Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Bullets recovered from deer

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Over the years I've been luck enough to recover numerous bullets from deer shot by me. They vary in manufacturer and caliber but I think they prove that it doesn't really matter what you hit deer with, as long as you hit them in the right spot. Here are the details of the recovered bullets. All these weights are dressed weights according to a scale. Maybe someone else has some bullets and info to share here too.

22 Hornet - 45 grain Hornady. Range 70 yards. velocity 2500 fps. 110 lbs doe. Bullet entered behind right shoulder, angled forward thru lungs, penatrating left shoulder. deer traveled about 50 yards. Bullet Found under hide. recovered weight - 39 grains




250 Savage - 100 grain Remington RN. velocity 2850 fps. range 20 yards. 105 lbs spike. deer hit in cheek of ***, bullet breaking hip and spine. recovered under skin above spine. Deer dropped and died at shot. retained weight 73.3 grains





308 winchester - 165 grain speer RN. velocity 2700 fps. 130 lbs 3 point. Range 30 feet. bullet entered top of neck, traversing chest, exited chest, and lodged in left leg. buck dropped on the spot. retained weight - 125.7 grains.





308 winchester - 165 grain speer RN. velocity 2700 fps. 130 lbs 4 point. range- 60 yds. bullet entered ribcage, angled forward, exited right side of chestand lodged in right leg. buck dropped on the log he was stepping over. retained weight- 111.9 grains





6.5x55 Swede - 120 grain Nosler Solid base. Velocity 2900fps. 90 lbs doe. range-40 yards angling downslope. bullet entered front chest by left shoulder. front section exited left side of ribs. remaining section penatrated entire length of deer coming to rest in right hind quarter. doe ran about 40 yds before dieing. retained weight -81.2 grains





260 remington - 129 grain Hornady SP. velocity- 2700fps. 105 lbs spike. range about 60 yards. Bullet entered right side of deer behind the ribs, destroyed liver, wrecked lungs, and lodged under skin after breaking left shoulder. deer traveled about 30 yds. recovered weight - 86 grains.





260 remington -129 grain Hornady SP. velocity- 2700fps. 142 lbs 7 point. range 180 yards. bullet entered right front shoulder, breaking it, wrecked lungs, broke left shoulder and left leg. recovered in left elbow. Deer dropped on the spot. recovered weight - 98.5 grains.

[img]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/dmsbandit/260rem02.jpg[/img]



260 remington - 129 Hornady SP. velocity - 2700fps. 110 lbs doe. range - 25 yds. bullet entered nose, shattered jaw and skull, broke neck, and recovered under hide in back of neck. doe dead before she hit the ground. recovered weight - 71 grains.


[img]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/dmsbandit/260rem06.jpg[/img]


Thanksgiving '09 I recovered another bullet for my collection.

260 Remington 129 grain Hornady SP entered the 135 lb doe about 6" behind the shoulder, wrecked both lungs, exited just behind the opposite shoulder, and lodged into a hard maple tree 15 feet behind the deer. At a muzzle velocity of 2700fps the bullet left it's normal quarter sized exit hole and the doe only went about 50 yds before crashing. The bullet entered the tree backwards and folded the expanded jacket and lead back into place. The recovered weight is 103 grains and expansion from the impact on the deer ended at the cannelure.


[img]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/dmsbandit/260rem09.jpg[/img]


284 winchester - 154 grain Hornady RN. velocity - 2500fps. 70lbs button buck. range - 20yds. bullet entered left side of neck, went thru top of heart, destroyed right lung, and recovered in rear abdominal wall. deer dropped on spot. recovered weight - 125.6 grains

[img]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/dmsbandit/28496.jpg[/img]



35 Whelen - 200 grain Hornady RN. velocity - 2700 fps. 125 lbs doe. range about 30 yards and running. Bullet hit behind ribs, angled forward destroying liver,wrecked 1 lung, went thru heart, and lodged in left shoulder. doe ran about 40 yds and died. recovered weight - 113 grains.


[img]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/dmsbandit/35whelen90.jpg[/img]


38-55 winchester - 270 grain cast bullet. velocity - 1600fps. 135 lbs spike. bullet entered base of neck, wrecking 1 lung, and exited behind right shoulder. Bullet recovered in 6" pine tree behind deer. buck went about 400 yds bleeding well the whole time. recovered weight - 266 grains.


[img]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/dmsbandit/38-55.jpg[/img]


41 magnum - 210 grain Hornady HP. velocity - 1600fps. 120 lbs doe. range - 15 yds. bullet entered back of neck, breaking spine, and recovered under skin in front of neck. recovered weight - 156 grains


[img]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/dmsbandit/41magnum90.jpg[/img]

50 cal. Savage muzzleloader - 250 grain 45 cal. Hornady XTP. velocity - 2000 fps. 105 lbs doe. range - 80 yds. bullet entered above the left shoulder, wrecking the lungs, breaking the spine, and recovered under hide by stomach. Doe died her bed. recovered weight - 198 grains.

[img]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt200/dmsbandit/45calsavagemuzzleloader.jpg[/img]



I hope this info is of help to people out there when they are trying to make decisions about guns and bullets. Does anyone else have any info to share?

Here are the Barnes TSX and Nosler Partition's I've recovered

Very cool information, thanks for posting.

