I have seen those videos of hunters shooting whitetail and as soon as you hear the rifle crack, the whitetail bolts quickly....

Either not my good luck, or that I hunt mule deer, but I have different reactions. Soon as you make the shot you can tell if it was a killing shot. Last year I shot a buck with about 10 does around him. After the shot they all bounced off (kinda like rabbits,dont run like whitetail) except the buck... he looked around like wtf... I thought I missed? He took 3 steps like he had been drinking and dropped hard.

Used 7 Mag 162 grain SST's... kinda big but y buddy swears on them. No exit! But that is another story on bullets. I liked the effect, but also like the penetration (and exit) of the basic soft points.