Originally Posted by Jordan Smith
Originally Posted by TheLastLemming76
Here’s an honest question and not trolling for arguments. I always hear how easy deer are to kill. Living in Michigan I’m a deer hunter as far as bigger game goes. I’ve only killed one bear, that was with a 45/70 and he ran about 60 yards. I have zero experience with other big game so maybe deer are easy to kill as “big game” goes IDK. It’s never made sense to me though reading how easy deer are to kill.

A typical deer double lung shot low and tight behind the front leg with a fairly big deer gun say .308 Win or 30/06 ect is going to run 20-50 yards in my experience. I watched my son shoot a few with a .223 and they still ran about the same distance albeit with a lesser blood trail based on a small sample size. Occasionally they drop in their tracks and very rarely they might go a 100 yards shot like that. If you shoot them poorly they run back into a swamp or other thick cover and odds are you won’t find them or it will be a major tracking job and a some luck if you do.

I can’t imagine that other similar sized North American or even African Plains game would be all that different or tougher. Punch a halfway decent bullet through both lungs and I’d think anything will die fast but if you don’t you have a challenge on your hands even if it’s a deer.

I think people are referring to the fragility of their physical build, not their tenacity for life.

I think your right and appreciate your experience. I can imagine an elk near dark at a few hundreds yards distance putting it down right their or very near would be an advantage over walking a few hundred yards with a flashlight and the having to look for hair or blood.

I can see a tougher bullet being ideal for larger framed critters. Most decent bullets will punch through some bone and drive through the lungs. Some of the biggest blood trails that I’ve seen on deer have been at our typical close ranges with the lowly nearly archaic 30-30. I get what you’re saying though. At longer ranges and near thick cover hunting a larger bigger boned animal a cartridge big enough and loaded with a bullet to feel comfortable getting a pass through shot and break down bones makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately for most of us big game is generally deer and as you said it doesn’t take a lot to shoot through both sides of a deer.