Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting ELD-X reports...

I shot the 140gr A-Max before last year and had a couple does hit perfect behind the shoulder and they ran a long way before giving up the ghost.
One doe was shot at 120yds and she ran over 350yds before dying, I was lucky it was all fields and not a thicket. She didn't bleed for 300yds before crossing onto the property next to mine. I actually was questioning whether I hit her but I knew how well the gun shot and knew I didn't pull the shot.

Entrance


The exit was the size of a nickel. Her lungs had a hole in them the about the size of a dime. No more A-Maxes behind the shoulder.

Here is a 140 A-Max through both shoulders of a 110lb doe and 80lb button buck my son killed and neither took a step.

Good shootin' Coach, and good job with the young'n too.

Thanks gunner! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and everyone is well.

Yessir, same to youinz as well, a lot of good eating there.

I've hit six deer in two states so far this year, beat up 8pt, 7pt, 5pt and three doe, five with a 40-65 Sharps and one with a 45-110 Bull Gun.

I've still plenty of powder left to burn.

Way to go, Gunner! Keep the white smoke rolling.

Last report from me. Kansas buck last week, 143 grain ELDX factory load out of a Kimber 6.5 Creedmoor. Deer was facing me, shot entered just inside the left shoulder at the base of the the neck, exit was through the sternum. Shoulder was separated, one lung was intact, the other shredded, sternum busted into three chunks. Deer ran 45 yards and pilled up.

Shot four factory loaded 150 gr ELD-Xs from my 7mm-08 this year at animals. They are very accurate and leave the barrel of my Tikka at 2731 fps. The first was a 150 yd shot at a 175# Ky 11 pt, quartering slightly away. Bullet entered just behind the onside leg and jellied the lungs. Found a couple of slivers of jacket material lodged in the offside scapula but did not find the rest of the bullet, which did not exit. Bloodshot was extensive. Buck didn't take a step. Second animal was a large Ky doe at 50 yds broadside. Bullet entered chest a third of the way up her body, severing the top of the heart, jellying both lungs and exiting with a golf ball size hole through the off side ribs. She ran 40 yds. Third was a large female coyote at 44 yds, quartering slightly to. Bullet entered just behind the onside leg and opened a baseball size exit wound in the abdomen that left intestines hanging out, drt. The last was a 175# NC 10 pt at 100 yds from a steep downhill broadside shot. Bullet entered above the midline of the body tight behind the onside leg, exited low on the offside ribs, where it then broke the offside leg and lodged under the skin on the far side of that leg. Buck fell and rolled down hill coming to rest against a tree. Recovered bullet was badly mangled and weighed 81 grains.

I personally like my bullets a little tougher than the ELD-X, but it's hard to argue that they don't do what they are designed to do.

Another report from yesterday evening. Shot one at last light. Was quartering to me and moving. Hit a little far back, caught bottom of one lung, through diaphram, through stomach and exited off side flank. Entrance went between ribs, was hard to find where it entered, very small. Exit wasn't that big and bled nothing. I'm not sure how well it expanded but going through guts it should have. He ran with head down and I shot again. I led him a little to much and hit neck (bone), he dropped at shot. Went back to check the scene of the crime this morning and there wasn't a single drop of blood. Not even where he fell. This was in a grazed pasture and it would have been easy to see blood.

I've used the ELDx for 2 deer this year. 1 took 3 shots (earlier post in this thread) and one took 2. It's killed them so it's worked. That said, I sighted in another rifle today. If the buck hadn't dropped on the second shot there would have been nothing to follow (again, placement on first shot wasn't the best for a blood trail). Most of the time I'm in woods. This would have been an ugly follow up. I need blood. ..but deer have died, just not like I wanted.

Nice buck, thanks for the report.

123gn eldx in my Grendel smacked a doe behind the shoulder quartering away at 120yds . far shoulder was a mess. it did exit. she never took a step

I took several deer this year with the 6.5cr and Hornady 140gr ELDM factory loads:

• sharply quartering away at around 200yds. Hit just behind the ribs angling to aoffside shoulder. - drt no bleeding on site and no exit.

• quartering to the gun at around 100yds. Hit just behind the onside shoulder and exited the offside rear rib cage. - ran 40yds and was still in the process of expiring when I arrived at the scene. No blood at all. Not a significant amount of internal damage.

• quartering away at 100yds. Hit behind onside shoulder and exited front of chest. Ran 40yds and zero blood trail. This bullet connected with the heart, but again the damage is not what I would consider significant.

• quartering to the gun at around 100 yds running. Hit was at the liver and angled back hitting and destroying the offside femur, but not exiting. Ran 40yds and laid down. Finisher through the noggin upon arriving at the scene. No blood trail. The damage was more significant on this shot than with the others.

I have shot one deer in the shoulders that did anything. It was a big doe. She pushed herself about 40 yards with no front axles.

Late to the game, sorry. Three mule deer bucks, three shots, 150 ELDX handloads from three 7mm-08s, 2800 fps. All bullets exited, lung shots, farthest recovery 30 feet.





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i have tried almost every new bullet to hit the market and i still like the old hornady interlock .

Shot a buck in the shoulder, 35 yards, quartering towards me, from the ground with deer at same level. Deer ran 75-80 yards and expired. Expected to find outrageous blood trail, as bullet should have exited near diaphragm on offside. No exit, no blood trail whatsoever. Only one lung shredded. I expected a 178 grain bullet at 35 yards from an '06 to do more damage than that, even after breaking the shoulder. Though it's a sample of one, think I'm going to accubonds. If this deer hadn't been in an open hardwood area, I'm not sure I would have recovered him. I found ZERO blood when backtracking, even though it was perfectly clear where he had gone, since he was the only set of running tracks, and there was a skimming of snow. Love the way the eldX shoots, but think I'll just use it on paper moving forward.

I don’t think I’ll use them for deer in the future. All of the deer died, but the bullet just didn’t perform to my liking. I’ve had some time to reflect on the kills now. I’m not saying they won’t work, but in my sample of three I wasn’t impressed.

I’ve noticed reports on performance are all over spectrum (on here, other sites and face to face with guys in the shop). I’m wondering if there may be some variances in jacket thickness between lots?

Dont use a eld match because they do have a thinner jacket.

I try this and try that, but could have stopped at the interlock in everything I've shot it in, looking at both accuracy and on game performance. I've still got 900+ 165 btsp's still in boxes.....I think it was 2000 orginally, but I've can't stop trying other stuff so those last 900 have just been sitting.

I may give it a shot in the 6.5. Haven't looked at them in 6.5, which one are you shooting?

I've shot more interloks in my 270 then any other caliber. 140 gn btsp.

They're pretty tough to beat.