hunting bullet report

[K3]

My doe was punched right through both lungs with a 180gr GameKing. She ran over 50 yards. But, there was a nice blood trail to follow. Exit hole was about 1" in diameter, and no meat damaged. I'm happy with my bullet choice.

 

[Big_R]

I typically use a 7-08 for Minnesota white tail and have only recovered one bullet. It was a Speer 140 gr spitz hot core which hit a large doe right in the sternum and was recovered from the rear quarter during skinning. Perfect mushroom and the deer ran ~20 yards and piled up.

This year, I bought some 160 gr Nosler Partitions to try. I hit my buck through the neck/spine from ~70 yards. Obviously, the bullet wasn't recovered. There was significant damage to the spine (splintered). That deer piled up on the spot.

Both bullets were used in handloads running ~2500 fps.

I've used other Speer hot core bullets in my 35 rem with good results also. For less expensive bullets, I think they do really well, at least at those velocities.

Ryan

 

[d2wing]

I shot this 14 pointer with a .223 55 gr Black Hills psp. Lung shot, went 40 yards.

 

[d2wing]

Hmm pic doesn't show. It was a big 14 pt buck, field dressed 188 lbs. I am waiting the green score. I normaly use a 30-06 or 7mm. This year .22 centerfires were legal and I wanted to try one. I was worried that I would see the biggest deer ever and the .223 wouldn't bring him down. He showed up and went down.

 

[TexAg]

One of the reasons I joined here was because it was the "highroad" and it's not very highroad at all to call someone a liar over the Internet.
And good point ~z

 

[frogomatic]

I have to side with the "internet hunters". Since I started deer hunting I've never had a deer do anything but drop on the spot. However, I don't take questionable shots, I don't take shots beyond my ability(and I practice enough to KNOW my ability), I don't shoot at moving targets, and I don't take shots at more than 100 yards. I'm patient, I'm steady, and I don't pull the trigger unless I'm absolutely certain I can kill the animal on the spot with a single shot. I also took the time to develop my skill as a shooter, and have worked hard to keep that skill in practice. I took the time to learn all I could about the anatomy of a deer. I choose my hunting bullets carefully. I load carefully, and test those loads constantly. So before some of you start accusing folk of lying, perhaps you should consider that there are a few of us that take the "quick, clean kill" VERY seriously. For me, it's a matter of practicality, I hunt in very thick bush, and I know if I don't kill it on the spot, I will have a very trying time tracking it down. That gives me very strong motivation to be very selective about the shots I take.

I've fired one shot for every deer I've yet taken, 100% of them went nowhere but down. that's a FACT. 100% isn't luck, it's a combination of knowing the physical structure of my prey, being patient, staying calm, and good shooting skill.

So instead of accusing folk of lying, perhaps you should look at yourself, and ask why have I not killed every deer on the spot. I've lived the proof that it is, in fact, possible to only take the shots that are lethal on the spot. It can be done, now get out there and do it.

oh yeah, my load of choice is Hornady's .358 250grn SP interlock powered by 48.5 grains of H4895

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

OK, maybe I could possibly be wrong; if I am, I apologize. But seeing is believing, and on the internet, there are lots of pretty letters and words. But lots and lots of viewed reality doesn't match the pretty words. So again, if I'm wrong, I am big enough to say I'm very sorry. But the weight of the evidence is just overwhelmingly against it. Carry on.

 

[K3]

Lethal on the spot?

My shot was lethal on the spot. Just ook a minute for the deer to understand that. My shot was steady. The deer was standing broadside. The shot was taken from about 150 yards, and I put the bullet where I wanted. A hit in the boiler room will not always DRT a deer. If I wanted to do that, I’d aim a little more forward and catch some of the front shoulders too, but I don’t like mussing up too much meat. And nobody can guarantee 100% of the time with any bullet that a hit in the shoulders will cause negligible meat damage (Or a DRT for that matter). Bullets do funny things when they hit bone. The exit hole on my doe was small because both coming and going, the bullet didn’t touch a rib. That same bullet, when hitting a rib, makes a *slightly* more noticeable exit hole, as I saw on a meat buck last January in Mississippi..

None of the guys I hunt with have a 100% DRT sack ‘o taters ratio. All have had deer run some amount of distance, even if it’s just 15 or 20 feet. Some DRT. I shot a nice 8 point 5 or 6 years ago, and he literally collapsed on the spot. He was hit in pretty much the same spot as my doe I just got. In fact, that’s the only one I’ve ever had that truly DRT with out taking a single step. My brother was with me on the canyon rim when I hit him. When I shot and hit, I said ‘I got him’. He just looked at me and said ’Ya think???’

