What bullets are you shooting through saplings that still expand on game? That seems to defy physics, as saplings are much more dense than animal flesh.
Well, I'm not talking about 4' or taller saplings. I'm talking about the little guys just a bit thicker than some thick grass. The stuff at the edges of fields that grows up between spring tillings.
The most recent was shooting a 135gr Apex Afterburner. Snapped the little sapling off in its path yet still hit POA and bullet still performed as advertised.
I've snapped off 1/4" branches out of a tree stand too with all kinds of different bullets. Rarely has it ever been a problem. It's not the same resistance as thick muscular flesh and bone surrounded by flesh.
I've shot prone through cornstalks, grass, those little saplings, beans, etc a lot over the years now and I know I've hit them all more than a few at times. It's not ideal and I'd rather not hit anything but the animal, but it's happened enough for me and not been a problem I don't skip on a shot just because there's some brush that might be in the path. I'm not going to take a shot through anything real substantial though without knowing I can avoid it. If I have the opportunity to avoid it, I will.
I've shot enough whitetail and coyotes over the years through small brush to not be too concerned overall though if I'm not using a bullet with a small open tip that is sensitive to not working if that tip gets compromised. So that includes bullets like SMKs, Bergers, etc.
There's a reason I test as many bullets as I do. I usually use a few different bullets for a given season, and open tip bullets definitely have been the only ones I've ever had issues with in this regard. I wouldn't be surprised if a tip was dislodged a time or two when hitting an obstacle, but I've never been able to find evidence of that and they still managed to hit close enough at least to POA to conclude it didn't make a difference.
I haven't personally done it, but I know someone personally who has shot completely through a tree and still killed a deer on the other side. It wasn't planned. It was trotting and he took the shot right as the tree entered his scope. Now that was an extreme and likely wouldn't duplicate lol, but it can happen.
There's even a story about a Hammer bullet entering the horn of a water buffalo before entering the body and the story goes it still performed well and killed the buffalo. I do believe it didn't separate all the petals though, but it didn't deflect or stop the bullet from still entering the body.
A thick branch or thicker sapling trunk could definitely compromise any bullet, especially one like in the OP, so do t get me wrong here.
My hope is the newer tipped Hammers are indeed not as sensitive to such things like other tipped bullets I've used in that scenario with lots of success.