Berger VLD Hunting for Elk - Success??

[snox801]

I killed a cape eland with 2, Berger 6.5mm 156 EOLs back in August. People really don't understand how big they are. I didn't until I was touching one. The key to killing quickly and reliably has a lot more to do with bullet placement than anything else. I feel like US hunters tend to shoot too far back and too high generally and then blame the bullet, what ever one it is for failing them. ;-)

Well African game does have different vitals placement than most American game. It has more to do with the thickness of hide on African game than shot placement. That's the main reason I've seen for bullets not being up to the task. Many guides hate Berger or hornady eldx for this reason. I'm not saying they won't work. But when hunting the perfect shot placement sounds great till excitement sets in or less than perfect condition.
Imagine hitting shoulder on an eland with that Berger.

 

[snox801]

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300 win mag 190 vlds 100 yards 3060 fps . Shot 3 times 1st quartering away no penetration bullet came apart. 2nd right behind sholder no bone and bullet also came apart. 3rd one on opposite side high shoulder bullet made to opposite side under skin . Animal died but I am not happy with results.

Oryx are some big animals. That's actually the animal that made me switch to hammers. Same type of experience. Everyone since that time has fallen to a one shot hammer out of my 6.5 creed.