Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting The @#$&* 243 Winchester

Well 2 days ago I screwed up the biggest buck I've seen in years by my piss poor bullet placement. Using my .243ai. I got excited and for some unknown reason put the + on the point of his shoulder when he stopped broadside. It knocked him down on the front end and then he ran off. There was a good blood till there was no blood after 1/2+ miles. I knew I had problems with penetration using the Hornady 103 ELD-X, but the ELD-X shoots extremely good in my rifle and I thought I could overcome the lack of penetration by bullet placement. But during the rut when the bucks are running the does back and forth, hardly stopping. I've learned that I need something else bullet wise, my mind isn't capable of making the right split second decisions. If nothing else, I'm more convinced than ever, that Bullet Construction is more important than Ballistic Coefficient for hunting. We still had a good afternoon my son killed this buck shortly after my screw up.