I think the DRT is something we should strive for every time we pull the trigger on an animal and limit ourselves to the shot that will achieve that. I know it doesn't always happen, but in a perfect world...
I just don't get all that worked up if it doesn't happen. There have been enough deviations and variations in my experience, that I know that the whole thing is too complex for it to be predictable.
I've seen:
1) A 60 lb doe take 3 rounds of 30-30 to the chest at 10 yards and walk away.
2) A 2.5 yr old buck take a round of 30-06 to the chest and go back to eating.
3) A 205 lb buck take 3 rounds of 35 Whelen to the chest and continue to stand
4) A 1.5 yr old buck take a round of 30-06 from a Garand and remain unfazed. The second round made him explode, emptying his innards on the ground. He ran 60 yards before he got tripped up with his intestines wrapped around his hind legs.
These were all good shots with reputable soft point hunting ammo, connecting with both lungs and the heart. DRT is great. It's just not something I can trust to happen. Early on in my career, I'd try and change something after every non-DRT event. I'd change bullet, change powder, even change rifle. I finally realized I was chasing a phantom. DRT is good, DRT can and does happen. It just doesn't HAVE to happen for it to be a successful hunt.
Mind you, this comes from a guy who has done everything conceivably possible to minimize deviations and produce a no-muss/no-fuss freezer filler. I usually fill my last tag every year from a ground blind, shooting off a bag at a doe that is standing within 10 yards of every other doe I've taken out of that field in the last decade. My goal is to drop the doe in the exact spot where it is easiest to roll up the truck. Most of the time it's DRT, but despite all the standardization, it just doesn't always happen.
