+1 to the OP. I've been hunting deer since the early 80s. I get to see the innard of about a half-dozen deer each year. I'd say a good portion 30-40% are DRT, but the rest run. It may not be all that far. Most of mine that don't drop where they're shot can be seen by standing at the impact site. However, there are the flyers. I had one doe this past season that ran about 250 yards with both lungs and the heart hit.
I retired my 35 Whelen after a decade of service. It was not producing a higher percentage of DRT's for all the extra cost and shoulder punishment. I'm not knocking the round or the Rem 7600 that it's fired from. It just wasn't better than 30-06
I have still not produced a solid DRT from my 25-06 despite several attempts.
The highest percentage of DRT's at our camp come from .308 165 grain Hornady IL's , followed by 150 grain Remmie SPCL's. However, that has more to do with the sheer volume of what we shoot.
One thing I do find interesting is the number of deer that die right at the fence. Our camp is on an abandoned far that used to have beef cattle on it. There are stretches of 3-strand barbed wire all over the place. Every pasture is ringed with it. A fair percentage of deer that run after shot make it to the nearest fence, but that's it. I've seen them crash into the fence, somersault over the fence, collapse in mid jump or some other variation. Two of my largest bucks got their racks caught in the fence while jumping and died all tangled up.
