Meat damage
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squirrelduster
Well-Known Member
Try the accubond. They perform well in everything I shoot.
Hit them right behind the shoulder and take out both lungs. They normally go 20 or 30 yards but it ruins almost no meat.
When I go whitetail hunting I shoot the 140 gr bullets out of my 7-08 and have shot a few with 180 gr 300 win mag. Both perform the same if you stay away from the shoulder.
What kind of deer are you hunting?
Hit them right behind the shoulder and take out both lungs. They normally go 20 or 30 yards but it ruins almost no meat.
When I go whitetail hunting I shoot the 140 gr bullets out of my 7-08 and have shot a few with 180 gr 300 win mag. Both perform the same if you stay away from the shoulder.
What kind of deer are you hunting?
bigngreen
Well-Known Member
I shot most my deer last year with the 140 Accubond and I really like it but it is one of the worst bullets I have shot for blood shot, mostly it is seam line blood shot which is easily removed and the actual blood shot meat was only 2-3 lbs.
On elk the hands down best meat bullet is the Berger 140, ZERO lost meat, Accubond was the worst, I literally blood shot one from the top rear to the front of her shoulders with one center spine shot, I have never seen anything like it but again only seam blood shot and I lost 8lbs of meat.
I haven't got the Berger on enough deer to know yet, so far the on side is clean but the of side may be clean or a hole blown out so I need to process a few more.
I will shoot a couple deer or antelope this fall with the 110TTSX and test it, I think it may be a great little medium range whitetail bullet, it a laser beam!!
After EDGE's comment bellow I'll add most my hits were between 300 and 400 yrds, MV for the Berger was 3307fps, Accubond 3341 fps. All shots were behind the shoulder in the lung/heart except one high spine.
I ran a wild game precessing shop for five years and the best meat bullet is the Barnes but I don't like some of there other characteristics so I don't run them much.
On elk the hands down best meat bullet is the Berger 140, ZERO lost meat, Accubond was the worst, I literally blood shot one from the top rear to the front of her shoulders with one center spine shot, I have never seen anything like it but again only seam blood shot and I lost 8lbs of meat.
I haven't got the Berger on enough deer to know yet, so far the on side is clean but the of side may be clean or a hole blown out so I need to process a few more.
I will shoot a couple deer or antelope this fall with the 110TTSX and test it, I think it may be a great little medium range whitetail bullet, it a laser beam!!
After EDGE's comment bellow I'll add most my hits were between 300 and 400 yrds, MV for the Berger was 3307fps, Accubond 3341 fps. All shots were behind the shoulder in the lung/heart except one high spine.
I ran a wild game precessing shop for five years and the best meat bullet is the Barnes but I don't like some of there other characteristics so I don't run them much.
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royinidaho
Well-Known Member
Avoid Nosler Ballistic Tips and Sierra 130 gr boat tails. @ less than 250 yards or so I've ruined the front halve of several deer and almost that on others. This is with a MV of 3200 fps.
Hornady 140 BTSPs work well but I can't tolerate the bullets in the magazine being flat tipped after the first shot.
Hornady 140 BTSPs work well but I can't tolerate the bullets in the magazine being flat tipped after the first shot.
IMO, you need to supply more information!
Bullet performance is very subjective from personal experience.
One guy says that bullet "X" destroys a lot of meat but bullet "Z" hardly destroys anything!
When you read further he shot the first deer at close range at high velocity and hit the ham and the second bullet at long range and slipped it between two ribs
If your goal is to minimize meat loss then shoot the toughest bullet you can!
However, this is LRH, so you really need a fairly fragile bullet to perform at long range.
If the shot is close you have three options:
1) don't shoot = zero meat loss;
2) take the best shot and take your lumps on meat loss;
3) take care to avoid bones and large muscles, preferably a lung shot and accept that the deer may go up to 150 yards in a death run.
Last year at the end of the season I anticipated a long shot. So I loaded up a 200 grain 8mm SMK @ around 3000 fps.
The deer ( all does ) came out about 500 yards away but ran toward my location. I was hoping for a buck so kept watching their back trail.
They got to about 50 yards form my location when I decided that no bucks would be following them to me.
I shot one just behind the right front leg and it exited just in front of the left ham.
There was ZERO meat loss, but it was the most disgusting animal that I have ever gutted!
There was stomach and intestinal matter blown out the ENTRANCE hole and it filled the entire chest cavity!
This was not a bullet failure, it was just a symptom of shooting a long range load at a short range.
Had I aimed for a normal heart shot I would have had to hit the front leg and I can only imagine how much meat would have been lost.
edge.
Bullet performance is very subjective from personal experience.
One guy says that bullet "X" destroys a lot of meat but bullet "Z" hardly destroys anything!
When you read further he shot the first deer at close range at high velocity and hit the ham and the second bullet at long range and slipped it between two ribs
If your goal is to minimize meat loss then shoot the toughest bullet you can!
However, this is LRH, so you really need a fairly fragile bullet to perform at long range.
If the shot is close you have three options:
1) don't shoot = zero meat loss;
2) take the best shot and take your lumps on meat loss;
3) take care to avoid bones and large muscles, preferably a lung shot and accept that the deer may go up to 150 yards in a death run.
Last year at the end of the season I anticipated a long shot. So I loaded up a 200 grain 8mm SMK @ around 3000 fps.
The deer ( all does ) came out about 500 yards away but ran toward my location. I was hoping for a buck so kept watching their back trail.
They got to about 50 yards form my location when I decided that no bucks would be following them to me.
I shot one just behind the right front leg and it exited just in front of the left ham.
There was ZERO meat loss, but it was the most disgusting animal that I have ever gutted!
There was stomach and intestinal matter blown out the ENTRANCE hole and it filled the entire chest cavity!
This was not a bullet failure, it was just a symptom of shooting a long range load at a short range.
Had I aimed for a normal heart shot I would have had to hit the front leg and I can only imagine how much meat would have been lost.
edge.
M
Miller Outdoors
Guest
I like to shoot deer in the neck when ranges aren't too far - the closer to the head the better. The meat lost isn't worth much and there's no tracking.
winmag
Well-Known Member
I would agree with alot of the posts here about shot placement being key to meat damage. However Im gonna lean the other way than most on fragile bullets. I absolutely hate em for my style of hunting. I hunt all ranges, not just one or the other. I hunt very steep country where shots have ranged from as little as 10 yards, to as far as I can see. I dont have a 15lb rifle made specificly for L/R, so I chose the 270wsm for an ''all range'' within reason, rifle. My personal ability also limmits my ability to shoot much past 600ish with absolute confidence. Ive destroyed critters with fragile bullets at too close of a range with what I thought was a good shot. Im a fan of tough bullets, but not so much for longer ranges. IMO, the 140 Accubond gives me the best of both worlds in this cartrige. Bonded and tough for close range, but a ballistic tip to initiate expansion when you get to reach out there a ways. Im not calling anyone elses opinion wrong. But Im a huge fan of this bullet in 270wsm for my style of ''any range'' hunting.
Seems to me that it depends on what your hunting style is, and where you place your shot that dictates what bullet you should use to minimize meat damage.
If I were able to reach out there a long way, and dedicate my hunt to L/R only, Id definately be a fan of fragile bullets.
Seems to me that it depends on what your hunting style is, and where you place your shot that dictates what bullet you should use to minimize meat damage.
If I were able to reach out there a long way, and dedicate my hunt to L/R only, Id definately be a fan of fragile bullets.
