jim in Anchorage
Member
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2009
- Messages
- 2,849
I've had quite a few DRTs without any sort of CNS hit. It's not always a belted magnum, either. A lung hit collapsed a small spike one year from my .30-30 Contender at 90 yards. Dropped so fast in the tall grass, I thought I'd missed. My first deer, 75 yard shot on the run, clipped the top of the heart. THAT is a killer shot, instantly drops blood pressure to the brain to zero. Hit the heart through the ventricles and the valve will shut from back pressure and the aorta/carotid that supplies blood to the brain will maintain pressure for long enough for the deer to travel a ways, especially if it's already on the run. I've seen that, too.
But, one does not aim at the aorta above the heart. So, it helps to have some energy in that bullet to produce some ballistic pressure wave. The 7 mag is a bit excessive in this regard, but I've never had a deer hit amid ships take a step with it shot within 300 yards. Gotta be a thorax hit, of course. Gut shot, don't matter if it's a .458 Win Mag.
The ONE shot that is guaranteed to anchor is through the shoulders. It might kick for a bit, but it can't run with its landing gear destroyed. I like more bullet than a .22 to accomplish this. Ain't a lot of decent meat on the shoulders, anyway, and with a reasonable caliber like a .308 with a reasonable bullet, the meat damage is minimal. I grind all that for chili or sausage, anyway. In fact, save the backstrap and hind quarters for the roasts, I grind most of a deer. I like my chili.
In these thick woods out here, I prefer shoulder shots. I'm just biding my time to see if I can find a deer shot with a crossbow, though this is the last week of bow season here and I've yet to shoot anything.
I agree 100% with the bolded. Break bones and it ain't going anywhere. And a kiddie gun like a.223 is not up to that.