RE: First ML deer, finally!
Good job on the doe. Good eating deer for sure.
This is my opinion from about 25 years of shooting deer with 50 and 54 cal conicals. You do not need a bullet of this size to expand. You do want full penetration, even when bone is hit. I would be concerned if your bullet did not exit. To me that means the bullet failed. Some amount of expansion is not bad of course, but it's just not needed with bullets this size if you can put a hole through the shoulders. Even if you don't break them down there will be an easy and short blood trail to follow.