I've gotten used to seeing AB's look like that too, which is why I love 'em. Congrats on the moose.
And you mostly shoot little stuff, no?
That is a very long way from what I want to find in any animal...
In fairness I did recover an X this year for the first time. It was in a moose and it was a little heavy for caliber, a little slow for caliber, and a TSX.
It also went through a hell of a lot more moose than these examples... and it only took one...
I have decided to start looking at the edges of bullet performance rather than the middle because the middle is so reliable. I am also trying to figure out how so many can have experiences so completely out of sync with my mine. Mostly, I still doubt a large percentage of the "I have never..." crowd...
Yeah, but you're the same guy who said any bullet that didn't exit was a failure IIIRC, which is a weak argument no matter what sized animal you're shooting.
Mostly little stuff for me, except for about 30 head of African game up to and including kudu, zebra, and blue wildebeest.
And I stand by that statement when shooting larger animals, especially. The science and Physics says it is anything but a weak argument. Animals die from non-CNS wounds by bleeding to death. Having a bigger, more useful vent is an obvious advantage.
Yes, blood pressure drop is what kills. And by using a bullet like a TTSX this pressure drop takes longer to occur on average. This isn't rocket science. Smaller frontal area, less shrapnel = less damage= slower pressure drop. "Venting" has nothing to do with it because as soon as the lungs are punctured breathing stops.
All depends. A loss of blood pressure can kill, but not as fast as a stoppage of blood flow to the brain. When oxygenated blood does not reach the brain, the heart and lungs can't function. Also, a shot to the brain can kill faster than a loss of blood pressure. A shot to the neck or spine that breaks the cervical nerves, specially the C6 and C7, can also kill pretty fast without much blood pressure loss.
That said, a big hole only makes a difference if it is though any body organ that carries lots of blood, or the heart itself. For example, the arteries by the heart, neck, and upper thighs on humans (near the groin) carry a lot of blood under pressure. There aren't very large blood vessels in the lungs, but a disruption to the lungs function such as the shock from a shot, as well as bleeding in the lungs, can kill, but at a slower rate depending on the amount of shock. Then take the heart beat of a brown bear at 40 beats per minute, an animal that can get to you within a few seconds, even if the heart has a big hole though it.
My experiences with the 225-grain Barnes 3-Shock bullets have been as positive as the NOS Partition, the 250-grain A-Frame, and the 230-grain Lubalox-coated FS, at least on moose. While a complete loss of blood pressure eventually kills, it does no kill as fast as when the CNS is damaged as mentioned above. But since I am not an expert on such things, please take my words with a grain of salt.
