Paul L Mohr

Deer are not made of water. That test was to see how safe you would be under water if you were shot at. It has nothing to with hunting lethality. They also did one where they shot several weapons into a pig or side of beef or something balanced on a release. This was to see how much energy certain weapons could transfer at the target. They were trying to bust the myth about people being blown backwards when shot with a gun.

This also has nothing to do with lethality of a weapon, other than it proves most weapons actually transfer very little energy to the target, or more so the target absorbs that energy. So you are not going to knock a 150 lb deer off it's feet with any weopon you can legally hunt with. You might drop it in it's tracks from shock to the nervous system, but not physically knock it down.

One of the things that determines how well something will work on game is how the bullet is constructed and how it performs in the animal. The better the bullet design and velocity the better chance you have of killing something. While a shotgun slug is heavier, it isn't as fast nor does it react the same in game because of the lower velocity and bullet design. I have seen slugs punch right thru a deer and have it run 90 yards with double lung shot. Actually doing very little damage inside the animal. Other than destroying the lungs, which is what you wanted anyway.

However do this with a high powered rifle with the proper bullets and the wound channel and trauma will be much greater, thus more effective. If you take the same rifle though and use a FMJ bullet instead it will just zipp right thru the animal in most cases. I'm sure it will kill it, but not as effectively as the bullet that was designed to expand while penitrating.

Paul