Why so many DRT online?

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Yeah, you bang flop a couple and think man this load is the cat's meow. Then the next one shot in the same place runs a hundred yards.

So, you talk about the ones that bang flop on forums.
 
This thread is the exact reason I find 9mm vs 45 threads funny. Bang flop with rifles doesn't always happen, COM hit with a 9mm or 45 ain't likely to be bang flop.
 
ZeroJunk said:
Yeah, you bang flop a couple and think man this load is the cat's meow. Then the next one shot in the same place runs a hundred yards.

So, you talk about the ones that bang flop on forums.
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Similar to why you seldom see a bad group on a target being displayed on a gun forum. Folks only post pics of good groups. Just like the fish that got away or the buck that slipped into the brush before one could get a shot, is always a trophy. Just like whenever someone talks about something, there's always few that have a friend or BIL that has/done something better.

Human nature.
 
I have had one DRT or bang flop. It was a 30-06, 110 yard quartering to me and the shot hit the lung and then exited out the rear hip, breaking the leg.
 
Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement.
Secondarily, bullet construction and performance.

I lost count some where upward of 300, and have lost several dozen. Those lost were mostly due to misplacement of a bullet that didn't perform as expected (inadequate expansion).
Can't say I've lost more than half a dozen due to excessive expansion, but those that I did were mostly with .243's and 100gr bullets... at close range.

but, I've had a few inexplicable drop-deads with shot placement that shouldn't have done so.... Notably one with a 150gr FNGC bullet that passed broadside approximately 1" under the spine, but deer dropped dead with little blood loss...
I've killed some with a single shot from a .22lr to the head... Had a couple run off with real bad headaches too.
I've heard that it even makes a difference if the heart is in compression or between beats...
I will still shoot for center of chest on longer shots, and spine where range and conditions permit more exact placement. Only in instances of very close range and controlled circumstances will I take a head shot. Had too many "ugly" results requiring less than optimum followup shots to "fix" a botched first shot to the head.

Sometimes there just isn't a good answer.
Nature is dynamic.
 
I lost count some where upward of 300, and have lost several dozen.
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So you've killed nearly 300 deer (very possible. I know guys who have) and you've lost several dozen. So if we say several is 3 that would mean you've lost 36 deer out of slightly less than 300.

If you're wounding and losing over 10% of the game you shoot, you're doing something wrong friend.

Now I know I'm no expert. I've posted how many deer I've killed in this thread for all to see so I'm not setting myself up as anything special. But I wouldn't be anywhere near comfortable with that percentage.

Were they running or maybe long range?

Only in instances of very close range and controlled circumstances will I take a head shot. Had too many "ugly" results requiring less than optimum followup shots to "fix" a botched first shot to the head.
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Agree 100% on the head shots.
Terrible idea.
I walked all around the back property looking for a deer that a neighbor shot in the head and blew its bottom jaw off. Too many think that a head shot either drops them where they stand or you miss completely but that is false.
 
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I have killed a lot of deer in my 40 years of hunting them but I don't think it is 300. It may be higher than that when you consider depredation permits that we used to get and we shot every deer we saw in the peanuts, mostly with 22 mag.
I can remember two deer that I hit and never found. There have been a handful that were found the following morning with 3, that I recall, being within 100 yards or so of the shot but I didn't feel comfortable following them because I wasn't sure of the shot. There is no way that I have lost anywhere near 10% of the deer I have shot and that includes deer that were shot by other hunters that I was hunting with. As a matter of fact it has been at least 10 years since I could verify that a deer was hit and we didn't find it. That was a 6 point that a kid shot and I could never find. One week later I shot the deer out of the same stand and he had a huge scar/sore on the side of his neck that was pretty badly infected. Neck shot from a 243 and the deer was still walking a week later.
 
I don't doubt that at all JR. But, I know guys that lost a lot more than 10%, especially when they first started. On average, I bet it is no where close to 10% . I am going by what I have seen since you don't seem to hear much about it.
 
Some deer have invisible shields that can magically deflect bullets. I swear I have seen the bullet change course because I made a perfect shot.
 
I have killed around 25 deer over the past twenty years of hunting. I have used 12 gauge slugs, 30-30, 270 Win, 25-06, 22-250, 223, 7mm-08, and a compound bow. Out of those 7 or 8 have dropped on the spot and they all had one thing in common.

They were all shot through the shoulder. This led to the deer dropping and doing nothing more than kicking once or twice. It also led to the loss of the majority of the meat on the front legs.

All the others were lung shots and they ran anywhere from 25-100 yards. Very little meat loss on those.
 
But, I know guys that lost a lot more than 10%
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Then they need to reevaluate the shots they're taking because obviously they're trying to take shots outside their skill level.

If I'm not comfortable, I don't shoot. I don't shoot at running deer unless they're very close range. I don't shoot at extreme distances. 300 yards is getting out towards the edge of where I'm comfortable so if its further than that, I watch em walk by.

I'm not comfortable losing 1 out of every 10 deer. That's not acceptable to me.

I'm not setting myself up as a great shot, I'm not. I just know my limitations.
And the kind of hunting I do, I generally have a solid rest so that helps.
 
jrdolall said:
Some deer have invisible shields that can magically deflect bullets. I swear I have seen the bullet change course because I made a perfect shot.
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Sort of like when I was younger and went duck hunting. Several times I witnessed a miracle right before my eyes when I killed a duck deader than a doornail, only to see it magically healed in mid-flight. They never even missed a wing beat as that invisible magic hand resurrected the duck I'd shot and allowed it to fly on as if nothing had happened.
 
high shoulder shot

I have hunted deer for more than 50 years. Yes, some have not dropped right there, but most have. I have hunted with .308 150 Grain Corlok or WW Silver tip. In the last 15 years or so, I have taken the high shoulder shot for all but one (in the white patch under the chin with him looking at me from 50 yards) and all except one dropped right there. The one that didn't was shot quartering away with a .50 caliber muzzle loader and I could not find her before dark. The coyotes found her soon after dark. If you will look at the placement of the spine, major blood vessels, and shoulder socket, you can see that from almost any angle you have a pretty large area to hit that will DRT any deer. I have the luxury of hunting leased or private property, usually with feeders, and shots in the 150-215 yard range from a elevated enclosed stand.
 
Could it just be that "DRT" is the hunting version of sub MOA target shooting? Seem to be a whole lot of .5 MOA shooters online. Not so many when you are out at the range...just sayin'.

Mark
 
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