I've always thought this is a poor arguement. I prefer dead nearby, to dead a mile away the next day. Of course, some with say, its dead and doesn't know the difference.
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You make a good point. I agree, tho if an animal goes that far, the fault is likely not "killing effect" of the bullet/caliber (it could be, because of bad judgement of suitability), but placement. If placement is the problem, "killing effect" related to the caliber/bullet is almost entirely a mute point.
Which is why CNS is good for DRT, but not so good for meat quality. Taking out a major artery such as SD suggests, is excellent for meat quality, tho the critter may go some distance. You pays your money and takes your chance. Circumstances other than bullet weight, construction, and caliber often dictate what is a good "killing effect" on a particular animal.
I once shot a yearling moose a bit high, through the major artery just below the backbone, at 35 yards with a 12 gauge shotgun slug. He was running, and kept running for about 100 yards, keeling over in mid-stride down meadow, in the open. The slug had perfectly centered the artery, leaving artery wall on each side of the 12-gauge sized hole. Whitest moose meat I've ever eaten! Ate right up to the hole too, and the slug exited without apparently expanding. Pretty good "killing effect".
Fat, heavy, slow works!
The last moose I took (with 15-18 in between the two) was shot in the head with a 30-06, using 150 gr. Hornady Superperformance SST leaving the muzzle at 3080 fps advertised, at 30 yards, on open ground, from my snow machine seat. "Killing effect" doesn't get much more definitive than that. (Or an "easy moose" for that matter.
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His meat retained pretty much all the blood that was in it at the shot, and was flavored and colored that way. I wasn't about to try to drag him out of waist-deep snow in nearby heavy alder brush, which he would have likely made had I shot him through the lungs or heart. No question I'd have recovered him, just how much energy I'd use doing so!
Another time I shot a feeding bull caribou at @ 375 yards (356 looong paces) with a 180gr. C&C (Corelokt), in 30-06. A bit low, it clipped the top of the brisket and either bone or bullet slashed slashed open the heart. He bolted, ran about 100 yards away, then about the same back at an angle, dying about 50 yards downhill from where he had been when I fired. Also very well bled out. Again in open country - no chance I'd not recover him. That's probably the longest distance I have ever had an animal travel. The second longest was another caribou a couple years back, shot at 290 yards with the above SST load. She ran about 70 yards, turned, ran back, and died within 5 yards of where I'd shot her. Double lunged. Seconds after she dropped, I shot another one, same placement, at 433 yards. That one only went about 5 yards. So how do I judge the "killing effect" of that round? Beats me. Dead is dead.
I shot 20-something caribou back in the late 70's over a 3 year period using a .25-06 with Speer 120 gr. hand loads. Every one was a bang flop, whether I hit them in the chest cavity (all but a couple) or the neck. Except the first- and he was dead on his feet, before the second, broadside thru the lungs, flattened him. The first took him at the base of the neck, quartering on, and lodged in the opposite hind leg. Ranges from 70 yards to over 500.
What placement I take depends on circumstances, but I prefer getting as much blood out of the meat as possible, and that is usually done with the bullet. For this I prefer an exit wound. In heavy cover/close range, I go for the CNS if presented. I really don't worry about "best bullet" or "killing effect".
So it really depends on what one is looking for as an end (multiple factors) result, the shot offered, and how one defines "killing effect".
