Hey guys just want to throw this out there and see what your opinion is, this past hunting season I was able to harvest a smaller a point with Barnes vor-tx ttsx-bt 120gr 7mm-08 factory ammo. Buck was 160 yards, and perfect broadside shot from a treestand, entrance was mid body height wise and exit was obviously lower than entrance. Hit the deer right behind the shoulder. The deer ran 50 yards and piled up, I followed the tracks in the snow from where I shot it from and there was not a drop of blood. Had any one else had this same experience with Barnes vor-tx ttsx-bt 120gr? ( and please don't say blood trails don't matter if the deer went 50 yards, yes I want quick kills, but what if the deer would have went 100 yards without any snow?) Any ways any experience would be appreciated.
Also this is not trying to bash Barnes bullets or ammo, as I have used their ammo in 270s 30-06 and 450 bushmaster rifles as well with decent results.
Thanks

Unless you hit something major containing blood a blood trail isn’t guaranteed even with an exit.

I shot the deer through the heart and lungs. The entrance hole was the size of a dime and the exit size if a quarter.
Iv killed 40 deer with a rifle the past 20 years of hunting. Plus others with bow and arrow. Only two times I didn't get a blood trail was with the Barnes vor-tx ttsx-bt 7mm-08 120gr and the other time was a doe I shot with a flintlock at 80 yards with a round ball, she ran 90 yards down a mountain and picked up, when we skinned her out the musket ball went right through her heart. So I dont know if this was a rare occasion or what

Maybe the way you hit them quickly reduced their blood pressure to zero, so they didn't leak as much.

Did the bullet and it’s hydraulic effects somehow avoid lacerating any blood containing organ or artery before exiting?

Could this be like the proverbial piece of straw shot thru a telephone pole in a Hurricane? 🤷🏻‍♂️

I load the 120 TTSX for 7mm-08 and .284. They work real fine. They be dead right there.

But do they bleed?

Stuff happens. When my son was 10 or 11 he shot a big doe at about 50 yards with his .260 and 129 gr Interlock. I was sitting next to him and watched the deer run off. Didn’t appear hit. It was at last light and with a flashlight we only found a little hair. I decided he shot too far forward and only clipped her. Next morning at daylight I was back. Found the deer dead by zigzagging well over 100 yds thru thick woods. Entry/exit thru rear of shoulders. As far as I could tell the deer never leaked a drop. Inside of chest was wrecked. Sometimes they run dead.

BTW I’ve shot only 2 deer with the 120 TSX in my 7mm08. The only bullet change I plan to make is to TTSX.

I like to punch shoulders with the 120TTSX in the 7-08. Behind the shoulder, they always run with sparse blood spore, IME.

I’ve had decent luck on shoulders and lungs with the 120TTSX from the 7mm-08. They don’t often yield gushers like .30/.33/.35 cal cup/cores, but they are usually okay.

Shot a big doe this year at 75 yards with an 06 federal fusion 150 grain bullets, it ran 50 yards into the woods and no blood trail. Shot placement was 6 inches back from the elbow. First deer I have ever shot that has gone more then 10 feet with an 06. I think I need a bigger gun:)

I like the LRX more myself

i shot a doe this year with a 45 cal Barnes XPB from my muzzleloader at 45 yards. quartering to me, impacted in front of shoulder, exit offside behind last rib. No blood to follow. I heard it crash in the thick brush 50 yards away. All the blood was contained in the chest cavitiy. Bullet work as designed.

Can't speak to blood trails with the 7-08 120 TTSX. I prefer high shoulder or neck shots.

Me too, they don’t run.

I shoot 130 gr speer in mine. Shot a big doe in the eye at 80 yds. She didn’t like it much. Rem788 carbine

If the bullet expanded and left an exit hole the size of a quarter, it did it’s job. Lot of reasons for no blood trail.

Yup that works!

With this shot placement it is more common than you think. Yes, a shot behind the shoulder is certainly a deadly shot. But they will run, some farther than others. And they don't always bleed regardless of the bullet used. The barnes bullet did its job. I shot a big doe with my 7mm08 at about the same distance. I knew the shot was good. Just behind the shoulder. No blood found where she stood. I followed in the direction she went. I didn't find a drop of blood until I went 50 or 60 yds. and then it was only a drop or two every 10 yds or so. She went about 100 yds. The only shot I take behind the shoulder now is with a bow. Put it on the point of the shoulder or high shoulder and they will drop where they stand.

Yeah the deer seem pretty wrecked inside, but maybe it was just one of those rare occasions where I didn't get a blood trail. Have use of barns in my 270 and my 450 Bushmaster, usually it dumps been like a sack of potatoes

A doe I shot this year was a bit of a fluke, in that I hit her in the onside lungs at 100yds with a 7mm-08 shooting a 145gr softpoint and it exited in the middle of the offside shoulder, but I found only one speck of blood. I saw just a tiny little glint of blood in my flashlight and picked up the trail. No other blood, but she was lying there, stone dead, about 10yds into the brush. No arguments here, but I was surprised there wasn't more leakage. Odd stuff just happens sometimes, when it comes to blood trails, and you have to look at the overall picture, the sample size, and the average results.

