First of all, there is no brush bucking bullet. Slow heavy bullets have been proven time and time again to deflect as much as lighter faster bullets. For me, I pick a ham and let her rip on the shots above. I don't shoot for the bung hole or try to get the bullet to the vitals by shooting through the paunch. That is a lot to ask of any bullet. But when you break the pelvic, upper leg bone, or the heavy ham muscles, there are TONS of arteries and what the bullet doesn't wreck, the shattering bone will.
Shooting through brush that is close to the animal isn't going to change the path of the bullet enough to matter. Is it unethical or a "stunt"? Not at all, as long as the cartridge, the shooter and the bullet are to the task. I wouldn't shoot a .22-250 through the brush at anything but a coyote.
I have put a lot of meat in the freezer shooting through light brush. I have also shot a lot going straight away, again, I pick a ham and break the pelvic. They go right down.
It doesn't matter if it is the last day or not. I hear the old saying, "I will never shoot an animal in the butt. It wastes too much meat." That statement is a real yawner. There is very little meat lost when you compare maybe 5 lbs. of blood shot meat to 250 lbs. of good meat on an elk. I say, "Whoopti do, better to get 245 lbs. of meat than no meat at all!" Shots are seldom perfect when hunting public land. The perfect broadside pasture shots of elk (or anything else) standing still feeding are so rare. It all boils down to knowing your weapon, being able to shoot it well and knowing the anatomy of the animal in the sights. I have heard it a million times from guys on here and at the range, "I would never take a walking shot, a shot facing away or of any animal in the pictures above." The first animal that pops out, they start throwing lead at, especially on a trophy hunt or on a long hunt where the animals have been tough to find. Each to his own, but I have no problem shooting through a bit of brush, within reason. You have to know you best. Each person knows their limits and they need to hunt/shoot within those limits. Flinch
