Blood trails are nice when you can get them but deer dont always cooperate by leaving one !
Always putting two holes doubles your chances of getting a good blood trail
It won't always guarantee one, but it's much better than just an entrance wound
In the swamps you look for muddy water, and blood on the trees
I've found that most 24 cal bullets less than 85 gr are too fragile for what I like them to do
Have found deer the way that you speak of,
I have used the Barnes Vortex 80 grain ttsx to good effect on a few deer(Dropped within sight and within less than 50 yards)
There are extremes in penetration and expansion .I would much rather have a bullet that will penetrate a shoulder than one that will blow up on a shoulder and would rather have a bullet that will penetrate a shoulder and scramble the insides than one that will penetrate both shoulders every time but not do very much damage in between.
If Penetration were the only goal then we could all just use FMJ or HARDCAST bullets and be done with it.
I think the goal we all have is to find a good compromise for penetration and tissue damage.
In general the more vital tissue that can be damaged or destroyed inside the deer the less likely we are going to need a blood trail to find the deer !
For me as Long as the bullet is constructed stout enough so that it will break one shoulder and will get inside and scramble the vitals then I am fine with it.
I am more concerned with finding the deer than having a blood trail .
And by doing maximum tissue damage as opposed to a much smaller hole (and less tissue damage and destruction,even with a hole on each side of the deer)I feel I have a much better chance of finding the deer.
I am looking for that ideal compromise between tissue destruction and penetration( a compromise because we cant have both max destruction and Max Penetration out of the same bullet and load)
But how many thousands of deer would have to be shot Before a definitive answer could be arrived at ?
I have tried the Barnes,seen the Remington 100 grain Factory load used along with handloads using 87 grain Hornadys .
They all dropped deer on the spot and they all allowed deer to run .
The Remington had the best penetration (often through and through)sometimes a blood trail sometimes not.Not nearly as much internal damage as the 87 Grain.
BUT Deer shot with the Remington load {with the best penetration} allowed deer to run much further on average than the loads that did the most internal damage.
I want to try the 95 grain Ballistic tip and see the results.
So many loads and so little time !! LOL
Anyway thanks to you and the others for sharing your experiences and results and differing oppinions.
Craig
