ORIGINAL: frontier gander
if you took a shot like that, i'd cut your charge back down to 80 grains t7 and give it another try.
Was the entrance hole and exit hole the diameter of the bullet itself? When they are going to fast they sometimes not expand or they will over expand.
2 deer that i shot with 120 grains and 150 grains of powder went throught the deer and dropped them in their tracks, but the exit holes were the diameter of the bullet. Once i started to experiment with different charges and shooting into logs, i found that 80 grains triple 7 offered the best bullet performance. They dont over expand or loose any weight. I honestly would back it down to 80 grains like i said and give it another go. Powerbelt actually recommends charges from 60 grains to 90 grains maximum.
Yes Gander the Entrance and Exit holes were perfect size of the bullet, before and after skinning if you were to look at the deer you would NOT have known which side was the entrance side. The buck was almost broadside but a little quartering to me so the entrance was justbehind the tip of his right shoulder and the exit was about 3 to four inches off his left shoulder, I was only about 12 to 14 feet off the ground and between 125 to 140/150 yards. So the elevation height between entrance and exit wasn't a lot of difference in fact almost even.
Man I am getting some SUPER feedback on this post, you guys are GREAT! I will be making a few changes but unfortunately I will be making one change at a time so I will know what works the best for me. As far as going from T7 pellets to powder I think I will try that actually later but I will be making bullet changes first, I will be picking up a few different ones today and seeing which actually groups the best. I will certainly be breaking out the smoke pole for the at least one more kill and seeing how it works........BUT PLEASE don't get mad at me if I end up whinning and crying on your shoulder if I don't find another deer! Don't think my heart could take it! LOL
Seriously THANK YOU ALL!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
"See you in Camo"
CB