meat loss? Help Please!

[MCgunner]

interlock says:

shot placement. shoot in the pocket. if it is close shoot in the neck

What, and mess up all that good chili meat!? Perhaps they don't eat chili in England?

 

[Swampman]

While it's nice not to spoil any eating' meat, you've got your deer, the coyotes don't. Better to lose a little than to lose it all. As others have already said, shoot 'em behind the shoulder and you won't waste much meat. If hunting near property lines of land that I don't have permission to enter, I'll bust a deer through both shoulders to ensure they stay put.
While I agree that a tougher bullet can help, I wouldn't recommend the Nosler Partition to decrease the amount of meat damage. While the Partition has great penetration due to the hard fully protected rear core, the front is made of fairly soft lead and it expands very quickly, throwing out a lot of meat destroying fragments.
The Partition is my favorite bullet and I think it's about the best hunting bullet out there, just don't expect to reduce meat damage by using it.

 

[ChefJeff1]

I butchered my deer today. I lost exactly 1 loin steak. I used a 30-30 with a 173 grain hard cast Beartooth bullet about 2000 FPS. entry and exit were about the same and the deer was DRT.

I lost a loin steak because of the steep uphill shot at about 75 yards.

My 270 can destroy a whole shoulder too.

 

[Kachok]

Just shoot an inch behind the shoulder, works like a charm, hardly even damages the ribs (yes I eat those too) if you are a high shoulder shot guy switch to a harder bullet (Barnes TSX) or a slow heavy caliber (44 magnum/45-70) either approach reduces gunshot meat, and a slow heavy hardcast allows you to eat right up to the hole but limits your range.

 

[jmr40]

If you miss, or hit em and they get away you lose all of the meat. If the bullet drops 'em dead in their tracks and you lose a little meat that seems like a better option to me.

 

[beatledog7]

Shoot the deer in the hoof with a 230gr .45ACP FMJ round. You'll find his otherwise undamaged carcass lying exactly on line with your shot but five or six yards further away than when you fired. (Remove tongue from cheek.)

 

[Art Eatman]

Yeah, I guess a deer has a cheek...

 

[medalguy]

Neck shot or head shot. Never lost enough eating meat to worry about.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Thats the reason i got a 6.5x55 for hunting blacktail, i can hit em in the shoulder and have little to no bloodshot, no lost shoulders anymore.

 

[W.E.G.]

DRT and some meat loss is a darn sight better than a weak blood trail, and the whole deer lost - or worse yet, the WHOLE DAY lost and a wicked case of poison ivy from trying to "track" one of those phantom deer through every infested creek bed.

If I could make each bullet put TWO fist-sized, through-and-through holes in 'em, I'd be a happy camper.
The best blood trail is the one that makes a 360-degree arc around the target.

If I need more meat, I'll shot another deer.
The place is overrun with 'em.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

T and some meat loss is a darn sight better than a weak blood trail, and the whole deer lost - or worse yet, the WHOLE DAY lost and a wicked case of poison ivy from trying to "track" one of those phantom deer through every infested creek bed.

If I could make each bullet put TWO fist-sized, through-and-through holes in 'em, I'd be a happy camper.
The best blood trail is the one that makes a 360-degree arc around the target.

If I need more meat, I'll shot another deer.
The place is overrun with 'em

Try the 8mag using 200 partitions. Ive never seen a combo that put such big holes threw the rib cage of a deer! You can usually stick your fist in the exit hole. No need to say that every deer i shot with that combo was drt!!

 

[T.R.]

30-30 shooting 170 grain ammo does not destroy much meat.

TR

 

[Lloyd Smale]

actually some of the most shot up deer ive seen have been shoulder shots with a 3030. there thing skinned bullets tend to really come apart when bone is hit. Its why they kill all out of porportion to there power level.

 

[aussiehunter steve]

Head shots are good, unless you're into eating brains. High velocity bullets of adequate game calibers as suitable for body shooting will do a wonderful job on the head too. The skull usually provides a larger fatal zone than a neck.

 

[x_wrench]

the old saying still applies, you can't have your cake, and eat it too. only in this case, you can't shoot your deer, and not ruin ANY meat. a different bullet can and will help to some extent. but if you get one that is to stout, the deer is going to go a long way. imo, a drt is the best you can hope for. ruining some of the meat is a given. it sucks, but that is part of the deal. i guess you could do the hit or miss thing. shoot it in the head. either it will drop right there, or it will wander or run off. no in between. and zero ruined meat.

 

[tahoe2]

Yup! I just need to accept the 3 quarters vs no quarters prospect, and be happy!! Oh, Last night I had some awesome strip steaks, potatoes & corn with a salad. Mmmm, yummy!!!

 

[buck460XVR]

Head shots are good, unless you're into eating brains. High velocity bullets of adequate game calibers as suitable for body shooting will do a wonderful job on the head too. The skull usually provides a larger fatal zone than a neck.

i guess you could do the hit or miss thing. shoot it in the head. either it will drop right there, or it will wander or run off. no in between. and zero ruined meat.

I help teach Hunter Safety. One of the things we advise against to our students is the taking of head shots on deer. There are several reasons for this. First, the brain on a deer is not a big as many think. There is also a lot of areas in the head that when hit with a bullet are not immediately fatal. Nor do they impair the animal at first. Deer shot thru the nose or jaws usually die, but only after a long a agonizing death. Shoot a buck in the head in Wisconsin and loosen it's antlers and it is now considered a antlerless deer and you best have a tag for that. Because the target is so small on a deer's head, many times a miss will mean a hit to the upper shoulders and or hind quarters. This means a mess to clean/butcher and more meat loss than a conventional hit. Last is CWD. The prion that infects deer with CWD is found in the brain and other CNS areas. While CWD has not been shown to be passed to humans yet, it is advised to not blow brain matter all over your deer and possibly contaminate the hunter's hands or other desirable meats.

 

[natman]

what caliber & bullet do you use to avoid "meat loss". I butchered my deer yesterday, and lost one complete shoulder (off side), and half from the entry shoulder, shooting a 8mm mauser @ 120 yards with a 180 Nosler Ballistic tip @ 2600fps, the bullet went in through the front leg between the elbow & shoulder, cut the arteries off the heart and punched the lungs, then exited the off shoulder, completely destroying it. The whole shoulder was bloodshot & mutilated. Exit wound was about 4-1/2". please help! change bullet? drop speed? Change caliber? Should I go with my 30-30 or .300 Savage and leave the mauser for Elk?
What to do?

The problems are in bold. Use a tougher bullet (Corelokt/PowerPoint/Hishok for deer and Partition for elk) and don't shoot the shoulders. Try just behind the shoulder.

 

[Kachok]

Meat damage and "hydrostatic shock" are two sides of the same coin, if you want a alot of remote damage through the vitals you are going to get a bunch through the meat too (depending on shot placement of course) Those hard hitting rapid expansion poly tipped bullets that are famous for dropping deer right where they stand are the worst offenders. I never thought of a core-lokt or power point as an exceptionally tough bullet bullet, if I was ever tempted to shoot through shoulders I would load up some Barnes TSX those are tough as nails and have a good reputation for reducing meat damage, but since I am pretty good about keeping my lead out of the meat I can get away with Nosler Ballistic tips