What bullet was used on the cow you lost two (?) seasons ago? Would the increased BC of a like weight AB over a NF made a difference in your opinion?
The bullet was a 160g North Fork launched at 3048fps from my 7mm RM, with a range of 389 yards. Chest-high blood on the brush on both sides of the trail made it clear the North Fork exited. The initial blood trail consisted of several thick ribbons of very dark blood, which we took to be liver blood, 2-3 inches wide and 2 to 2-1/2 or 3 feet long. No elk I'd shot had ever left so much blood on the ground and my son-in-law and I were convinced we would find the cow behind the nearest brush. Instead we followed a steadily diminishing blood trail over one ridge, across a valley and over an even higher ridge. At the end I was tying orange marking flags whenever we found a pin-prick of blood on the trail. We eventually ran out of blood about 50 yards from a fence marking the end of huntable land. The question then was not whether the cow made it to private land but to which private parcel as there were multiple options depending on her route after she crossed the fence. We couldn't legally follow so we headed back to the truck as dark approached and returned the next morning to search further but found no more blood and no cow.
Would a different bullet have made a difference? A bullet that fragmented and caused more blood loss might have made a difference but that is something no one can know with any certainty. The North Fork had enough energy to exit so whether marginally more energy or velocity would have made a difference is, to me, doubtful. Less wind drift might have helped but my ballistic calculator, using a B.C. of .389 for the North Fork and .531 for an AccuBond, shows a difference in drift of only 1.2" at 10mph. Whether that might have made a difference is also doubtful in my mind.
North Fork doesn't list nor measure their BC'S but the shape of them is more blunt than a swift aframe. They also have the grooved shank which hurts BC. Given these two facts I would bet their actual BC is even worse than what you listed. Could be wrong though. 1.2" might have put that bullet ahead of the diaphragm and the extra velocity might have done more damage too.
