driftrider

Anyone who tells you that the 7mm Mag isn't sufficient for hunting deer is a flat out moron. There is no kind way to state it and still be honest. The next time someone tells you that your 7mm Mag isn't enough for deer, you'd be best advised to turn and walk quickly away before they lower your IQ by osmosis.

That said, any deer can run a long way if hit poorly, no matter what cartridge you use, even if the hit will ultimately be fatal. You say that you lost a deer that you shot "just behind the shoulder," but what I hear this made I usually think that the shot was actually much worse than called. Unless you actually witnessed the hit, or say blood running from the hole that confirms the placement, I'd tend to think that you probably pulled the shot, or maybe had the bullet deflect off a branch resulting in a very poor hit or even a complete miss (hence no blood at all).

Anyway, if you place the shot into the vital organs with a 7mm Mag, the deer will die, and die fairly quickly. Any animal can run a ways after a ribcage hit that doesn't damage a shoulder. I've had deer run almost 100 yards with half its heart turned into blood jelly, but even andrenaline can only keep a so wounded animal moving for a very short time (it doesn't take long for a deer to run 100 yards). The 7mm Mag is more than enough for deer with any bullet weighing 140 grains or larger. Placed properly they will kill deer quickly, resulting in little if any tracking being required. If you are worried about too little blood for tracking, choose a premium high weight retention bullet like the Barnes TSX or Nosler Accubond that will virtually guarantee a passthrough on a broadside shot. If you want a high probability of a DRT hit, choose a rapid expansion bullet like a Nosler Ballistic Tip, Rem Core Lock or any of the less expensive non-premium soft points like the Winchester Super X Power Points or Federal Power-Shok "blue box." If you want a virtual guaranteed Dead Right There (DRT) hit, your best bet is to take shoulder shots. Destroy one or both front shoulders and it becomes physically impossible for the deer to stand, let alone run. Break the shoulders and they go straight down and die quickly. The downside is that you'll lose a lot of edible meat, especially with a high velocity round like your 7mm Mag. If you use a controlled expansion, non-fragmenting bullet like a TSX, expect to lose 50% of the shoulder meat. If you use a rapid expansion bullet that loses most of its weight to fragmentation, expect to lose the whole thing. Just the way it is.

Oh, and one last thing regarding the 7mm Mag not expanding because it's "going too fast." This is utter BS. The rate of bullet expansion is proportional to the energy the bullet has when it arrives, because it is the bullet own energy that causes it to expand. Higher velocity bullets, all else equal, will ALWAYS expand FASTER and often to a greater degree in a liquid medium than an identical bullet at lower velocity. In other words, your 7mm Rem Mag, pushing a 140 grain bullet at 3200+ fps will expand faster than a 7mm-08 fired at 2900. It's a bit counterintuitive, but it is the way it is.

IMO, the 7mm Mag is actually a bit OVERGUNNED for whitetails at normal ranges (under 300 yards), but the deer will still be very dead.

Mike