bronko,
good advice for sure. Indeed the lost animals were due more in part to poor shot placement than the bullet itself. Its tempting to read similar stories on this forum and assume euipment is the culprit when in fact, poor shot placement is to blame. I may purchase some paper deer targets and practice picking my shots. I also may consider working up two different load/bullet combinations, one for shorter rages and one for long. I don't want to lose faith in this bullet as its lonrage accuracy in my gun is fantastic.
BTW, the load was 100 gr of 777 and a 25o gr Shockwave (non-bonded) with the black sabot. As for my shotgun, I shoot the 12 gauge Remington Copper Solids through a fully rifled barrel out of my 11-87 and have taken over 50+ deer with that combo. The copper solids leave a blood trail that looks like a crime scene.