My most frequent DRT combo was 270 Winchester with 130 grain Ballistic Tips, 0-200 yards, into the lungs. 20+ deer with 130 grain bullets, mostly Ballistic Tips, the ones hit in the lungs dropped immediately. In a sample of one, same deal with .243. Same with .260. A fast, fragile bullet in the lungs makes a deer drop.
Other rounds I have used include 35 Whelen, 458 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag, 30-06, and 8x57. These 'big' rounds seem to make the deer run, although not too far to find easily. The longest I have ever had a deer run was a broadside lung shot with 405 grain bullets from my 458. It made it 200 yards, farther than any archery shot, for me.
I read somewhere that heart shots are painful, making the deer run until dead. I think that is true from the deer I have seen shot.
