3) Most conventional expanding bullets, whether the SST, Nosler Partition or Barnes TSX, start to expand as soon as they hit skin. Berger VLD's don't start to expand for 2-3 inches, so the big damage is inside the animal, where the vital organs are. They can tear up meat around the exit hole, but the entrance hole is essentially like a poke with a knitting needle.
They also do more INTERIOR damage than any other bullet I've used, and I've used a bunch. The damage you saw from the SST's is nothing compared to what a Berger Hunting VLD does to the innards of a big game animal. Consequently animals die very quickly. I doubt your elk would have stayed on its feet long enough to be shot again if the first bullet had been a Berger.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
