I have seen 30-some animals shot with Berger VLD's and sometimes there's a bunch of damage and sometimes there isn't. Usually it's on the far-side, in fact I can't remember much damage around any entrance hole, because typically Bergers penetrate a couple inches before starting to expand, while most expanding bullets start as soon as they hit hide. Usually there's just a pinhole at the entrance, so small you often have to part the hair to find it.
I've also seen zero damage on the far side with Bergers--if the animal is big enough for the disintegrated bullet not to get that far. But usually that's on animals of elk-size on broadside shots, though it happens on smaller animals with angling shots. It also depends on range, velocity, etc. of course.
Have seen all sorts of weird stuff happen when shoulders are hit with various bullets. My wife once shot a coyote at about 200 yards with one of the first 140-grain TSX's, started at 3000 fps from a .270 Winchester. (We were hunting elk, but were done for the morning.) The poor coyotes shoulder looked like the .25-06 110 AB shoulder in Tanner's photo.
Eileen also killed a 3-year-old mule deer buck this fall with a 100-grain TTSX at 3150 from a .257 Roberts, range just under 100 yards. The bullet went tight behind the shoulder, halfway up, and out the other side in the same location, yet several POUNDS of meat were lost. That's not supposed to happen with TSX's, and usually doesn't, but it did.
Anytime bullets are started around 3000 fps or more, lots of damage can occur, especially if shoulder bone is hit, no matter what the bullet, especially at shorter ranges. When muzzle velocity is no more than 2500 fps, meat damage is normally considerably less, no matter what the bullet, though even then weird stuff can happen.
If we're interested in less meat and hide damage, all we can do is play the odds. In general the more weight a bullet sheds, the more bone it center-punches, and the closer the range, the more damage will be done both to meat and hide. If the bullet doesn't shed much weight, and is started slower, odds are far better for less meat and hide damage.
But....
