Sling

I need to run one more poll to totally understand how the users on this site compare cartridges. I will use deer cartridges as an example. And just so that everyone is on the same page, let's stick to heart/lung shots (no immobilization shots).

Which statement best represents your thoughts when you are comparing cartridges.

homers brother

There are just too many variables to consider than simply how far a deer goes (or not) after it's been shot.

"Which caliber rifle legal in your state for deer do you shoot the best" would be a better question, IMO. I hunt deer with either a .243 or .30-06. While I certainly don't consider the .30-06 the recoiler my .300 or my .375 are, I shoot the .243 more comfortably and - consequently - I'm more prone to concentrate on putting the shot where it needs to go than I am wondering whether I'll break my collarbone. And, that probably influences in turn how many more bang-flops I've had with a .243 versus any other caliber in my battery.

Sling

Homers Brother - Thanks, that is what I wanted to know. So, even if deer run farther with your 243 than your 30-06, that does not bother you at all, because you are confident with the 243. Therefore, you consider the 2 to be equal.

So, I am not sure if your vote would be that distance of travel is not an issue, or you are saying it is one of many variable, but not your top priority, but that is what this poll is getting at.

I have a feeling that the distance of travel after the shot is not the top priority of many other users on this site, and that probably also has something to do with the landscape of where they hunt.

zrexpilot

deer react different after being hit, sometimes they run sometimes they fall or go a little ways, and caliber makes no difference on how far they run.

bigbulls

With out a CNS hit there is absolutely no way any one could predict with any certainty what so ever how far a deer will travel after being hit with any cartridge. I have shot deer with magnum cartridges that have ran much farther than deer that I have shot with cartridges like a .270 or .243.

I have seen elk shot with magnum cartridges that have ran 75 or 80 yards and I have shot elk with my .270 that reared up on their hind legs like a horse and flopped over dead on their back.

I have also seen the exact opposite.

There is just no way to know how quickly an animal is going to run or how long it will take it to die after a shot to or through the lungs and/or heart.

Sling

It does not look like the poll is going to work, but that answers my question.

I agree that there is no way to predict how far an individual animal is going to travel after the shot, but I was thinking about trends and averages. On average, there must be some difference between calibers.

zrexpilot

nope,,,,,,,,,,,

nchawkeye

You will see more differences between type bullets used within the SAME cartridge than between two different cartridges...

About 10 years ago I set out to try every .243 factory loading on 6-8 deer to see the difference in factory loadings...What I found is that with one brand a lung shot deer might run 80 yards on average and with another it might be 50 yards...Bullets that get into the body and expand rapidly while staying inside drop deer quicker than one that expands slower and leaves energy in the ground on the off side...

Another example...My younger brother who shoots a .270 made an observation a few years back that we seldom had to track deer very far hit with my .243 but we did have to track his hit with a .270...He knew he had a bigger gun so he felt his deer should hit the ground quicker...He just hasn't killed as many as I have and hasn't figured out the best place to hit them especially when they are at an angle...

elgallo114

The only way to compare cartidges is with known ballistics. After that you'd have to interview the dead deer to find out why they ran as far as they did.

Seriously. There are so many known and unknown factors in this question that thousands of hunters, military personell, and manufacturers have been trying to figure that out since firearms were created.

How come one man shot with a 9mm in the head dies, and another does not? Ask God. He may know. That's about as close as you're gonna get with this question.

Pick the caliber you're gonna shoot. Then pick the best ammo you can reasonably afford. Then practice. Then go shoot something. It really is that simple. Sometimes you gotta track, sometimes you don't.

Sling

nchawkeye - I think we are kind of the same page. I am not worried about how individual deer react because there will always be extremes. What I am getting at is the average distance they run like you said. The smaller the sample size you have to look at less likely it is to be accurate. But that information is still valuble, because for every bad set of data from one hunter should be offset by someone else. I wanted to look at many hunters and average the results.

In your example, you tried a bunch of bullets before you found the right one. But your average is still ok, because the same thing will be happening with many other people on other calibers. If you think about the big picture. everyone is doing the same thing and if you combine everyone’s results, the extremes will be eliminated leaving an average.

One thing that cannot be true is that everyone getting the exact same results when they try different cartridges. The chances of that would be almost impossible. But you cannot just dismiss those differences, because there is probably a trend if you look at the combined average for everyone.

So, I think some people are hesitant to put a number down, because it does not support their position, and they want to dismiss it to chance and variation. In your example the 270 distances being longer than the 243, that does not bother me at all, because if that data is good, it will be confirmed by other hunters. If it is a one off situation, it will be offset by someone that had a very good result with a 270. If everyone put down what they were seeing, that should eliminate the extremes and give an accurate number.

Even with all of that, all I was really asking for was the range of distances people were seeing. I had not even dug down to talk about any calibers. Even at that level, nobody wants to get into any discussion about the variation they are seeing.