This same issue has been gone over many times by the Law enforcement crowd. It was determined that in human targets it is far better if the projectile stays in and expends all of its energy into the target.

We are talking game animals not humans. With game animals, tracking and blood trails is a concern, and with law enforcement, not having bullets travel through bodies to strike innocent victims is a concern.

I prefer a loonie size entry hole and then a large gaping exit hole

Attachment 59770

Wound shown is the exit wound. Shot with a 30-30. I love those zombie max rounds.

boy that looks yummy. looks like you went from 42 pounds of meat to 27. but no tracking!! lee

Any bullet in the heart will kill them, from .243 to .375 H&H.......:)

You two need to get a spot on "dancing with the stars".....what a lovely couple :)

I tink some of the posts on here have been talking about having a blood trail so you can more easily FIND an animal that has been shot and even killed.

If the .243 to the heart has killed the animal but it ran off 50 yards through thick bush and is not leaving a good blood trail it may be hard to find or not found.

I believe that a heart shot animal is not going too far to be found, blood trail or not. I had a doe manage 40 yrds after taking out half her heart, and she didn't leave much of a trail, but since I saw exactly where she went it wasn't much of an issue.

Finding an animal in the open is one thing. If that animal makes it into the thick and nasty a blood trail, or an enormous amount of luck, is cheap insurance. Once shot a smallish buck through the heart at 12 yards,he ran, leaving not one drop of blood. Found him by putting my faith in turned up leaves and duff only about 45 yards away. Exit hole was actually a little difficult to find, about the same size as the entrance. I was using a. 270 with 130 grain winchester power point factory loads. Actually had similar experience a couple other times using small light bullets at close range, but how are you going to know at what range you will be shooting?

I have no problem with sheep hunter , he's a good guy I'm sure and If we met in real life I'm sure we would get along just fine , cheers bro
We just doing what we do and being ourselves is all, :-)

I'm not saying you do, on the contrary, I think that you go 'round & 'round together most fabulously. :)

I also have had real life experience with having a difficult time finding a deer that was hit hard with a .243. One there was no snow on the ground and three of us finally just walked a grid where we had last heard the buck and beyond. One guy almost stepped on it before he saw it.

Another time there was lots of snow and lots of deer tracks. I shot a buck with a doe. I did not see which way he had gone. When I walked up two deer ran off to the left so I followed them looking for blood. I ended up making a big circle and found no blood. Then I saw a big buck run across a road near by and thought it was the one I had shot at, so I went down and followed his track.

Two days later I was in the same area and saw ravens. The buck had gone right not left, had not dropped any blood I could see and was dead less that 50 yards from where I had shot him.

We do make a good pairing hey , awwwwe how cute , lol cheers gitr

Not necessarily either.

Any hit that kills within seconds and damages no usable meat, is the best, no matter how far it penetrates, be that a quarter inch or all the way through.

Blood trails are not always necessary, in fresh snow for instance. Or with those so called bang flop shots for another.

So really, the question is unanswerable as it is worded.

Ask me which of the two I prefer, I could give you an answer. But really, saying one shot or another, or one bullet or another, is best simply isn't possible.


There are so many variables. Am I shooting a Squirrel or a charging Grizzly?
Do I intend to eat the target or skin it and sell the hide? Is it open country where I can watch where the animal goes, or is it dense bush where the moment the animal move I'm going to loose sight of it? What calibre rifle am I shooting? What are my personal preferences?
All these and more must be answered before I could even begin to answer such a question.

Even asking which I prefer would require some consideration of other related matters.

I'm not trying to shoot down your question. I'm trying to get new hunters to think about their choices.
It is good to ask when you don't know, so long as you understand that having someone else tell you what works for them is only a starting point.
You will still have to work out the details on your own.

What works for me may not work for you.

When I'm teaching people anything I tell them, learn to do it my way first, but understand that my way is not necessarily the best way or the only way.
It is simply what works for me, and it is a place to start for you.

If all you ever learn is my way, it will get you by, but I hope with all my heart that you take what I teach you and improve on it.
The highest compliment a teacher can get, is to be eclipsed by his or her student.

I will say this about bullet penetration. I bullet that passes clear through, did not do all it could do. The other side of the coin is, a bullet that kills within seconds without expanding or penetrating to the other side, has done all it needs to do.

Here's a quote from my first post, and I firmly believe in this!:thinking-006:
Cat

i think everyone should read two articles first before making up their own mind.first read would be "gunshot wounds"in volume two p.o. ackley.second read would be the beginning of the "A square"reloading manual by art alphin.there is alot more to it than examining wound channels in ballistic gelatin.

Thank you for the long winded post , lol makes a bunch of sence to
Me , and I learn by posting silly (for lack of better term) posts. I believe
A bullet works best when it spends all of its energy inside an animal (big game anyways) and wanted to see what others opinions and thoughts were, kinda a
Learning curve thing for me , so once again kegriver thank you for the knowledge and info , means a lot to me when I get answers such as yours and
A few other AO member I respect , even if I come off snappy and ignorant at times. Cheers

Pistonbroke

Aproperly placed shot that does not exit is far better than a pooly placed one that does.
If people learn to shoot more accurately they could get away with much less meat damage.
I have never lost a deer due to lack of an exit wound.

Don't say that too loudly around here....you will get a lashing from a resident "ballistics expert" or two....:)

LC

Always happy to go one on one with any "ballistics expert"

The problem (and disadvantage ) that ballistics have , of course, is that even superior ballistics will never make up for a poorly placed shot, so you have the "expert" at a disadvantage before he even speaks!!:sHa_sarcasticlol:
Cat

Not to mention that neither interior nor exterior ballistics have nothing to do with bullet terminal performance. Three totaly different topics of discussion. Here, the topic is bullet performance as far as I can see anyhow. :)

Hmmmm
Size, speed, penetration, performance.....
No wonder this is such a controversial discussion.:)

How did my thread get off topic ??? Lol
C'mon guys , lol keep it together will ya :-)