 

[Art Eatman]

We've gone through all this silliness before, which has given me some thinking time. I can recall three deer that I hit in the apparently-correct heart/lung area and they did not stay right there. One buck just flat got a way; my father and I searched for sign for over an hour with no luck. I had two does go down, jump up, and then go at most 50 yards before flopping over dead.

I went for a neck shot on a doe at about 40 yards. She moved; the 165-grain Sierra HPBT entered the upper right shoulder blade and blew out the upper end of the left foreleg. She spun on her hind feet and three-legged it about 50 yards. When the bullet hit, it looked like a Peckinpaugh movie of blood and goo going out the off side. She left a foot-wide blood trail through the Johnson grass.

Everything else was DRT, although most of that was on account of neck shots. I don't really recall how many deer I killed on the old home place, culling to reduce the overpopulation. Real hunting, I guess I tagged some 40 or a few more bucks, remembering that Texas mostly has had a two-buck limit for years and years. Nowadays, I mostly just take friends out, and I hunt real hard around the campfire.

It doesn't mean doodly-squat if somebody is an "Internet hunter". Leave 'em be. If you're a real hunter, hey, that's cool. Me? I'm easy to find, if you have the time and inclination, and there're plenty of horns nailed up in the garage...

, Art

 

[frogomatic]

a heart/jung shot can't guarantee an instant kill, research has proven this. however, disrupting the central nervous system anywhere from the base of the neck to the brain fully paralyzes the creature. Even if it doesn't kill them instantly, the rest of the body stops getting the message from the brain to continue functioning. Legs won't run, heart won't beat, lungs won't breathe. This is the way I do it, and to date, no deer I've shot has ever ran anywhere. Just gotta be patient enough to wait for that perfect shot. I've watched a whole lot of deer go right on by without taking a shot because they never presented me with a proper shot. This year alone I had to let 3 differnt 4x4's get away because they just wouldn't give me a good shot. Did get a nice button buck though, he came up to within 15 yards, he stood still for a moment, and I put one through his spine about halfway between the shoulders and head. He dropped like rock. no bloody mess in the chest cavity, and no wasted meat.

 

[K3]

I've never taken a neck shot myself. I'm pretty sure I can, but there's enough of a confidence issue/mental block that I havne't tried one yet.

Now, predator hunting under a red light? I usually go for neck or head.

I don't know why the disconnect with deer though.

 

[interlock]

disagreeable

Art,
We all have different opinions, thats cool......

I object to being called a liar. I object to being told i am an internet hunter by a guy sat 3000 miles away, telling me that i am lying about a hunt that i carried out in England.

I am lots of things, i am not a liar, who would it benefit coming on here to lie?

interlock / uk

 

[fireman 9731]

so back to the topic.....

I havent used that many different hunting bullets but I have to say that my favorite is the Barnes TSX. I like the solid copper and reliable even expansion. the only downside is cost!

 

[~z]

Got sidetracked, I meant to post these pics a while ago. A nice pair of 139gn Hornady Interlocks I recovered from my 7-08. Both under the skin on the far side. Both high shoulder shots (through both scapulas) on 100# does. One at 244yds the other at 260yds. Both dropped like they were hit with Thor’s mighty hammer.
~z

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Just to reiterate

If I didn't make it abundantly clear above, I do apologize and am now convinced that you guys are not exaggerating/lying about getting a high % bangflop with certain animal types and/or loads..... so I guess there's a lot more to my (apparently hare-brained) theory than just a cut and dried rule, as the vastly varying answers in my poll thread on the subject shows - there are just many many variables. A lot of people share my experience, but a lot of people are on the other end of the spectrum, too (and still others in the middle). So I was wrong it would appear, to make such a dogmatic judgment. Again, sorry.

 

[~z]

Apology accepted, lets move on. As they say, individual results may vary. And yea, there are a buncha hacks, truth stretchers, and self proclaimed experts with very little experience mixed in with the folks who know some useful info. I’d be a bit more tactful calling folks out as they may have some of that valuable info that may assist you in the future. Again, apology accepted no grudges on this end.
~z

 

[MAGNUM44]

Always had great results with factory or reloaded Nosler partition bullets on deer, never lost one yet with them in either 243 cal or my 270 winc

 

[interlock]

partition

Lets be fair, the nosler partition is a truly great bullet