Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Bullet Performance - a tale of two dots

I have been reading on these forums for decades, and it's always entertaining when the subject of bullet performance comes up. 1/2 dozen guys love what we will call "bullet A"; touting it as a bang flop DRT bullet for everything from mice to moose.

Then next 1/2 dozen guys hate "bullet A", because it destroys to much meet and bounces off anything bigger than yearling doe.

If you read between the lines most of the time the argument is really not about bullet performance as much as it is "what you are doing with the bullet". What are you asking of it, and what does it do best. Most do what they do VERY well, but it can come down to application, and how you are applying it that will form your opinion. It can simply come down to two dots, that can have two very different outcomes. So is it bullet performance or application failures we see/read about?

Back dot works well for broadheads.

Move that front dot up 8-10" is where I shoot 99% of my deer. That gives me those DRT results regardless of what bullet or cartridge I am shooting.

Different strokes for different folks.

Given that presentation I'll take the right hand dot no matter which bullet I happen to be using.

The first two replies illustrate the point perfectly..!

mathman, as a bow hunter myself, that placement is automatic for me as well regardless of the projectile.

I think mathman's point is that the deer is not completely broadside, it is slightly quartering .

I'd aim for the opposite side shoulder

Same here, just a little higher than that dot though.

Rifle, muzzle loader or bow, double lung them just breaking a rib going in and out at most and they run about 35 yards as they crash through the brush bleed out and drop, if you're quiet you'll actually hear them drop.

Also done the same with an arrow where the deer simply flinched like he was stuck with a thorn, took a few steps as the blood poured out of the exit hole and fell over.

You're right on the money.

First off, if I hit either of those two dots….I missed where I was aiming. But any bullet though, that deer is dead.

JMHO- I don't want to mess up any of the shoulder
meat and the ribs are junk anyway so I shoot the
ribs/heart/lungs. They'll run out of fluid and die

I would take the dot on the right from years of bow hunting. As was stated earlier, aim for the off side shoulder.

That'll git 'er done every day ending in Y

@mathman,
I see the point, and you would be correct. The dot placement was not meant to be "100% precise" but rather just illustrate the point that some are asking a bullet to break a rib, others looking for both shoulders, kinda thing.
I did make the dots a little low in the body, just because the shooter seems to be above the target a bit, but there is always room for preference of exact shot placement. You'll never please everyone or get 100% agreement. lol
Thank goodness the vitals are a tad site bigger than a 1" dot..

Those low aiming points leave little room for wind, shakes, you name it. A little left on the one or a little low on the other ends up with a non lethal hit and a lost critter. To each his own, though.

May be why some say "that bullet is crap" when the bullet did just fine but did not hit where they thought it should

Even that front dot misses shoulders. It could barely clip the rear of the leg bone and if it does clip it bone fragments will go all through the heart and lungs just speeding up the killing process.

For me here is where it's at. Top w a firearm and bottom with an arrow.

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Your bottom yellow is my aim point. I am not a great field shot, and that placement leaves a lot of margin for error, which I have plenty of.

I'm usually gunning for the lower right dot with any weapon of choice. If the animal is at the peak of the mid-range bullet rise, it's hitting near the top yellow dot, and I'm fine with that too.

I should probably edit that. High shoulder with a decent rest. I hunt a treestand 99% of the time and my knees/legs make a decent rest for my elbows.

I also hunt the thickest schitt around so shots are not long and I want them down.

I do know that they will run off a few yards when shot with an arrow in my lower left spot and tracking is no different but that's just how I do it.

Here is a view from one stand, probably the thickest area around that stand as just to the right of me about 30 yards is an old road that deer travel. To my left is just brush and timber but not quite as thick.