CLB

Obviously when you're operating in the right velocity window, you don't need a magic bullet to kill a deer. I've killed a couple of WTs with a .260 and a 140gr bullet and thought it did a very good job.

That's good stuff. You kept good notes. I haven't managed to collect bullets, except for a Berger VLD. Everything else passed through.

You need a new picture, I've seen you post that one a bunch.

Here's a new one for the collection. It is a 250gr .452 caliber Hornady XTP that killed my 2010 muzzle loader doe. The bullet hit her at 2100fps in the back of the ribs breaking 3 on the way in, destroyed the liver, tore open the stomach, exited her body cavity, entered her left hind leg above the knee, and came to rest under the skin on the back of her thigh.

Good info. Thanks.

John

You really ought to sneak up a little closer!

That's some funny stuff there. 80 yards was the farthest shot, and the rest were 60 and closer. I'd say you were using the right bullets. And shootin' that poor doe in the nose-that's priceless!

Thanks for the report. Do you stalk that close, or do you get your stands that close to travel corridors?

Cool collection you have there. I'd never have thought to do that.

Here's half of all the TSXs Ive recovered..



Heres the other half...and a TBBC

TSXs are 53 grain .22s and the TBBC is a 55 gr, .22

Well actually, one of the 260rem bullets was taken from a 7pt at 180 yds.

Sometimes things just work out the way they do. I hunt fields and woods, but once the hunting season gets going, the deer avoid the fields unless it's really nasty weather. I hunt a high pressure area so you have to hunt the deer like rabbits after a few days of rifle season.

As far as shooting the doe in the nose, all I had a shot at was her face or her ass. I don't eat the face so her dental work got rearranged.

Your post shows me that in your circumstance that the 260 Remington did the best job.

Our garage was littered with old Sierra 150 gr 30 Caliber bullets that did not proceed out of the deer after they were shot.

I might have found one or two Hornady's in the last 15 years out of 45 or 50 deer that I had processed.
Most times the only way to find the bullet is if you took a bad shot and the bullet had to travel further then normal to make the kill. I have nothing against a bullet getting caught on the far side of the cape - as long as it killed the deer.
But most times there is no reason to shoot a deer in the face or at angles which requires the bullet to go from the front to the back of the deer - or to shoot one in the buttock just so you can get a deer. I'm not that desperate for a deer....

I only ever recovered one bullet from a tree - after shooting a deer. Most times the deer is dead and I am more worried about it not running and about getting it processed and out of the woods and loaded in the truck then I am about trying to find the bullet. I would say that the hills around my tree stand and the timber in Jefferson county Pennsylvania is full of lead from hunters shooting at whitetail deer....
Brookville Wood Products runs all its timber through a metal detector before it ever gets to the head saw for that very same reason.

The bullet from the 250 Savage was the SECOND shot into the deer. The first went thru the chest and thru both lungs. Hunters in my area are known for stealing your deer if it makes it to them so when the deer stopped after the first shot, I put the second shot into the deer to drop it.

I won't take a shot at a deer just to take the shot. I know what my guns and ammo are capable of. If I can get the bullet thru the vitals, I don't care if it has to travel thru 20-24" of deer. Contrary to all the "experts" in the magazines and T.V. Hunting shows, you don't need a deer broadside & standing still to kill it. Any deer gun shooting good bullets is entirely capable of traveling thru a deer at almost any angle and still kill it quickly. If you wait for the "perfect" shot in my areas, you eat alot of tags. In 30+ years of hunting I have lost exactly 2 deer I have shot at and they where on broadside shots where the bullet blew up on the shoulder [100gr Ballistic tip] or went thru the brisket.

As far as digging the bullet out of the trees [38-55 and 260] I did it the next day after recovering the deer. In the case of the 38-55, seeing the bullet hole in the tree sideways told me that I didn't miss the deer and to keep looking for blood. 50 yds from that tree I found the first drop of blood and then started following the trail to the deer.

JFC, can douchebeer get any more stupid?

Will you guys please stop quoting Duquensebeer please?

I have this particular zero on ignore and you are harshing my mellow by showing me his latest inanities...

John

80 yards is the furthest I've ever shot a deer. Most shots have been under 30yds.

Here is another Bullet from my Savage MKII muzzleloader. It was recovered from a very worn out buck in '09 that dressed out 105pounds. He had no fat at all on him, he was missing one horn, and only had about 3" of the other one left.



The 250gr XTP bullet hit him on the shoulder knuckle [piece of it in the photo]. continued thru the chest cavity, and became lodged in the muscle of the stomach near the opposite hip. The bone fragment was also in the stomach muscles within a few inches of the bullet fragment.



At a range of only about 30yds, the XTP hit the deer at over 2100fps and still went thru the hardest bone and 3' of inerds. Somehow the buck managed to run 20yds closer to me, and then dropped dead.




Does anyone else have any to share?

Damn! they look exactly like the ones I have recovered.

I managed to recover a 110 grain barnes TTSX this year. But I had to shoot a donkey through the shoulders to do it. Shot was taken about 70 yards, directly on the point of the left shoulder. Bullet ended up just under the hide on the right shoulder. The petals were broken off, but it dropped the creature where he stood. I was running it out of a 26 inch .270 WSM.