A few weeks back I responded to a poster's question on the Elk forum regarding some SST testing I had done with water jugs. The blow-back was pretty damn funny to see, from it didn't belong on the Elk forum (where the question originated), to water jug testing doesn't reflect real life results, to all kinds of attacks on me personally.
Well, this weekend I was up in Wyoming and shot a doe antelope with my .243 and a 95g SST, something I will not be doing again. The SST made a small hole going in with no exit. When the hide was removed the far side of the rib cage was a mass of blood-shot meat on the outside, about 7 inches wide. The inside of the rib cage showed dozens of tiny wounds where it had been sprayed by lead and/or jacket material.
In short, except for the overall size of the spray, which was smaller due to my test setup where the paper witness target was further away, the results were indistinguishable from the test results.
I'll use the SSTs for varmints and target loads but won't be using them for antelope, deer or elk. Of the 5 antelope my group took, all the other bullets used (110g AB, 130g TTSX, 150g BT, 168g TTSX) worked just as well with less spray. The 110g AB was the only bullet recovered. Not sure what the retained weight was because Daughter #3 took it home with her. I found it poking out of the flesh on the off-side. The two TTSX and the BT all left exit wounds.
Kudos to Daughter #1. She took hers with a .308W and the 130g TTSX. Not sure the range but I lasered it at 368 yards from where I crouched maybe 5 yards behind her.
Kudos to her also for saving me from getting run over by a disgruntled buck. I was sitting by the front tire of my truck, setting up on my bipod to shoot a doe about 350 yards in front of me. The buck it was with had stayed behind and was about 150 yards to my left. I ignored the buck and the voices of my wife and daughter until finally Daughter #1 honked the horn. When I turned the buck was 20 feet away, head to the ground in a full-on charge. With my startled motion and the sound of the horn it swerved off, just missing the front of the truck. Not sure what kind of damage it could have done but am glad I didn't find out.
