Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Bullets for close range broadside shots

We all know “shot placement is everything”. A properly placed high shoulder shot will drop em like a trap door. Through the shoulders, taking out front legs can do much of the same. A heart shot is just that.
But when we get into broadside lung shots on thinner skinned game, results tend to be all over the place and bullet design & weight seems to come into play more. Calibers & bullet diameters enter the conversation as well.

It’s said that most whitetails are shot at 100 yards or less(especially on the east coast), which translates to bullets moving at higher velocities.

So what’s everyone’s experiences and preferred bullet/bullet weight for broadside lung shots at close range/high velocity?
Which bullets have you had bad experiences with? In this scenario, does caliber/bullet diameter become more important?

What say you?

Almost all hunting bullets. I can’t think of one that wouldn’t work. Don’t over think this.

Older round nose bullets with lots of lead exposed ahead of the jacket are great thumpers. The main reason the older loads of the 30-30 was so highly admired and why newer pointed one seems to have taken the "sting" out of the grand old caliber.

You can never go wrong with accubond or partitions.

Pretty sure that Federal, Winchester & Remington figured this out years & years ago. Hunters have been going to the local sporting good store, Walmart & the local hardware store----buying ammunition & killing deer every year.

I use quite a few different bullets on deer, like many people here. If you're talking 264cal or larger, nearly any midweight cup/core is fine at MV under 3,200 or so. I like something stouter if going really fast or going smaller caliber. Rolling down the middle, in "typical" deer chamberings like 270, 7mm-08, .308, etc., it's hard to beat an Accubond for an all-rounder deer bullet.

+1 on the overthinking statement, whether shots are near or far I use the same bullet.

Well the fire here is full of over thinkers, I run my deer rifles through a rotation but perfect for under 150 yard deer would be my 30-30AI pushing a 150 grain Speer Hotcore around 2500fps. Or maybe my 45LC Rossie carbine with just about any full power load including a flat nose cast bullet. Or my 7-08 pushing a 145 gr. Speer SPBT at 2700 fps. The list is long.

The bullet that's in the chamber of the gun that's in my hands should do the trick. Sheesh. Anything from rimfire on up.

Less than 100+/- I'm hitting the neck.

The same bullets that you shoot them with at 250 yards

I'd avoid Sierra's for the most part if you're using larg(er) calibers and impact velocities are expected to be high...they make quite a mess IME, much like the older SSTs, first generation Ballistic Tips and the like.

TTSX and aim for the high shoulder 1/3 down from the top.

Minimal meat loss and drop where they stand.

I call BS on the meat loss. Every deer we’ve shot with the TTSX has plenty of meat loss. But I’ll second the “drop right now” though.

What is this high velocity you speak of?

The best combination of minimal meat loss and drt with a high shoulder shot on a white tail at less than 100' came courtesy of a 300 gr npt from a 375 H&H. Not the usual rifle for such pursuits, granted. It was just sitting in the safe though and it needed a bit of exercise.

I shot a couple bucks with 7 mm mag factory Winchester 150 grain silver ballistic tip. Both were broadside behind the shoulder hits inside of 100 yards. Both times the bullet passed through with little to no expansion and they ran off like bow kills. I switched to cheapo Remington core lokts and had much better results. The Winchester silver ballistic tips have worked fine in other slower rifles, so I’ve blamed it on the higher velocity of the close range 7 mag. I wouldn’t argue with someone who thinks I’m totally wrong, but that has been my good and bad experience with the situation the op described.

I have yet after 50+years, intentionally shot a deer or elk in the shoulders,high or low. Cow, doe, small bull/ buck,big bull/buck. After the animal hits the ground ,it is all about meat. I can't see wasting an entire shoulder, maybe both or trying to clean blood shot meat.I typically use heavy for caliber like a 220gr RN in the 06, 348 gr in 50 cal ML. Double lungers, waiting for good shot presentation puts them down pretty quick. Those quartering shots that only catch one lung tend to give long racking jobs.

It's best for you not to argue. Do you let your kids play on the Interstate, because the faster-moving vehicles will do less damage if they hit them?

Wrap up some pure lead with paper, plunk it into a .44 mag case and kill stuff.

80 yards, DRT.