Nuge, I haven' t shot a deer with a Ballistic Tip as of yet.I' ve heard different stories that if they hit a bone they disintegrate. My hunting partner has used them for a few years and has never lost a deer.Like any bullet shot placement is the key.I was going to use Federal Premium BT' s in my 7mm Rem Mag but my M-77 didn' t like them.I wouldn' t hesitate using them if my Ruger only liked them
Ruger Redhawk

Well I know some people who always shoot deer right through the shoulder and it hits the vitals but also breaks it shoulders which causes them to drop immediatetly or very quickly with little or no tracking. So my guess is I would not want to try this with a ballistic tip because it could just mushroom on the shoulder w/o penetration. BTW i shoot nosler partitions i am just asking because i want to know.

I have taken over 30 head of big game from pronghorn to bighorn to deer to moose to elk with ballistic tips and not one animal has covered 50 yards after being hit.Most drop on the spot or within a few yards.The bullets used were 100gr-.257" ,140gr-7mm and 180gr-.308" .The cartridges were the 257wbymag,7mmstw and 300ultramag with muzzle velocities from 3400fps to 3500fps.I use only lung shots as they have resulted in very quick kills for me.If you break both front shoulders the animal will drop with two quarters of meat damaged.If however you only break one shoulder an animal can run a long ways.I prefer my bullet to expend it' s energy destroying the heart and lungs which the ballistic tip does better than many other bullets.

I understand stubblejumper but what if you miss judge the wind on a long range shot and hit an animal in the shoulder? Will you be worried about penetration promblems or are you confident your bullet will punch right through?

nuge, I can comment my only poor experience with a BT was a flush shoulder hit on a good sized buck, it was purely the shooter fault as I yanked it right[:@][:' (]! It resulted in a busted shoulder and vital damage, but as SJ stated a deer can go a long way on one wheel. This buck did just that mostly because I pushed him, thinking I made a decent shot. He travelled a fair distance and it something I would not recommend in doing when using this style of bullet. Now mishaps can happen which it did in my case, but if you want to punch through shoulder bone better stick with a bullet that is meant to do that like a : Nosler Part, Failsafe, etc. BTW this was with a 130 gr. 270. My prefered shot is the H/l using the opposite side shoulder as backing or a straight through heart lung. In doing this I have never had a long track or lost animal with a BT style bullet and it is my bullet choice today for deer. Just in case or missing is something that never enters my mind, I approach it with when the shot is presented I will excute and that is how I load my rifle and pick the bullet style. Plain and simple if I can' t make the shot I don' t take it! If you are really worried about it or one who likes the just in case back up then go with a bullet that will be up to the task, however i would suggest you try and get over that fear. It will only make you a more confident and successful hunter in the end!

BTW I just tallied up my BT kills I am sitting at 19 and counting, of that the only problem was my fault which I explained. I think if you ask hunters honestly why a bullet may have failed it can be attributed to shooter error & not equipment error. This will of course include those who use the wrong bullet for the wrong application

I have hit the shoulder a few times by accident.The result was still a deer that dropped as the bullet still did enough damage to the lungs for a quick kill.However damage to the meat on that quarter was extensive.