I don't wanna know what bullet you use.
 

I want to know what you consider good enough for hunting.

Are you happy with tracking an animal 100 yards? Are you happy with the animal being alive kicking when you walk up to it? What do you consider acceptable performance on game?

My expectations are higher then most. So I need to hear some other opinions on this. I'm testing some new bullets I'm not happy with. But others might be.

Again, please do not mention any bullet types. It will turn right back into name calling and the in mature posters will post again.

I need at least a 2" group at my shooting distance, and have it hit where i'm looking for hunting.

In other words. I need to hit within 2" of the center of the kill zone, or I won't use the load.

I have no problem tracking a shot animal. If I put the bullet where it belongs, then tracking is part of hunting.

I prefer a pass through, but I don't always get it.

Perfectly good with tracking.its one of the best SKILLS a hunter needs to improve on as the years go by.

No fool proof bullet out there period. It all comes down patience practice and skill.Only you can determine your limitations.

1) No. However I've harvested enough to know that it happens.
2) No.
3) Assuming you're asking for bullet performance, a complete pass through with the projectile fully expanding and functioning as designed. The projectile must be 100% dependable and reliable.

I strive for full penetration from any angle I shoot from. Do I get it? Well most of the time. My Lee 501-440-RF bullets are paper patched and sized to fit the barrels of my guns. I have only found two bullets. One was a cow elk that was punched through the shoulder and I found the bullet in the hip. For me that was not disappointing to find the bullet. It had done it's job. I also found one on a deer my son shot this year. It hit back by the hip and went forward lodging under the neck skin. Again I was not disappointed since the deer was DRT.

I strive for sub 2" groups at 100 yards. I don't like to track but when I have to I want blood coming out of both sides of the animal. Again I want full penetration.

I hold my 45 to the same standards. That one is a 409 gr paper patched RCBS 11mm rifle bullet.

On both bullets I have customized my hardness so I get the best results on both paper and game. These two bullets have piled up a lot of game for me and the guys that have used them. I don't care about the rainbow trajectory since my peep sights are adjustable and I hold dead on for any shot that I take.

For me these bullets are not just good enough, they are in my opinion perfect.

Read the title again. :p

The reason he didn't want bullet types mentioned is due to product loyalty and fights that come from that. Mine are not off the shelf bullets and can not be purchased so no one here but me is loyal to the brand.

100 yard accuracy around 2 inches, hits like a freight train with only 110gr equiv of t7 , has a weight around 260 grains and rhymes with Fosler.

Heart sized groups at 100 yards

Two holes 90% of the time

Reliable expansion 100% of the time

2/3 or better weight retention for cup and core bullets. Monolithic types must perform as designed every time.

If the animal is not dead by the time ive waited a few minutes and climbed down from my stand, either me or the bullet did not achieve the kill i wanted.

Perfect Scott - and I can attest to the fact on occasions - I need to track - I hate it because I have become so accustomed to fact with the right bullet placement and the right bullet - I do not need to look for an animal.

This weekend a low shot and the stamina of an elk caused me some problems. Given if I could have put the bullet exactly where I wanted it the results would have been totally different. Not always do the best laid plans work the way they are suppose to. There can always be some uncontrolled circumstances.

I have shot mostly copper jacketed, lead core bullets. I shoot a lot, probably 15-20 range sessions each year and have always figured premium bullets were too expensive because I want to hunt with what I shoot.

After 10 years or so of doing the above, I'm changing my mind. I now think one should practice with XTP's or the like ( practice is very important ) and then switch to a premium bullet for the hunt. Hunting shots are too hard to come by and I think there' a significant difference with some of the bullets available.

Awesome!!!! Yes, if people could learn as easy as you😉👍

Most don't understand that Mike. But how true it is.

I've always practiced with the same bullet I hunt with, regardless the price and yes, a thousand or more rounds get expensive each year. But if you love shooting and what you're doing, its not such a steep price to pay.

I couldnt shoot just one bullet,that would get boring.

The only deer I had to track this year was shot with a .30-06! The ML kills were DRT or within 15yds. The '06 kill still ran 50-60yds shot through both lungs, no blood trail at first, an upon skinning him you could stick your fist through the hole in his ribs. They are tough animals...

How True!!! found that out this week!

Shooting should never get boring if you love shooting. It won't when you try to shoot better today than you did yesterday and better tomorrow than today, even with the same bullet or rifle. To many would rather "experiment" than to try and perfect their own confidence, sadly.

I would like to think I really do shoot a lot in a year! but I know as compared to some others I really do not. I can suggest to you that I shoot 8-10 jugs of T7 in any given year.

And I do shoot a lot of different bullets in range session with many different amounts of powder. Really with the rifles I am shooting nothing changes much on the other end no matter which bullet, sabot, or powder load.

I very seldom shoot the bullet that I hunt with (I can not afford it + all the other things I want ) until it comes to hunting season then I will go out and verify load and 'POI'

I am not a perfectionist when it comes to group sizes. I could shoot a bullet(s) for hunting that are more accurate than I hunt with but I much prefer shooting a bullet with the best 'Terminal Performance'. Currently I shoot a variety of bullets that I can almost shoot blindfolded and get 1 1/2 to 2" groups at a 100.

I really believe the more shooting you do the more prepared you are to shoot!

That's why I have to chuckle when guys want a DRT every time. It's not possible unless you hunt with a bazooka.

