I'll throw a wrench in the gears.

I don't have anything againest Ballistic Tip (BT) bullets. And I have shot plenty of deer and hogs with them.

What goos said is pretty dead on the money. At higher velocities, mixed with close range, thats when you get cratering. Also, the smaller the caliber, the thinner the jacket, and the faster the speed, gives you an increased likely hood of a crater.

The BT was designed as a varmint bullet by Nosler. Called for the most part now-a-days a VMAX as its made by Hornady, an Accu-Tip by Remington, or a Ballistic Silvertip from Winchester, it has a platic cone which covers up a hollow point, lead cored, thin jacket bullet designed for rapid expansion. Fantastic on varmints and predators, and as lots of folks have found out, medium sized game too. Now, for big game, espeically at longer ranges, BTs are great because at those lower velocities out around 300+ yards, they still expand quickly, but don't blow up.

StubbleJumper is shooting some pretty hot rounds on some mighty big targets, and no doubt, dropping most of them where they stood. He didn't list his ranges, but even if a bullet like that does crater, the effect will still be pretty much the same. Some of the shots in Canada can be a fairly decent ways off...so the BT is a good performer.

Me, I'm a southern boy, and my average shot is under 100 yards. I shoot my deer high in the shoulder to take the spine, so I am shooting through bone. I prefer copper solid TSX bullets for this. Just how I do things, there is no one right way.

Out of my prefered 7mm-08, I haven't noticed any real serious cratering issues on game shot. I have had a couple not exit on larger pigs however, but the effect is the same...a big mess and a dead animal.

Accubonds are little more than BTs with a bonded core, and a thicker jacket. Same idea, only they don't expand are rapidly. Made for deeper penetration on heavy boned or larger game. I don't think a deer would noticed the difference if you hit him right, but ideally, if you are shooting behind the shoulder on deer, there are better choices than Accubonds.

What sort of area are you hunting? Whats your intended game, and what caliber are you using? What bullet weight?