Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game A premium bullet does NOT guarantee premium results.

Shot taken at excessive range, thus velocity too low when bullet finally got to the deer.

The hit was too far back, behind the diaphragm and only clipped the very edge of the far side lung as it ranged slightly forward.

Those guys did a bad thing.

Respect the game. Take sensible shots.

Bullet not to blame......hunter to blame.

I'm not seeing the liver shot. Looks like a high lung shot, just under the spine to me. Not perfect placement, but seems good to me (higher and further back than I would have preferred, but I wouldn't have expected that buck to last that long).



???

David

I had an aoudad hunter a few years ago peg a big ram in roughly the same spot with a 300WBY and 180 partitions at a distance of roughly 200 yards. The ram fell over immediately, appearing to be stone cold dead. We watched him laying there from our shooting position across a small canyon for over 5 minutes. When we got up to fetch our prize, taking no more than 10 steps, the ram got up, ran off, never to be seen again, even though we'd find small drops of blood every 200 yards or so.

The hit was NOT behind the diaphragm, or at most entered right on the edge, but the buck was quartering away enough for the bullet to get the top of both lungs--but NOT the liver, because the liver is on the other side of the body.

But the bullet did land HIGH in the lungs, not far below the spine. I did a bunch of research on lung wounds several years ago, including interviews with forensic ballisticians and veterinarians. The edges of the lungs have far smaller blood vessels than the center, especially in the area above the heart, and also less "air pressure." Consequently it not only takes longer for animals hit around the edges of the lungs to die, but depending on the extent of the wound they can even survive and heal up. It isn't uncommon, for instance, to kill elk that had been previously shot high through the lungs, just under the spine, and find the wound channel healed. An African PH I hunted with says it also happens with gemsbok, but he has never seen it with a kudu.

A monolithic bullet retaining all its petals doesn't make as large a wound channel as a more fragmenting bullet, but plastic-tipped monos usually expand enough to kill quickly when placed reasonably well. This hit was around the fringes.

Based on some experience, I'd guess the deer would have died quicker if hit in the same place with a bullet that at least partly fragmented, but that's just a guess. Have also seen animals hit with a bunch of other bullets, of all types, survive longer than they "should."

That's an amazing amount of detail you have on shot placement for an animal that wasn't recovered. Have any pictures or video of the shot? Was your hunter using Barnes bullets?

David

The video stated the shot was 397 yards with a 140 gr TTSX from a 280AI. Putting that into RCBS.load's ballistic calculator and assuming a muzzle velocity of 2970 fps puts it at about 2130 fps when it struck. That's faster than the minimum velocity I've seen for Barnes TTSX to open up, but like BC30 says, it was a high lung shot and missed any heavy bones to help it open.

It' relatively easy to see bullet impact, and small amounts of blood coming out of an animal with 10x42 SLC's at 200 yards. I already said it was a partition. Point being, it was shot in a marginal area at best, where funny things can happen. Sorry you missed it. I believe the example MD gave is what happened.

I've only seen around 400 big game animals killed, so while I certainly don't know anywhere near everything, I've usually got a pretty good idea. You need to start paying better attention and get over yourself.

Yes, I made a statement about liver shots, and how it relates to my springbok. I'm not sure where your comment on my expensive stuff comes from. Not sure I've ever made a post on that.

You're dead wrong, again, and I've never commented, ever, attempting to impress anyone with my so called expensive stuff. That's ridiculous. You questioned how I knew where the shot on the aoudad landed, and I answered you. Nothing more to it than that. Sorry to disappoint you.

Am I supposed to care what you think?

...On my recent trip to Namibia...

...It' relatively easy to see bullet impact, and small amounts of blood coming out of an animal with 10x42 SLC's at 200 yards...

I've only seen around 400 big game animals killed, so while I certainly don't know anywhere near everything, I've usually got a pretty good idea. You need to start paying better attention and get over yourself.