I know and I agree but I have become so accustomed to that type of performance 95+% of the time - I expect it all the time - but reality struck this weed end! First time in a long long time

What I want: The bullet I shoot I want complete confidence in my ability to be accurate with it at range I am confident I am make. I want to know it will penetrate through the vital organs and even better, out the other side. But I want damage to major critical organs. I want to know that it will expand a little. After all most of them are almost 1/2 inch to begin with. So I know the hole through the body will be enough to get the job done. And I want the animals and bullets I hunt with to know that if the shot is not do-able, I will not take it.

While I consider myself an excellent tracker, I don't want to track. But if I have to, then I do it.

I wasn't thinking of you when I posted it. Don't take it personally, but I hardly ever read hunting/range reports. So, I didn't know about your hunt.

Have to agree completely and without hesitation on that. I call it building confidence.

I'm on my 4th CASE this year.

Must be nice to have the money and the time to shoot that much!

i want a gun that puts the bullet where it is pointed. i want a bullet/ball that expands reliably. Could care less if the bullet exits. Nothing beats close range shots.

My shots are picked very carefully. This afternoon i deer hunted with my .50 caliber TC New Englander. Weather was overcast and sometimes drizzly. About sunset i passed on a big doe at about 65 yards because my sight picture was not right. Would have been a slam dunk with a scoped rifle.

i have numerous types of muzzleloader bullets. Those that i have tried worked out very well except for that awful 300 grain TC PTX bullet that did not expand when driven by 150 grains of 777.

Many of those bullets will soon go away; i'm back to basics.

This outlines what I believe is best.

That about sums up my thoughts too.

Obviously some bullets are not designed to expand such as hardcast. I would consider them a monolithic of sorts. They usually perform as designed.

the bullets i use group @ 1" @100 yrds no i don't like tracking usually don't have to but if i do i usually find them with in 100 yrds & 99% of the time there drt but did have one kick for about a minute once& i expect & do receive complete pass thrus & inners are like jelly. i practice with what i hunt with & i shoot a couple hundred dollars a year on powder,bullets & targets. you don't practice with a vw @ the drag strip! makes sense to me

The hard cast flat nosed bullets are kind of in a league by their own. They are a great bullet for shoulder shots. A friend uses them on elk and moose, they do break a animal down and they do exit every tme.

IME: Big hogs shot behind the shoulder with 280 and 330 Harvester grain hard casts travel a little farther than those hit with an expanding bullet.

I want a bullet that is accurate (2 MOA) and expands at moderate velocity, and either expends all of its energy in the animal or has just enough to pass through on a broadside shot.
But as for tracking an animal - that not only depends on the shot but also on the animal itself. I've hit deer in the same spot that either dropped right there or only went a few yards to those that took off like a scalded cat. I believe it depends on their 'alert' status. I've also read that it depends what position the heart is in (relaxed or contracted) at the shot. But that's just here say and cannot be proven.

That 44-cal XTP (regular) in 300 grain did well on my pine tree-trunk tests over the weekend.

But wait, hold on to your hat, when I tell you what the 2nd best one was. Now this test was with five different bullets and I gauged the results on penetration and the width of bark that was missing after the shot.

Are you ready?...... believe it or not, the bullet that left the biggest dent in that Michigan pine was a 240gr T/C Cheapshot. OMG, I couldn't believe it myself.

BTW..... My 270gr Powerbelt Platinum left a bigger hole in that tree trunk than my 405gr Powerbelt lead HP. On a side note, I always use a fiber wad first, prior to loading any Powerbelt. In ending, I was shocked as to how little that tree trunk was marked, using a 405gr bullet.

The 5th bullet in that test was the 200gr 50/40 Hornady SST. Left damage to the trunk on the same level as the Powerbelt Platinum...... darn good bullet there too.

I had heard prior reports on that el-cheap Cheapshot exiting deer routinely..... like 40-50% of the time. I never believed it until the size of that trunk imprint convinced me. Impressive.

I like these soft pine tests better than the thin board / carpet / phone book waterjug tests. Last year the winner was the PA Conical Maxi-bullet in 270gr. The lead mushroomed into the pine tree, leaving a mushroom between the size of a nickel and quarter. The only similar conical I tried this year was the Hornady Great Plains 385s. It did not leave any lead whatsoever in that tree trunk.

When is tree trunk season anyway? I seem to have missed it.

I think your posting on the wrong thread.

4-5 times of the year, whenever I make that 200 mile trek upnorth. My bullets and guns always come with me.

No trees where you live?

I need to travel 100 miles to find state land. Then I would be lucky to find a wounded or dead soft pine there to shoot at.

Pine country in our state starts in mid-Michigan and I live in Southeast Michigan.

Our Huron National Forest where I test those bullets comprises hundreds of square miles in mid/Norther Lower Michigan. That's where many junk pines, evergreen pines and oaks are. Our state government is currently allowing deforestation like crazy/ Log trucks going down the road are everywhere in mid-state and higher.

Where we hunted, I could hear the saws going in the distance. Pretty sad indeed, for all hunters there. Only ones not complaining are the wood burning stove homes. Costs them 1/3rd the amount that propane does for the winter. Place where we stayed burns 15-1/2 cords per winter (725 dollars). Prior to that, he paid a little over 2K in propane.

I hunt private property, often close to boundary lines. I cannot afford long tracking. If I know I am close to the property line, I will go for a high shoulder and sacrifice some meat for as close to a drt as possible. If I know I have some cushion between the deer and someone else's property, double lung. BUT, I still expect that deer to go down within 100yds. If it does not, either I am not doing my job or I need another bullet. Since I have only used bullets that I have very high confidence in, it would more likely be the former.