I was pheasant hunting into a stiff wind my friend's springer. The dog jumped right into a bedded buck that never smelled or heard us coming. I looked over to see the deer stomping and goring him with his antlers. The dog was pinned by the big deer standing over him in very thick grass. I shouted at the deer and shot over it's back…nothing. I then put a load of high base lead 4s into his shoulder from about 30 feet. He stopped working over the dog and started to circle me before I put another blast into his face and neck. He changed direction, walked a short distance, fell down and died. The dog was beat up, but ended up being fine.
A buddy shot a small 8-point buck with his bow. It was wounded and he tracked it most of the day. When he finally jumped it, the animal charged him. He was able to get behind a tree and pin it's antlers on the opposite side of the tree, then finish it off with his knife in one hand, and an antler in the other. He said he was relieved the deer was relatively weakened because even in that state, the creature was incredibly strong. As he was working it over with his knife to its neck, the sounds it made still haunt him.
I shot a big buck low in the brisket as he was quartering toward me within 40 feet with a 180 grain Core Lokt from my 30.06. The bullet didn't exit the deer and was lodged against the skin of the opposite leg. At the place and surrounding area of the shot there was not a single hair or drop of blood to be found. We didn't find him until the next day. It has been the only deer I have shot and didn't recover within a short time of shooting it.
Another time I was testing out a .308 I had just bought for my son. I shot a small buck from about the same distance with 150 grain Federal blue box behind the shoulder. The deer died almost on the spot, but on closer inspection, the bullet did not exit the deer. Prior to these experiences I had killed a lot of deer with the Core Lokts in particular. I have since have been doing some hunting with tsx and have seen very good results.
