of a buck that was obviously treading gingerly on its hind leg. I realized immediately I’d have to take him down and put him out of his misery. But he was standing 250 m away on the edge of the forest.
I flipped my Raptor tripod, placed the rifle in the cradle and blew gently in the deer caller. At the first sound the buck raised its head and after a few more started slowly trotting in my direction. It showed its profile at 160 m. I took aim two finger-widths behind the shoulder blade and dispatched the Evo Green on its way. The buck was right in the firing line.
When hit at this point with leaded ammunition, deer tend to wobble on for a few meters, but this partially fragmentation bullet dropped the game in its tracks. The entry and exit wounds were on the ribs. The exit wound had a diameter of approx. 6 cm. Again I came across splatters of lung debris with a fair amount of hair from the wound and a couple of bone splitters at the point of impact.
RWS EVOLUTION GREEN at middle distance
I settled down to wait beside a meadow, surrounded by cornfields and forests, in the twilight of a balmy summer’s day. That evening the bucks didn’t respond to my calling, as the roebuck were already standing with the deer. Then, in perfect hunting light, I saw a yearling driving a deer out of the forest, where they settled down to graze peacefully, around 140 m away, after a brief romantic interlude in the bushes. Again I sent an Evo Green flying, catching the yearling high on its shoulder blade and sending him down with a thump. Afterwards I found a lathering of lung debris and plenty of bone splitters.
Final report from the hunt with RWS HIT and RWS Evolution Green
Overall we took down more than ten bucks during this year’s rutting season, some of them at really short distances, and others from over 200 m away. We also dispatched a fair number of wild boars over the rutting season, all of them with the two lead-free bullets by RWS. We didn’t notice that the partial fragmentation bullet EVO GREEN or the deformation bullet RWS HIT were in any way inferior to their leaded rivals.
Which of the two bullets a hunter will personally prefer will doubtlessly depend on what they’re looking for and where they will use it.
One thing’s for certain: Both of them are highly recommendable!
Do you want to tell us about your hunting experiences with lead-free ammunition? Then upload them to Instagram under #bockaufbleifrei.
We will be glad to answer your questions at any time!
Your RWS ProHunters @the.passionist & @niedersachsen.jaeger
