I do both. In areas where I do not expect a trophy or I’m filling a tag for a female of the species, I like to pop a rapidly-expanding bullet through both lungs without touching major bones. The Nosler Ballistic Tip in 6.5, .277 and 7mm sizes has always been my favorite for this work, but there are now many more of these types of bullets that work just as well or better. I’ve had a surprising number of DRTs with this method, as well.
If I’m hunting bull elk or trophy anything else, I use a heavy, controlled-expansion bullet that will penetrate deeply, break large bones and get to the vitals. For 30 years that meant Nosler Partitions. I didn’t early-adopt Barnes bullets but started dabbling when the TSX came out. They worked well, always exiting and providing one-shot kills. However, I did have a couple that appeared to pencil through, allowing an essentially dead animal travel farther than I was used to before hitting the ground. The TTSX pretty much eliminated this and has been my bullet of choice for busting big bones and anchoring big bucks and bulls ever since. I’ll drive ‘em through both shoulders when presented with a broadside or through the offside joint if given a quartering angle. They work every time.
