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Posted: 11/14/2011 6:20:27 AM EDT
| I have loaded some Sierra 85 gr gamekings over 38.2 grains of varget. The load shoots great, about 1/2 inch at 100. Shot 2 whitetail does yesterday evening with this load. They were about 30 yards broadside, bullet went completley through, but left almost no blood. Found one only because I watched where she went, the other very little drops of blood every 15 to 20 yards. Everyone says this bullet works great on deer, but I'm scared to use it again. Both shots were in the correct place behide the shoulder. Any Insight? |
| You simply didn't hit anything hard enough to make them mushroom, or it could be that they weren't moving fast enough to open up. Some bullets don't mushroom in tissue unless they're fast enough. Try increasing your load until it either effects accuracy or it maxes out, and watch for pressure signs. You may also try other brand bullets of the same wieght and test them on bundled up water soaked phone books to see what performs best when no bone is encountered. |
| That is exactly the problem that most have with .224 and .243 diameter bullets;they are small and even with expansion you have an animal still moving and the hide will cover up the hole at times.Also,if hit higher in the thoratic cavity it takes some time for the cavity to fill up and start spilling blood.If the so called hydro-static shock does not kill you could have a trcking job that can be a pain compared to say a .35 remington.I know alot of hunters that have lost alot of animals using even 25/06 cause of this reason.It is true what the other posts are saying but I thought I would give you another thing to think about.Of course bullet construction is key when using most any caliber. |
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Quoted: As far as increasing the load I think I'm already at book max. The shots were dead on double lungs. Once I opened them up the insided were just mush, I just got no blood. Sounds like the bullet did it's job, and your load is fine. How high up was the exit wound? How large was it? I've only hunted deer with a 30-06 or a crossbow, but I am planning on taking my AR with me for the next one. I'm considering waiting to get a quartering away shot so that I can get a vital hit and the far shoulder. Granted my 30-06 is much more powerful, but when taking that shot with it they never run far, if at all. Also, I've never tried to shoot / track two at a time. Maybe that's where the solution lies.
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The exit would was about 4 inches from the bottom of the deer. And the exit wound was about the size of a nickel.
As far as tracking 2 at a time I had never done it before either. It was very weird the first one came down the trail behind me, stopped right after she cleared a big oak and I shot. She ran back the wasy she came in. About 5 Minutes later the second one came down the same trail from the same direction the first did. I honestley set there and thought I missed. It looked exactley like the first deer. Same size and all. I was thinking how the hell did I miss a 30 yd shot. So she went behind the same tree, and stopped in the same exact spot and I shot her taking extra care and time for shot placement. She ran the opposite direction. Luckily I found a very small amount of blood going in each direction to let me know they had been hit. It was time consuming to say the least. It would have made things really tough if they had both ran off the same direction. On another note I called sierra today asking them there opinion on the matter. The rep I talked to said it sounded like some of the matter from inside the cavity clogged the holes. Thats the only explanation that he could give. He said the distance shouldn't have affected the performance of the bullet. I know the insideds were tore up very badly so maybe that was the case. I'm going to give the bullet another try before I ditch it. |
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That's a pretty interesting hunting day! I bet you felt better about not missing. Thank goodness they ran in different directions or you might have recovered one and thought you were done, AND, thought that you had missed. I certainly wouldn't give up on the bullet. As you pointed out, the lungs were destroyed. If I pull the trigger on one with my .223 and 65 SGK, I'll let you know what happens. He'll have to be one monster deer for me to take another this season, though. |
| No I didn't think you were preaching, just letting it be known I generally don't shoot more than one at a time due to tracking. It could get really confusing. I was going to be done with the rifle for this year but this little episode has me thinking I need to take one more with this rifle before I put it away. After that one I'm back to the pistol. |
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Before I went to hunting with a pistol, I used a 243 for 2 bucks. I was shooting 100 grain Nosler partitions over IMR 4895. They were near max loads. I shot both deer in the lungs and heart at about 40 yards.
The first deer dropped in it's tracks in one shot. There was no exit of the bullet. The second deer did not move an inch. I thought I missed so I shot it again. It then made one big jump and crumpled into a ball. Upon dressing, I discovered I had hit heart and lungs on the one shot and lungs on the second. The entry holes were 1" apart. One bullet had exited and the other was still in the deer. From my limited experience, the 243 is a great deer round but I would load 100 grain spitzers and not 85 grain anything. I use 70 to 85 grain for groundhogs. I have tracked a few deer for myself and others. I have seen them shot with everything from a bow to a 300 mag. I have decided shot placement is the most important factor related to blood trail length and visibility. Just because you shoot them with a big bullet, there is no promise there will be an easy blood trail or that they will drop where shot. |
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