pass-through vs. internally expended energy?
 

Does anyone know of any studies on deer size game comparing the effectiveness of a pass through shot vs. a shot which expends all the bullet energy within the body of the deer? Looking for an objective study.

Thanks.

Don't know of any studies on it, but a complete pass through where the bullet expends all it's energy internally while barely exiting and leaving two holes is usually the best of both worlds!

There are all kinds of theories as well as conclusions. If you have a speedy bullet, say a 150gr from a .30-06 then you will have, depending on bullet design, the best of both worlds usually. Bullet expending a ton of energy and creating a massive wound channel while still retaining enough energy to pass through. This way, if you have chosen a particularly tough animal, you will have a good blood trail as 2 holes are always better than one.

Then you have the "big and slow" crowd which like to have a big bullet of a less tough design for easy expansion then plows right on through creating sufficient damage internally but still bulldozing it's way on through the animal.

Typically, most hunters like pass through performance. I am one of them. My choice of shots is high shoulder seen here:



Placed correctly, this will drop an animal in it's tracks. If you miss low, then you are still nailing lungs and possibly heart as well. Miss high and you will be more than likely missing the animal entirely so no walking off injuries. A perfectly placed high shoulder shot not only interrupts spinal function, but also takes out the lungs.

I prefer to just poke a hole through both lungs and out the other side, I hate ruining meat.

Ive got no problem tracking them 100 yards

Move down south, where you have swamps, cutovers, bears and coyotes, you might change your mind... ;)

Fast expanding bullets on center lung shots put them down faster than premium bullets like the Partitions, etc...With high shoulder shots, they all work as long as they bust the shoulder and put all that shock in the spinal cord...

partition in the neck and the deer is laying right where it was standing before shot. I reload for my 270 with 130 grain partition @ 2900fps and I wouldn't recommend shooting a deer in shoulder or missing a high shoulder shot or you will destroy a ton of meat. imo this projectile dumps majority of energy in animal but saves enough to exit.
I 99% of time shoot neck shots as long as deer is under 250 yards. but the 1 deer I have shot with them that wasn't a neck shot destroyed front part of deer. I could put my fist in exit hole.

depending on where you hit animal would depend on if you are wanting bullet to leave energy in animal or save enough to pass through.

He's got a very good point there Rock. It's also important if you are hunting public lands with high hunter population to drop a deer where it stands. That's the main reason I started using the high shoulder shot when I was living in PA. Not to mention, at my age, dropping them right there USUALLY means shorter drag time as well :D Of course there was that one time I arrowed a nice buck and danged if I didn't track it to 15 feet from my truck!!! Was awful nice of him wasn't it :D

I want 2 holes. More blood out and more air in disrupting the pressure in the chest.

Never heard of an official study, although I'd love to read it if someone has heard of one.

I honestly don't think either situation in inherently better, at least speaking from my admittedly limited experience. I've had some bullets stay in the deer and some bullets exit, but the end result has always been deer that was always recovered after a short run. What kills deer is extensive damage to internal organs. Whether a bullet exits or not isn't all that relevant if it leaves a gaping wound in both lungs and/or the heart.

Where an exit wound comes in handy is when you're following a blood trail. Creating two holes from which blood can exit and drip onto the ground would certainly be preferable to one hole if you're hunting in a lot of thick vegetation.

On a different note, super_hunt is right about the high shoulder shot. Put a bullet there, and it's game over for whatever you're hunting.