What Caliber rifle and what twist rate barrel? Beings thats a target bullet it probably did its job perfectly, drilled clean through not disturbing too much along the way.
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?? Wonder if I made a bad choice
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KMG
Well-Known Member
Just last weekend my daughter & I took 3 does on the Wisconsin opener all with Berger 140 Hybrids. No long range shots they were from 60, 120, & 170yds. All were bang flops & all had exits. My daughter was using my 260 rem. pushing the 140 Hybrid at 2625' & dumped her doe. Been using them, will keep using them.
The honest truth is, everyone always thinks they made a perfect shot. I always do, otherwise I wouldn't shoot. However, that's just not realistic for anyone. This mindset leads to questioning the bullet, gun, conditions, everything. From my experience all these things are very reliable and the small difference is me, good or bad.
If it was me, I would get back on the range and verify that everything still works. Then duplicate the shot and see what I am doing and perhaps discover what did. It's a good method for learning. It's well worth the effort.
Just my two cents on the "it's the bullet, gun, ect" mindset.
Good luck with it.
Those are Target bullets . NOT really for hunting.
But maybe you missed.
dougduey
Well-Known Member
Listened to a Gunwerks podcast the other day and Aaron Davidson says this has no effect on the Berger's performance. He's the first person I've heard dispell this myth.
These actually have a thicker jacket due to the higher twist rates and actually perform very well on game.
The big takeaway I got from Aaron Davidson's podcast was he shoots to hit bone with Bergers, and he's killed a lot of animals with their bullets.
I've got friends who hate them, and others that swear by them. It's like anything, once you learn the strengths and weaknesses/limitations of what you're using, you adjust to get the performance you want and need. I'm a big proponent of choosing the proper bullet for the animal you're hunting, as well as for the caliber you're shooting and velocities you are getting. You need to stack these in your favor as much as possible.
The Long Range Hybrid Target (Yellow box, black label) are TIPPED Berger's - they also "appear to me" to be a bit thicker at the nose than the other hybrid bullets berger makes. I personally will not hunt with these bullets - I DO use the Hybrid's (230's & 140's) and will hunt with them - but not these newest ones that are tipped.
I am at a loss for words after reading this. I have given up the remainder of my season to search for (possibly) hit animals. There is only one right thing to do in this situation, and it sure isn't talking about it for days on a hunting forum. The deer deserved better.
You are right that it can be, but at a distance are your buddies experienced enough to know the difference? Some say they can tell the difference between a meat and gut shot. I say maybe, because it is going to be obstructed by something (maybe just distance) and, unless they are there watching, a split second unexpected experience.
D
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I wouldn't make an assessment based on one event in the field. It sounds like a "clean" miss -confidence shattering, but certainly better than a wound and it is entirely possible it was an anomaly. I have seen great groups by great bench shooters with one unexplainable stray right in the midst of their succession of great shots. The fact that it happened while shooting at an animal, probably makes you shudder and doubt yourself and the "new" bullet; it would me too. Also, there is one big, big clue as to what probably happened: the deer ran away, a 208 grain bullet and the deer ran away! A 208 grain bullet on a deer is quite a huge wallop -and he ran away?!!! I bet, you didn't hit him and that in a way is terrific -it is so much better than a horrific, bad wound. I bet it was a "flyer" -for some unknown reason, a shot that would have been off by 4 to 8 inches at 100 yards and totally missed at 500 yards. It happens. I would practice on some water jugs at 500 yards and I also would bet they are toast with that setup and your skills. The difficult part is accepting that it was a one-time event out of your control and not let it affect your shooting or confidence. If, with some further practice, the bullet proves to shoot accurately, I wouldn't dump it for another bullet based on the one event. Best of everything and good shooting!
You shot a deer with a target Bullet , that's what you can expect to happen, find another bullet that is for hunting.
Plinker147
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So I will chime in with a recent experience I had this year. I haven't missed an animal with my rifle in 10 yrs from 50-650yds and I harvested a pile of animals in those 10 years. Well guess what I completely missed a deer at 220 yds sitting of a tripod Arca Swiss rail system, another words a solid rest. I rushed the shot, mashed the trigger and didn't follow through ALL MY FAULT.
Sounds like we will never know what happened in your situation but misses happen and I would lean towards that answer not bullet failure.
Sounds like we will never know what happened in your situation but misses happen and I would lean towards that answer not bullet failure.
lancetkenyon
Well-Known Member
Do you archery hunt? If so, do you tune your bow and tune your arrows?
Do you hand load? Do you tune your loads? Powder charge weight, seating depth, maybe primer test, maybe neck tension, maybe turn necks/uniform primer pockets?
Not sure why one more step is so foreign of a concept for the quest in perfection.
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