One thing to remember don't blame the bullets....what possibly happened was you shot the deer the hide then covered the hole not allowing blood to exit threw the hole not leaving any or much blood to follow.....
I've seen it happen shot a 8 point behind the shoulder with a arrow opening day right at last light of deer season ran into very heavy cover found the bloody arrow in the ground no blood to be found....figured wait until morning then track....sat in the same stand and hunted the next morning half hour after sun rise a 8 point came by and I shot it ran the same way as the deer yesterday evening.....waited a half hour and tracked it had a great blood trail found both bucks 10 yards apart....
When I looked at the buck that didn't leave a blood trail it could be seen that the skin covered the entrance-exit hole because the deer was moving at the shot....

I have to say it’s the shot placement and no bullet on this one. The last whitetail I shot was in Nov. 2011, right before moving to AK. The landowner wanted some deer meat, so I obliged. A nice herd of all does and yearlings crossed over to the property I was on, and I put a 139 gr. SST from my .280 Rem., right behind the front shoulder. Not a lick of blood, and it ran about 40 yards before piling up in a pile of logs. While SST’s have a bad rep, this bullet did what it was supposed to do. Had I not seen it’s hind leg sticking out of the logs, I don’t know if I would have found the deer, as we did not see where it went.

Did you hit the heart at all? If you kill the pump, it can't pump.

I've shot a few in the heart and they died quickly but didn't leave much for blood to follow.

i can't speak to barnes ttsx but when the hits are high like that the blood has to get to the level of the hole to start leaking sometimes. deer can run a far piece in 10 seconds.
Big Ed

There are a million possible reasons for sparse blood trails, but blaming a bullet for not working in a dead deer isn't valid. TTSX perform very differently than cup and core bullets. We all have different expectations and desires for performance. Some like copper solids, some like SST and Ballistic tips. Both work on deer, as long as you know what to expect.

Also, never judge a bullet based on a sample of 1.......

We’ve killed a lot of deer with the 7mm-08, most recently using the 150 ELDX.

They have all fallen in sight. Farthest tracking was maybe 20 yards.

Hornady offers it in factory form.



P

Deer will run, especially with a harder bullet through the lungs.

The first deer I ever killed as a kid was a whitetail doe. I shot her heart out with a 130 grain pill from a 270 and she still got up an ran 60 yards into the woods.

If you want the dead right there or very little tracking, try a high shoulder or spinal shot or use softer, more explosive bullet to the heart/lungs.

Shot an 8 pt this past Nov crossing a bean field at last light…I was on field edge in a real tall box blind and deer got to 100 yds facing me and stopped…. was in my scope whole time as I watched him getting closer.I knew from experience exactly where was going to put the bullet soon as he stopped. Put a 130 TTSX handload 308 right in front of left shoulder in lower neck, saw him drop in scope as I pulled the trigger. Kicked one time. Took my time packing up, got down, walked up to him and head laying in a pile of blood running out id his mouth… never knew what hit him. Perfect shot no brag just fact. Bullet went angle down thru lungs and lodged in right leg bone….bullet weighted 129 gr on scale. Had it been a broadside shot would have hit him high shoulder 6 or 8” below spine and drop him in his tracks most every time as other have said.That shot hits the cluster of nerves and is instant death. Barnes bullets do there job if you do yours and if you learn where to put them saves a lot of tracking in most cases.

This was a tough ol' doe, even getting hit like this with a 130bt out of a 270. She jumped 5ft in the air, hammered the ground where she fell, got up, and ran another 50-60 yards. Tough animals.

With monos, you either need to push them fast or hit some bone for them to really do damage. If not they just perform as advertised, the front mushrooms back, doubling in size and they zip on on through......

sounds like in your case, from an elevated position, you hit high and rear lung and exited midish lung. Do to the way the lungs are built, High and rear lung does not bleed as much as low lung and that body cavity has to fill up to your exit hole before blood pours out.

I would suggest aiming FOR dead center of the shoulder blades with monos and you will be pleased with the results.

The blood thing is weird and sometimes it just happens. As I say you should always follow up in great detail on your shots. I was with a buddy this year pushed a doe to him and he shot twice. When I got there he was throwing his hat and sticks proclaiming he missed. 50 yards later and maybe 3 specks of blood and a piece of bone, he had put a round from his 7X57 right through the shoulder and heart. Not sure why she didn't bleed and she was full of blood but she also didn't go far at all. I am not sure what bullet he was using but it doesn't matter. Every now and then one wont bleed. We spent probably 45 minutes looking very hard before we found her given we had no blood to go off of.

My largest deer to date - 140 yards, 7-08 with a 12 gr TSX - hit on the white chest spot it transversed 3-ish feet of whitetail, including the spine, and I found it in the left rear ham just under the skin. It weighs 119.8 grains.

I'm really not sure what more I can ask of a game bullet.

^^^^^^^^ This is an often over-looked FACT! ^^^^^^^^^

I had the same result of spare blood twice this year shooting 140 gr Fed premium nosler BTs in 7mm08. Both bucks dead as Roy Clark 30 yards away. Both shot from an elevated position just behind the shoulder and exiting the other side slightly into the lower rear of shoulder. Not much blood for the first 20 yards but pretty good blood the last 5 to 10 yards to where they hit the ground. I could see where both piled up as it was in an uncharacteristically clear area. Just for kicks I tracked backwards to see how much blood was from where they were shot to where they stopped.
I was surprised at the lack of blood.