First and maybe last flat point deer

Blew right thru both shoulders?

Handgun or rifle?

The OP’s experience is counter to those of hundreds of other hunters. The velocity of the load was ample for good performance. What kind of damage did you see in the lungs? Was there much internal bleeding?

I’m not doubting your experience, and don’t blame you for going jacketed, but it is a bit odd.


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I'm assuming this was some sort of hardcast semi wadcutter. They are known for deep penetration in a straight line, but not for quick stops. A softpoint or HP may not penetrate as much on really big stuff, but will put game down faster on smaller game.

But if it makes you feel better I've seen a deer run that far with good a hit from modern rifles too. Specifically a 165 gr 30-06 @ about 2900 fps. Fortunately I never lost sight of the buck. I initially thought I missed until he turned and I could see a 2" diameter exit wound on the off side with lung tissue hanging out and blood running down the front leg.

Some animals just don't want to give up and die no matter what you hit them with.

Similar experiences for me with my 158gr SWC cast bullets. Nice clean pencil sized pass through hole. Deer can go a long ways with a wound like that.
I could go on, but I'll spare you.

158gr JSP. 10 yards. Good hit in the boiler. Miracle vanishing blood trail after 50 yards. Vanishing deer, too. Dead somewhere. Never using the 357 again when I have a 45colt.

A high lung hit doesn't usually bleed until the cavity fills up enough to start overflowing. By that time the deer could be 100+ yards away in any direction.

Patocazador said:

A high lung hit doesn't usually bleed until the cavity fills up enough to start overflowing. By that time the deer could be 100+ yards away in any direction.

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Yep, and sometimes a heavy layer of fat will clog a clean hole like what is made with a hard cast. On deer, many times a hard cast is simlar to a FMJ, even with it's large Meplat. While they work well on thick skinned animals and heavy bone, most whitetails don't fall into that category. 150 yards, shot thru both lungs is a long ways for a relaxed deer to run. Even without a bullet hole to bleed from, most lung shot deer will be spraying blood from their nose/mouth as they run, especially after 50 yards or so. Without snow tho, and unless you are on their exact trail, it can be hard to find. Briars, sometimes because of their red bark, can hide high blood. Kudos to you for being persistent and finding it. How big was it?

Deer are particularly susceptible to the "charms" of rapidly expanding bullets. A non-expanding solid of any sort will typically exit and do some damage, but not nearly as dramatically as an expanding bullet. If you are going to use hardcast bullets, you will be better served by bullets with a better nose profile than a semi wadcutter, like the various LBT designs (with much larger meplats). While I have successfully killed quite a few animals in that size range with flat-nosed hardcast bullets, I much prefer fast-stepping expandables for the application. JMHO.

Don’t go HP unless it’s jacketed. A hp lead bullet will come apart. Soft lead solids is the ticket for deer sized critters at pistol velocity. Just think of the nasty wounds described by so many folks in the civil war being hit with soft lead minnieball projectiles. They are mean, and there is plenty damage. A wide meplat on a soft bullet will produce a large misshapen glob of lead tearing holes at moderate velocity. Expect roughly double bore diameter. The hit will likely cause a serious stumble of not a fall, and they will not go far if they go anywhere at all.

Patocazador said:

A high lung hit doesn't usually bleed until the cavity fills up enough to start overflowing. By that time the deer could be 100+ yards away in any direction.

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One of the reasons ive been told to aim lower on large animals is simply so they start bleeding sooner. Personally i just try blow bigger holes, but thats me......

Can you add pure lead to your wheel weights? It would soften it up more.
I had poor results with a .452 tcfp. It drilled a perfect hole low down and gave a blood trail for several hundred yards.
Xtps have dropped them most of the time, with a long run being 50 ish yards.

In my experience the best course of action for deer recovery is not to chase a wounded deer. A lung hit deer can easily go 100+ yds if pushed. I wait a minimum of 30 minutes for a gunshot deer and 1 hour for archery shot deer.

MaxP said:

Deer are particularly susceptible to the "charms" of rapidly expanding bullets. A non-expanding solid of any sort will typically exit and do some damage, but not nearly as dramatically as an expanding bullet

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Agreed. That's my experience in close to two dozen deer harvested with lead bullets.

Steve Traxler said:

In my experience the best course of action for deer recovery is not to chase a wounded deer. A lung hit deer can easily go 100+ yds if pushed. I wait a minimum of 30 minutes for a gunshot deer....

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My experience is pretty similar but I give the deer 20 minutes max. Even when I see that it's down, then I creep up on it, as though I know it's wounded just enough to get up and run. I've never needed a second shot.

Iwsbull said:

43-258j bullet at 1264 mv.

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So.. what you're duplicating is a .45 caliber muzzleloader while launching a 263 grain conical bullet using about 60 grains of black powder. Well I've seen many times a 240 grain Thompson Center Maxi-Ball drop a doe from a .45 rifle, no worries, with pretty much a MV identical to what you had..... the only difference is that the muzzle loader was shooting an all lead projectile, not an alloy as you used. Now your alloy bullets would probably be excellent on a European boar, but on a whitetail they sorta acted like a FMJ round, no? Instead of going to the HP, I'd suggest that you cast and load maybe 10 rounds of those bullets in pure lead. Yes you will get a tad more leading which is why I'm not suggesting that you load a half or a whole box worth of them and shoot them. You can help with cleaning out the lead deposits by shooting a cylinder's worth of jacketed .44 special through the revolver at the end of the season.

I think you will see a dramatic, positive change in terminal ballistics if you go to the all lead, solid slug.

LD