Thats "generally decent advice" & I adopted that trick nearly 30yrs ago, BUT eventually I learned that with "super bullets/heavy penetrators" you can get into "semi-trouble" when going strictly for the off shoulder. I've had it happen more than once, the deer were standing facing away at 45ish degs, I aimed the bullet for the off shoulder & let fly. What happened was the rear lobe of the off-side lung & that shoulder were toast for sure. But with an otherwise intact heart, 1 whole lung left & 3 good legs the deer can quickly make 150+ yds & may or may not leave a bloodtrail that Stevie Wonder could lead Ray Charles down!

So after doing that a time or two I came up with the "field goal shot"! That being, I imagine that the animals front shoulders are uprights of a football field goal & of course I want to put the "bullet/ball" as close to dead center thru those uprights. That 99% assures of a hit thru BOTH lungs & most times, damages the heart (or at least its "fuel lines") as well. Now obviously the classic broadside, two clean broken shoulders plus wiped out lungs is THE most lethal but when your shot angles change, the terminal ballistics likewise change accordingly!

You could shoot 2 deer with the same load distance etc.... and one drops right there, and another, acts like nothing happened, runs off and tips over in 200yards.

the 7mm mag and 140ttsx is certainly lethal on mulies.

if a different load gives you more confidence, go with it, but I think, that's mostly just the randomness of hunting/shooting/killing big game animals.

I remember a buck my dad took with a 12ga slug at maybe 50yds, just stood there, my dad put I think 4 rounds into the deer, eventually it staggered off, died, when field dressing we found 4 rounds all right in the heart region, good tight group, crazy to think the deer didn't just fall over after the 1st shot, but that's hunting.
It was a big buck however...

WOW.................

Now you know why you don't want to be under gunned when hunting dangerous game !!! :bash:

Yeah, gotta watch out for Bambi, hims a mean cuss! :evil:

Don't fall into the trap that so many do, assuming the rifle cartridge/caliber needs to be more powerful because of dismal results of the chosen bullet. I've done things with various 7mm cartridges that God and the manufacturer never intended to be done with em. Barnes do expand kind of slow most of the time. Also no 2 deer are going to react the same exact way when shot, even if hit in the same place. Try Nosler Ballistic Tips, Nosler Accubonds, or Bergers and I'm positive you'll see quicker drops.

I'd just go back to the .270

A bullet through the pump and the machine can't run... It's really as simple as that.

:fighting0007:

Super,

Seems you missed the point.

I shoot ground squirrels with a .17HRM, .204, even a .223 & they still crawl back to their holes with their guts spilled all over the ground.

Now, if I'm gotta hunt bears.............?!?! :lolabove:

I'll 2nd that. Proven bullet, proven cartridge, perfect expansion and well within range: just don't add up.
Seems like a lot of phonies are attracted to this site. Start a thread to generate a little personal excitement, never to be heard from again.

Guess I'm 1 of those phonies LOL!