Likewise, some of the inflated prose written by the ultra-high velocity boys makes me want to snap my lunch. To the true believer a bullet traveling over 3000 fps when it hits the target kills like electrocution. The animal just stiffens and dies on the spot, his entire circulatory system blown by "hydrostatic shock." Bullet placement doesn't seem to make much difference, anywhere in the body will do. Intentionally gut shot deer die quicker than those shot squarely through the lungs with a standard velocity caliber. (These guys never accidentally put a bullet too far back, of course.) I wonder how many people believe this stuff, and how many deer run off to die a miserable death because of it?
Both the high velocity guys and the big bullet boys write that their favorites will stop a deer (or some other game animal) when the bullet isn't properly placed. That line of reasoning goes something like this: "Let's face it, not all bullets hit exactly where we aim them, and in those cases the ___ will anchor the animal where a lessor caliber will let him escape."
The only problem is that one "expert" is arguing that it takes something like a .257 Weatherby to perform this miracle, and the other "expert" is claiming that it takes at least a heavy medium bore bullet over .33 caliber to accomplish the same miracle. These are mutually exclusive claims.
I will tell you what I think. Disruption of vital functions kills animals. Massive destruction of organ tissue immediately necessary for life kills quickly. With any reasonable deer rifle caliber from .24 to .45, good bullet placement is what kills deer. If an adequate bullet that expands properly penetrates deep into where an animal lives he will stop living. If you shoot him in the guts, or the ham, or break a leg you are liable to have a problem regardless of the caliber with which you wound him. A good shot with a .30-30 will run up a long string of one shot kills, hardly ever requiring a finishing shot. A careless shooter with a .257 Weatherby or a .45-70 (both fine calibers, you understand) will litter the woods with wounded animals that are never recovered.