I bought a box of .308 Berger VLD’s about 10 years ago, and loaded them up to hunt deer in Alabama. Shot a nice buck at 260 yards and it was DRT. Same with a mature doe at 200 yards. Unfortunately, third time was not a charm. I shot the biggest buck I’ve ever seen standing broadside at 30 yards off a rest. I aimed for a high shoulder hit, and the bullet impacted exactly where I aimed. He ran about 100 yards and fell down. As darkness was approaching, I waited about 15 minutes and walked toward his downed carcass. When I got within 25 yards he jumped up and ran off. There was a pool of blood the size of a pie plate where he had lain. I decided to back out and returned The next morning at first light with 2 buddies to retrieve him. We tracked him for over a mile, and found a second pool of blood the size of a pie plate that also contained some bone fragments. We finally lost his track when he entered a swamp with water in excess of knee high. I theorize that the bullet exploded on the shoulder joint and did not penetrate into the vitals. I told the landowner the gory details and we went back a couple of times looking for the skeleton- NADA.
The Berger VLD’s were super accurate, but they cost double what Sierra GameKings run, and the bullet failure I experienced meant I still have 75+ VLD’s unforced.
Ummm, no.....
