Stokesrjsr
Well-Known Member
First I am not using VLD's because they should never be used to hunt unless you are some terrible human being that looks at animals as beasts that have no dignity or sanctity. Why because the second someone tells you they do not consistently retain their mass and have issues with penetration and retaining the jacket and you continue to use them anyways you are an evil person.
I think you kind of have it backwards here. Using a VLD at long range will produce a quicker more ethical kill than a heavily constructed hunting bullet that is designed to perform at higher velocities but instead zips through the animal without expanding.
I know this from personal experience with a 165 grain Nosler partition fired from my 30-06 on a Desert Bighorn Ram at 567 yards. The bullet hit the center of the lungs failed to expand and exited with a pencil sized wound. It killed the ram, but to my shame he died a slow death. This was in 1986 and at that time Nosler did not publish a minimum velocity which is now established at 1,800 fps. Since then I've made and witnessed several similar shots with Berger VLDs, Hornady A-Max, or now ELD Match bullets with very quick kills and baseball to softball diameter exits. The ethical hunter chooses a bullet that will perform well at the velocity the bullet will impact the animal.
It is not ethical to use a heavily constructed bullet designed for 0-300 yard impacts at long range.
The reason for putting time and effort into long range load development is to insure that properly constructed bullet can be placed precisely so that it can do the job humanely.