ExpatGator
Member
I was awakened yesterday morning by a friend of mine. This friend, a crusty old Mainer, came to get me because a neighbor of his had knocked a forkhorn buck down with her car and a cop had come by to dispatch and tag it. She did not want the deer,but we sure as heck did. Fresh venison in the spring? You Betcha! We hauled the unfortunate fella over to my place and strung him up under the maple tree.
I was not there when the cop took three shots at the deer from about six feet away, but here is what was communicated to me about the event. The first shot killed some already dead Maine dirt and caused the deer to thrash about. The second shot knocked one of the young buck's velvet covered antlers off. The third shot entered the lower chest.
The admittedly amatuerish post-mortem revealed that the third shot, while far from an ideal killing shot probably contributed to the deer's death due to heart failure. Jus' kiddin'. The shot entered between two ribs and immediately after passing the ribs the core seperated from the jacket which had performed as advertised and flared out like a dandelion flower. I swear that the jacket was not an inch into the lung. The core, or what was left of it, was on the other side of the chest molded half around another rib. The round was a .40 S&W JHP. I have no idea who it was manufactured by. I do not know its original weight but weighed together the core and jacket now total 103.7 grains, 68.9 grains of that being the core. The jacket is complete, 1 3/16 inch across, with three petals folded mostly all of the way back and three standing out at a 90 degree angle from the jacket.
I am now truly convinced of the importance of BONDED bullets, both for hunting and self-defense. If this puppy had stayed together it would have done much more damage, and the combined weight might have even given it the energy to exit. I would not care to get hit by even this cheesy round, but it seems that a bonded round would have made quite a difference.
I was not there when the cop took three shots at the deer from about six feet away, but here is what was communicated to me about the event. The first shot killed some already dead Maine dirt and caused the deer to thrash about. The second shot knocked one of the young buck's velvet covered antlers off. The third shot entered the lower chest.
The admittedly amatuerish post-mortem revealed that the third shot, while far from an ideal killing shot probably contributed to the deer's death due to heart failure. Jus' kiddin'. The shot entered between two ribs and immediately after passing the ribs the core seperated from the jacket which had performed as advertised and flared out like a dandelion flower. I swear that the jacket was not an inch into the lung. The core, or what was left of it, was on the other side of the chest molded half around another rib. The round was a .40 S&W JHP. I have no idea who it was manufactured by. I do not know its original weight but weighed together the core and jacket now total 103.7 grains, 68.9 grains of that being the core. The jacket is complete, 1 3/16 inch across, with three petals folded mostly all of the way back and three standing out at a 90 degree angle from the jacket.
I am now truly convinced of the importance of BONDED bullets, both for hunting and self-defense. If this puppy had stayed together it would have done much more damage, and the combined weight might have even given it the energy to exit. I would not care to get hit by even this cheesy round, but it seems that a bonded round would have made quite a difference.
