Originally Posted by ROMAC
All I can say is that the bear I shot had 5 inches of fat all around the vital area.

That can plug up a smaller hole and leave you with no sign.


[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

Exactly.

Two big holes on each side makes for easy recoveries. One small caliber wound plugged up with fat can equal a dead bear not recovered.

This can also apply to deer and other game especially mature bucks in certain circumstances, that include thick brush, dry leaves, cut agriculture fields, wet weather or in close proximity to an unfriendly neighbor's property border. Big bucks can carry a fatal wound a long ways. Dead on their feet, yep, but they can travel a loooong ways in 15 or 20 seconds. Leave them overnight you say? Not in Virginia where they will most likely spoil or be devoured by coyotes by first light.

Ask me how I know these things...

"You cannot invade mainland America. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass"
~Admiral Yamamoto~

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. ~Thomas Jefferson~