I actually believe that it's caliber/bullet selection and failure of that bullet at long range, loss of energy, velocity falls below minimum FPS to cause upset and sheer apart or expand that causes more issues with wounding than the numbskull behind the trigger. The numbskull actually goes and shoots at long range, practices reading wind/conditions because they can come and brag/post pictures online or be king asshat at the local long distance range. Ballistic apps, Labradars and Xeros further add to the problem, no more math, no more developing your physical dope, punch it in and the device spits out the drop/drift chart. Any bullet can ring steel, punch paper or go thru the imaginary "vitals" at any distance the numbskull chooses if they practice alot. It's when those imaginary "vitals" become flesh and blood where the problem is exacerbated.
Read all of the "bullet failure" threads across the WWW and it soon becomes apparent that the numbskull is actually responsible because they developed their load based on accuracy criteria versus bullet performance criteria and not because they weren't able to actually hit their target, problem is they actually hit what they were aiming at.
How many threads about Berger/Nosler/Hornady/Barnes with malformed bullets, reports of penciling, or expending energy to soon creating craters in the onside shoulders do we read versus success stories where the caliber/bullet performed as it should? The word of mouth phenomenon at its core.
The problem is on this forum and others like it, we hear/read about alot of the failure of this or that stories, but we only read a few of the actual success stories. Facebook is even more of a bad experience collecting disaster.
People don't like to always report the success, not because they are not proud, but because of the internet scouters. Kinda like boom scouters back in the pre-internet days of duck or dove hunting. People to lazy to put in the work mine the data of those who do. Well, that same laziness transfers over to load development, they chose the bullet that they can develop the quickest accurate load with, versus choosing a bullet that is going to give them the best performance over the ranges they may actually have to use that bullet. Then those same people read all the threads or actually ask questions related to this zone or this area and figure where their best chance of seeing the species they are after and apply for that area.
I read it all the time, I consume a lot of information, problem is my health does not allow me to capitalize on all that information.
I can think of three podcasts where the "expert" talks about what they have personally witnessed using Berger hunting bullets and they perform exactly as they were designed when used within the design parameters, but then hearing reports from other hunters about the failures, then when quizzed, it becomes apparent that the bullet was not able to perform because the caliber was too small and didn't carry enough energy or velocity at the extended range.
For every actual posting member here, there are 10+ non-members reading and accumulating the information about their chosen caliber, their chosen rifle platform, their optics, their clothing and their bullet and load selection and the areas they plan to hunt. It is based on choice, not on performance. It's cool to have this or that because all of the other kids are doing it, hell, I have done it.
How many times have you stumbled across information(pins dropped) on Google maps, On-X or any other "hunting" app that are not private. Before the days of apps for hunting, I remember reading about "hunters" using Google maps to search for pins left that were not private and the day of the big duck hunt the pin dropper arrives to several boats being in their honey hole. I was guilty of dropping non private pins all over a lake of the worst areas to setup because of the internet scouters. I even had a boat built to run a particular river channel that a fullsize boat couldn't navigate. Killed alot of ducks before the college kids found a new way to access that pocket. I no longer hunt public for that reason.
This discussion isn't about the actual distance, it's about how lazy the slob is in choosing their equipment, developing their load, fully developing their condition reading skills and picking an area where their chances for seeing game are high, but well beyond the performance of their caliber/bullet and not their actual ability to hit at that distance.
Wounded game is because a lot of the chosen bullet didn't perform, a lot of not reading the conditions properly and maybe a little of "buck fever". Technology and equipment has led us backwards as hunters, the good old days of Kentucky windage and soft mushrooming bullets are gone. It's more about bragging than hunting or feeding your family.
