Smokin Feathers

Give the 64gr powerpoint a try, expands and puches on through even on double shoulder shots. The swift 75gr scirrocco II at 3500 fps out of the 224 will do more than any 243 load I have used, talk about impressive!! Ive used the 223 and 22-250 on tons of deer and hogs and as long as you use and good bullet and put it in the right place you have no problems. The hornady 55grspwc leaves dang good blood trails as well if they manage to make it very far. I use the 22's on small tx deer and hogs with great success, several hundred does and hogs on culling operations cant tell the difference in .019 in starting diameter of the 243.

cjwink

Never had any problems with 22 caliber rounds on deer.. You would be suprised how much better a shot you are with a lighter caliber..

KOdiak Kid

I highly recomend reading PO Ackley's Volume 1 on ballistics and cartridges, it will put to rest any concerns you might have regarding the use of a 22 250 or 220 swift on deer.

c j

What's difficult to believe is that people don't realize bullets and arrows are designed to do completely different things. The object of the bullet is to penetrate, then expand and deliver shock (by transferring energy) to the animal. Arrows are supposed to pass through the animal. They kill by cutting as they go through, causing the lungs to collapse and/or the animal to bleed out quickly. That's why it's key to have broadheads razor sharp. A compound bow will deliver an arrow THROUGH a metal bucket filled with sand, whereas a .30 caliber bullet will stop inside the bucket.

So yeah, I'd feel much better about my chances of killing -and tracking- a deer hit through the lungs with a good broadhead than I would one hit in the same spot with a 223. The broadhead exit hole is going to leave a bloodtrail a mile wide. A 223 with fmj is going to punch a tiny little hole that will likely not bleed all that much.

This is also why fmj bullets are not legal for hunting in some areas.

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with a 223 or 22-250, either - depending on what they're used for. I just don't think they are a good choice for deer or other big game.

ipscshooter

One of my hunting buddies shot a doe last weekend with his bow. Said he could see 6" of arrow stick out both sides of her. We couldn't find a drop of blood.

jeepkid

That EXACT same thing happened to me three years ago. I have not bow hunted since.

falcon

"One of my hunting buddies shot a doe last weekend with his bow. Said he could see 6" of arrow stick out both sides of her. We couldn't find a drop of blood."

Several years ago i shot asmall buckon Ft. Sill with a crossbow. The bolt was sticking out both sides. The buck took off and there was not a drop of blood to follow. Heard a vehicle stop on a nearby road when i was trying to track the buck. In about five minutes the vehicle drove off.

Few days later i met a drill sergeant hunting in the same area. He told me that a buck with a "shortarrow" in it droppeddead right in front of him a few days before and that he had taken it and checked it in.Told him that the bolt had green and white fletching. Yep, it was the deer i shot. He said there was only acouple drops of blood on the road where the buck fell.

c j

I've heard of that happening to people. (arrow not exiting or passing completely through) If the arrow doesn't go all the way through, you'regoing to have blood trail issues, since the arrow itself isrestricting the flow of blood through the wounds.

It shouldn't happen, though, really. If you're at a reasonable distance and shooting sharp broadheads with a tuned bow, that arrow should go right through the ribs. I've had arrows go through and continue on to bury themselves 8" into the ground and I don't shoot heavy draw weights. I've also had arrows that *didn't* pass through turkeys, though. (which is often times better when hunting turkeys, but that's a different matter.) Found out that my bow wasn't tuned and the arrows were coming out slightly off-kilter, which saps a great deal of their momentum upon impact. Think of it like a drinking straw. If you hold your thumb over one end and jab it hard into a potato at a right angle, it will go all the way through. But if you were hitting it at less than a right angle, it'll bend/fold up and there's no way it goes through. The force needs to be directly behind (in line with) the tip. If the tip is off to one side of where the back (where the force is coming from) you're going to have problems.

Paul L Mohr

You don't have to get a pass thru on a deer to kill it and recover it. Many traditional set ups do not have the power to get complete pass throughs every time. And smaller people like me don't always get them either because of the reduced draw length and draw weight we shoot.

If you make a good shot on a deer into the lungs it should still leave a blood trail. A lot of the blood coming from the deer comes out of the mouth and nose because it is choking on it's own blood. And I have shot deer with the arrow in them that still left a decent blood trail. I mean the broad head is at least an inch in diameter and the arrow is only between 18 and 24/64's of an inch in diameter. That still leaves plenty of room for blood to poor out of.

I will agree though, a double lung pass through is always better.

Paul