Knockdown Power
 

I just read an article on a new theory about why some animals drop in their tracks and others run before dropping. Some veterinarians were involved in a buffalo culling operation in Africa. All the animals were shot in the heart-lung area and as you would guess, some dropped where they stood and some did not. All the buffalo were examined and dissected, and when they removed the brains of the ones that were knocked down instantly, they discovered massive rupturing of blood vessels in the brain. The ones that had not fallen instantly did not have this damage. They concluded that the bullets that killed instantly had struck the animal at the same moment of it' s heartbeat. The arteries to the brain were already carrying a full surge of blood pressure and when the bullets hit, it created a huge amount of additional pressure and caused the vessels to rupture...Makes sense I guess.

What do you think?

RE: Knockdown Power
 

Sounds good to me. It makes sence.

RE: Knockdown Power
 

IT' s Called SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM[>:][8D]

RE: Knockdown Power
 

beat,beat: shoot! no, wait. beat, beat: shoot! No wait. Darn, now I don' t know when to shoot. Lets see, figure a heatrate of 60 and I am shooting a 180 gr bullet 250 yards..... AAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Sounds interesting, but don' t help us much.

RE: Knockdown Power
 

Very interesting.

RE: Knockdown Power
 

Bullets with great expansion like ballistic tips at high velocity from a powerful caliber will drop an animal in its tracks.

For example a 300win mag shooting a 150gr ballistic tip will drop an antelope in its tracks with a good double lung shot.

I see coyotes drop in their tracks all the time from the explosive varmint bullets out of a .223 or 22.250

Conversely controlled expansion bullets generally won' t drop an animal in its tracks unless the spine is hit.

I have never seen an elk drop in its tracks unless the spine was hit, but I' m sure others of you out there may have seen it.

The high shoulder shot which gets the spine will drop animals in their tracks.

These are methods you can use to drop animals in their tracks with some consistency, if you find that important.

Interesting info on the heart beat theory.

RE: Knockdown Power
 

I read an article by a veterinarian about this topic and his thought was the aorta was the key. If you hit the heart, the circulatory system has valves to keep blood pressure up and the animal lives for a while and can run off.

This guy said, if you hit just above the heart and unhook the aorta and major plumbing, the animals blood pressure drops instantly and they " faint" . They then expire from massive blood loss while unconscious.

It make and interesting theory also.

KC

RE: Knockdown Power
 

I read that also .. I think that could be the answer. I know I have shot deer with the same gun in the same place with different results .. Bill

RE: Knockdown Power
 

it is somthing to make you go hmmmm. You know as long as they don' t run far from a hart and lung shot I don' t care were they fall as long as they fall :D;)

RE: Knockdown Power
 

well that goes against what i thought i thought if you did your best to hit the deer in a multiple vital zone it would drop (heart and both lungs)
but i do believe that that could make all the difference