Opening Day — 11-pt Buck (200 yds) — 135 gr Apex Afterburner
Opening day was a success. I took my two boys to a new farm we hadn’t hunted before. We saw a lot of does all morning and decided to be patient rather than push them — it paid off.
With about 30 minutes of light left an old 11-point came out of the woods and worked toward us. My youngest was grunting and got him to leave the doe group; by tooth wear I’d estimate the buck at roughly nine years old. Left antler base measures 7" circumference and the right measures 7.5" — a real mature animal.
Range & load
I GPS-measured the shot later at about 200 yards. I was shooting my load of the 135 gr Apex Afterburner; estimated impact velocity was roughly 2550 fps.
The shot & terminal effects
He was turning to look back at the does as I fired. The bullet entered the left side of the chest, destroyed most of the left lung and the front lobe of the right lung, missed the heart and other organs, then the shank severed 2–3 ribs on the right side and came to rest in the fat near his belly. This was the fattest deer I’ve ever processed — inch-thick back fat and organs surrounded by fat — which helped stop the shank before it exited.
Because of the angle and the large amount of subcutaneous and intercostal fat, the Afterburner dumped its energy and stopped inside rather than over-penetrating. The buck bled out quickly and never recovered.
A family moment
My youngest son helped call him in and wanted to be the one to pose with the buck — first deer he’s been there for. Proud dad moment.
Performance takeaways
Opening day was a success. I took my two boys to a new farm we hadn’t hunted before. We saw a lot of does all morning and decided to be patient rather than push them — it paid off.
With about 30 minutes of light left an old 11-point came out of the woods and worked toward us. My youngest was grunting and got him to leave the doe group; by tooth wear I’d estimate the buck at roughly nine years old. Left antler base measures 7" circumference and the right measures 7.5" — a real mature animal.
Range & load
I GPS-measured the shot later at about 200 yards. I was shooting my load of the 135 gr Apex Afterburner; estimated impact velocity was roughly 2550 fps.
The shot & terminal effects
He was turning to look back at the does as I fired. The bullet entered the left side of the chest, destroyed most of the left lung and the front lobe of the right lung, missed the heart and other organs, then the shank severed 2–3 ribs on the right side and came to rest in the fat near his belly. This was the fattest deer I’ve ever processed — inch-thick back fat and organs surrounded by fat — which helped stop the shank before it exited.
Because of the angle and the large amount of subcutaneous and intercostal fat, the Afterburner dumped its energy and stopped inside rather than over-penetrating. The buck bled out quickly and never recovered.
A family moment
My youngest son helped call him in and wanted to be the one to pose with the buck — first deer he’s been there for. Proud dad moment.
Performance takeaways
- Afterburner performed as advertised: rapid expansion, petal shedding, then compact shank penetration.
- Three deer now taken with this bullet for me; deaths have been quick and clean in my experience so far.
- I still want to test performance at lower impact velocities (≈2200 fps and below) to confirm petal shedding reliability at the low end.
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