The winter season is upon us. The driven hunt with many beaters, shooters, dogs and a lot noise is in sharp contrast to the early autumn and summer hunts.
The Gebr. Merkel 375 Flanged Magnum has yet to prove itself on driven game. Bound by work and other obligations this was my first driven hunt this season.
The first two boars I saw were a little too far away to shoot at, so when the third boar appeared I was really focused and ready, once I had an opening in the dense oak forest I pulled the trigger and what a magnificent effect, the boar collapsed in the spot, and so did I almost! I somehow managed to pull of two shots at the same time, probably due to heavier clothing than usual. The second shot was with my head firmly against the scope, and thus the full recoil stamped a nice ring into my forehead matching the ring on the Schmidt &Bender. Soon after I was covered in blood from the blood vessels above the eye
I took some time for me to recover, the comments from my fellow hunters and beaters were adding to the feeling of failure and disaster. Even the boar that I so effectively had shoot turned out to have been wounded previously so it was not mine anyway...
Later in the afternoon, I shoot a small boar that my neighbor had missed to it was going at full speed so I was more happy with the day.
In the last beat of the day I had a corner post where I know that the red deer has a tendency to pass, so when I saw a group of hinds and calf’s coming towards me I was ready. The leading hind is not allowed so I let it pass the forest road and focused on the next. They passed the road in majestic jumps, maybe 2.5 meters high pulling the front legs almost up to their head and seemed to float on the air. I shoot at hind number three and saw that I hit it well and focused on the last of the calves. On the top of the jump I let the last shoot off and it never folded out the "landing gear". The distance was perhaps 70 meters and after shooting I could not see them laying so immediately the speculations started. Was it the right animal, we were not allowed to make a double on hinds, but hind and calf was allowed so I really hoped that it was as requested.
The minutes after shooting on a driven hunt, where you can’t move to see what happened, are long as hours. The speculations start and stupid questions appear. There is absolutely nothing to do about it.
After the beat, I found the calf lying against a tree in the brambles. There was absolutely no sign of blood after the hind; I could however see that the hind was lying maybe 120 meters away in the bare field close to the forest. The bullet had had taken both lungs and the top of the heart. The only blood I found was maybe ten meters from the place where the hind was laying. The entry hole and the exit hole were of the same size
The next day I shoot a double on boars, the first of the two was shoot perfectly thru the lungs and heart at 60,70 meters distance, the second was hit in the spine a little too far back so it rolled, the first kept running so instead of shooting number three, I shoot two more shots at the first.

The bullet was a 300 grains Woodleigh RN, starting at 720 m/s.
In my humble opinion the Woodleigh is NOT suited for driven game as the effect is too little and the blood signs to sparse. When the bullet passes lungs I must be able to find lung parts at the place. When I hit the spinal parts, there is no problem and the meat damage is limited. For the next hunt in December I will load some softer bullets and hope that Saint Hubertus will bless me.
A second note on the shooting; I previous noted that the recovery time after the first shot is longer and that may impact on the number two shot on boars or deer. My friends and fellow hunter confirm that they notice a longer interval between the shots with the 375, than when I shoot my bellowed 7x65r double (This of course does not apply to the first two shots, when I doubled….)

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