I used to geek out about exits and would be disappointed to catch a bullet. Then after shooting a few hundred more animals and keeping notes I realized that often the bullet that doesn’t exit kills faster than the one that does. That exit for a blood trail demanded by some often isn’t necessary with a little softer bullet because you don’t have to follow a blood trail when you can see them fall.
Not every bullet has to be hard as woodpecker lips and the ones that aren’t super hard aren’t necessarily tinfoil jacketed bombs. The middle of the spectrum often works really well.
The only animal I can definitely say I lost because of a bullet not performing was a really big pig I shot on the point of the shoulder with a 180 WW Silvertip factory load from a 30/06. My cousin caught him with his dogs a few weeks later and found the flattened bullet against his scapula. I’m not too proud to admit that the handful of other animals I’ve lost were likely due to poor shooting.
