Bullets vs Tracking Game

[cornshank]

It's been my experience, that deer or elk can travel 40 yards , sometimes on adrenaline, sometimes with downhill momentum, and a long ways if you hit them in the wrong place
So early on hunting I found out , for me right behind the front shoulder works .
As stated multiple times by others ( shot placement) rules.

300 weatherby mag,180 gr Nosler

 

[LVJ76]

Have taken coues and mulies with several 7mm cartridges using 140gr Gamekings, 160gr Gamekings, 139gr SST, 162gr SST, 120gr and 140gr Ballistic tips and 140gr Ballistic Silvertips, 168gr Hybrid Hunter, 168gr Classic Hunter, 140gr and 160gr Partition. In 270 Win with 140gr SST, 130gr and 150gr Gamekings, 130gr and 150gr Partitions. All of these worked well both on shoulder shots and double lung shots.

My dad and I tried some Speer bullets long time ago and were not impressed.

I prefer Double Lung shots and out of all of these bullets I still use the SST bullets, Bergers, and Ballistic Tips. Have some 150gr ELD-X to try out on the 7mm-08.

I have tracked a few coues deer for a 100 yds and more with well placed shots with lungs turned to smush, they just took off when hit. One with shoulder shot with 3 legs that went over 150 yards and with no lungs left. But most have died where they stood. Mulies are easier to bring down, haven't had one take off after being hit, sometimes a few steps then go down.

My dad knocked down all his elk with the 160gr Partition and the 162gr SST. Didn't track one more that 30 or 40 yds.


EDIT: Forgot to include the 162gr AMax, worked great on deer.

 

[rml30378]

I'm a believer in horsepower. I hunted a lot of years with a 30-378 WBY with several different bullets. Never had a deer take a step. The last couple years I'm hunting with my 416 WBY and again they don't take a step. One in the boiler room and they're out for the count.

 

[biff's reloading]

I take the high shoulder exclusively unless I'm bowhunting. I use flat, hard, cast bullets in all my rifles now for this reason. Nothing to fail, no soft cores or worries about mushrooming or not. No huge holes blown in the animal. It's been years since I tracked anything I've shot with a gun. We have 3 dogs who love cleaning Bones and wife makes treats from all the yucky bits and the bit of bloodshot meat so nothing is wasted.
Doe shot yesterday with 530gr cast bullet patched in the flintlock. 60 yards. Poleaxed. Didnt even flip her tail

 

[ADKHTR]

After hunting whitetails almost 30 years with a 270, and killing a pile of them, I switched to a Forbes rifle in 7/08, 2 years ago, let me tell you that little gun with 120 grain nosler bts is a hammer, 3 mature big bodied rack bucks in the last 2 years with that combo were all bang flops, years ago I quit using Nosler bts because of too many splash hits, these little .284 120 grain pills are one tough bullet, I have zero complaints and don't plan on switching anytime soon. All my big guns run Berger.

 

[WildRose]

They ran on three legs. I wasn't displeased with the action. I'm just going to get in the habit of crease shots. Save some more meat and decrease the chance of deflection.

I get it. With the bullets I shoot though I'm not wasting more than a pound, maybe two at the most and it's worth it to me to see them all never take a step, or at least rarely so.

 

[birddog 68]

With my 7mm08 deer gun I always go for lung shot with 140 grain BT but if I've got my 280 AI with 160 grain accubond I high shoulder shoot them. High shoulder = no tracking vs lung shot and 20-80 yards tracking. Design of bullet tells me where to shoot 'em.

 

[FEENIX]

I like blood trails Stevie Wonder can follow.

Usually don't last long....

LOL! Not a gutshot but a heart shot taken with 175 Matrix VLD out off .270 AI with a 30" Lilja barrel.

 

[Tiny Tim]

LOL! Not a gutshot but a heart shot taken with 175 Matrix VLD out off .270 AI with a 30" Lilja barrel.

View attachment 330372
View attachment 330370

Lol. What a mess!

 

[FEENIX]

Lol. What a mess!

On the contrary Sir, it made for an easy field dressing. I should have noted that it was how she went down, as-is. The bullet fragmented in an attempt to auto-field dress it.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Makes tracking easy. Like hicountry said, Stevie Wonder could follow that.

 

[Godly70]

I mostly get them shot with 30-06 .

 

[Mike433]

I've always taken out the front shoulders when rifle hunting and I teach my kids to do the same. Growing up hunting on state game lands in Pennsylvania, you better learn to drop your deer within eyesight b/c if you don't, there's a chance someone else will be shooting. Can't tell you how many lousy and unethical hunters I've run into over the years who have finished off someone else's deer and lay claim to it b/c they say they fired the killing shot. While we process every deer we take and either keep it for ourselves or give it to someone else, I don't necessarily hunt for meat. Taking out the shoulders with a 300RUM or 338 RUM doesn't necessarily work if you're looking to maximize hamburger meat, but it prevents any drama when hunting on public ground.

 

[James DeTorre]

7-08 and 280ai my go to WT guns for 40 plus years. Depends on my mood and my setup.
my unofficial notion is that I do less tracking with 280Ai