Is shot placement more important than bullets?

[Browninglover1]

They're not mutually exclusive. Poor shot placement will always be poor shot placement, but the right bullet can make a poor shot still be a killing shot. A poor bullet in the boiler room is not a guarantee of a quick kill.

Putting a bullet through the boiler room is the first order of business, but that bullet needs to create damage when it gets there. I personally put three bullets through the lungs of a mule deer and it didn't give two ***** about it. I borrowed a different rifle to get it killed. Upon inspection of the animal the bullets passed through the vitals with ZERO expansion, literally they left tiny holes through the lungs and almost no bleeding. The bullets were 130 grain Norma Golden Targets that I expected to expand based off testing on smaller game but I was wrong. Having one or two occasionally pencil through is something I was willing to deal with, having three on the same animal was demoralizing.

 

[josip89]

I know case from India where poucher kill elephants with 22lr.
I know fmj kill also.

But my opinion is You must choose best bullet for purpose of Yours hunting and then adapt shoot placment.

I like to be overpowered rather then underpowered because You just can not be 100% sure what to expected in the woods and I dont know anyone who can shoot always exactly where he think.

On this forum I read something,
Guy ask what caliber and bullet for elk and moose up to 800y ,here is funny part, a few fellow recomomended 6.5 creed????

I know it can be done but I think it was very stupid advice ,because people a lot more share good story but bad they hide.

 

[Plinker147]

Depends how technical you want to get. What kills is a bullet that penetrating into the vitals. Doesn't matter if bullet
Expands if it penetrates the vitals the animal will die. Now how the bullet acts might indicate whether you find the animal but it will be dead with FMJ thru vitals or expanding bullets.

Now an animal will die just fine with poor shot placement like spine shot of femoral artery.

In short they are both equally important, both bullet and shooter must do there job for successful harvest the way we like.

 

[Pointman]

Whoa, whoa whoa. Old gun would kill a deer or anything as long as it hit within 100 meters............a 155mm Howitzer High Explosive round is very devastating.

Very expensive to feed!

 

[del2les]

Who would do such a thing?

I knew and old WWII and Korean war marksman who killed numerous amounts of Whitetails and other using his old Springfield 03-A3 and 30-06 FMJ mil ammo. He preferred the 173gr loads for their ability to tumble and cause impressive wound channels. Suposedly, he never lost a deer hit by one of those.

 

[mercerbear]

Of course it is. You can hit a buck in the hoof with any bullet and it won't kill him lol

Or double lung him with small bore ball ammo and still kill him.

 

[mercerbear]

I knew and old WWII and Korean war marksman who killed numerous amounts of Whitetails and other using his old Springfield 03-A3 and 30-06 FMJ mil ammo. He preferred the 173gr loads for their ability to tumble and cause impressive wound channels. Suposedly, he never lost a deer hit by one of those.

Yeah, 30-06 ball is not even borderline.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

To me that must be combination off both.

Agree with,. THIS ^^^^ A tiny, "Hard" AKA NON-Mushrooming, Bullet thru, an Elks Lungs is,.. a sure, SLOW,.. Death !
Velocity, Mushrooming ( GOOD Expansion) or, in the case of Berger's,.. Classic Hunters, Elite's and HVLD's,.. "Scrambling / Exploding" in, the "Boiler Room" is, great / BEST,.. IHO!
MY New, "choice" Bullet in, a .270 WSM, is,.. the Classic Hunters at, 3,185 FPS and STILL going OVER, 2,000 FPS at,.. 800 Yards.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Such as?

Sierra GK's, Nosler Ballistic Tips, AccuBonds, PARTITIONS, Hornady InterBonds, Bergers, HVLD's, Classics / Elite's, and a few others, THAT
"Mushroom" or, Fragment,.. WELL !
But,.. TEST THEM for yourself or, study the "Performances" at, Barbour Creek on, youTube.

 

[coldboremiracle]

I know it can be done but I think it was very stupid advice ,because people a lot more share good story but bad they hide.

Absolutely true. But that happens whether it was a 6.5 at 800yds or a 300WM at 100 yds. Which do you think happens more often?

 

[Jon Bischof]

Nobody here on LRH would go hunting with a bullet that doesn't have the terminal performance to put the game down.

But somewhere every season there's a slack-jawed self proclaimed deer commando hunting with FMJ or some target bullet that he's sure will knock'em dead. Or, there's somebody who won't take any advice hunting Elk with a .223.

Do they kill game? Sure. Do they find them and bring the meat home? Less likely.

 

[coldboremiracle]

or some target bullet

Every bullet is a target bullet.

 

[Pdvdh]

Some bullets expand. Some don't. If a bullet doesn't expand or tumble, even double lung shots can result in lost game animals. I've recovered 3 large game animals requiring a second shot, after the first bullet failed to expand. Two dall rams and one black bear.

Bullets that failed to expand were 1) 210gr .308 Berger VLD, 2) 150gr 7mm Nosler Ballistic Tip, and 3) a 200gr .338 Nosler Ballistic tip. Proof of non-expansion was all animals were killed with an additional shot or shots. Field necropsy proved the non-expansion of first bullet. I shoot for the lungs. Pencil a non-expanding bullet thru the broadside lungs of a large game animal and if the animal reaches cover prior to hitting the animal again with a bullet that does expand, the odds are high the animal will not be recovered. They can live plenty long enough to escape when a non-expanding bullet travels thru both lungs.

Shot placement and bullet performance can be equally important.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Shot placement and bullet performance can be equally important.

Equal? So if a bullet opens and causes a damage in the wrong spot, is that just as good as a bullet that didn't open but hit the right spot?