I think that's the Catch 22 with muzzleloaders...I have used them since the mid-70s, and frankly a round ball out of a .54 caliber usually gives as good a blood trail as anything in a muzzleloader...I have either killed or tracked deer shot with PowerBelts (295s), the Barnes 250 and 300 copper bullets, the Hornady 300gr XTP and the 240 gr XTP and the 250 Shockwaves....I now use the Shockwaves, because I can sight in 2 1/2 inches high at 100 yards and I'm 2 1/2 inches low at 150, and my Knight loves them...

When I hunt in eastern NC, I might be in a swamp or cutover in the morning and hunting over a soybean field that evening, so I want something that will shoot flat, a Shockwave gives me this....If I need to drop them right there I just take a high shoulder shot, and don't worry about a blood trail...

I have seen deer shot with all of these bullets, center lung shots, good exit wound...and very little blood for the first 50 yards....I have also seen deer hit the same way and had a good trail....So I just make sure I have a bullet that goes where I want it to and gives good penetration...That keeps me looking for the deer until I find it.