Margin for error. ?????
 

This saying has got to go, theres no such thing as margin for error. Plain and simple if you miss the vitals no matter what caliber you use that deer aint going down, be prepared for a long tracking job. Another tired saying " good brush gun" no such thing.

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

i agree wiht margin for error but i disagree with good brush gun. there is such a thing.

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

Margin of error is the little extra to reach the vitals if you have to punch thru more than a broad side shot or needs to break a shoulder and still exit or if you are slightly off mark and only hit the back of 1 lung. High shock small diamiter and penatration cal some times lack it .
I agree that no bullet will bust brush and still get to the target ,not even a 12 gau slug will do it .
IMO a brush gun is a shorter barreled quick handeling rifle not a brush buster

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

I agree on both counts. A poor hit with any caliber has the same result. There can be a margin of power but you still have to put the bullet in a good spot. Yes Brush will deflect and bullet of any speed or weight.

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

You know that reminds me of something. The first day of archery here in MD, my buddy shot too far at this 4 pt and it hit a little branch and nailed him in the arse. Where the tail it. Don't know how he managed to hit it. Anyway we were both hunting pretty close and I saw it hit. It parallized that deer's back hind leg. So all it could do is throw itself up with one back leg and pull itself. It came by me a few min later. And I put a arrow thru its lungs at 30. But I have yet to see such a ugly shot that was so effective.

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

Not so , my friend also hit a buck in the rear hind it was a hip shot and the deer could barely and I mean barely walk, we waited till morning and found it not far at all poor thing was still alive but couldnt get up and place another shot to finish him. This friend has always been this lucky, no matter if it's a bad shot we find his deer, I've made some pretty good shots in my opinion with my bow and have lost a couple of deer. Go figure.

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

I use the saying margin for error in explaining my reasons for using lungshots instead of headshots.Since the lung area is a much larger target it gives me a greater margin for error.

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

I can't say I'm proud of this but I shot my first deer at about 14 yrs of age in Hawaii. Thick bushy landscape full of mesquite trees and small area, you often see deer at less than 20 yards sprinting thru trees. 3 bucks was running away thru the trees, I shot the last one, clipped his spinal cord right above hind legs. Friend went and finished him right after. Funny, the only other deer shot there, I hit him in the neck jumping over a hill. Spine shot also. Dead before he hit the ground.

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

I agree Stubblejumper, there is a margin for error, with good shot placement! As you've said, there is a good margin for error with lung shots, and little or no margin for error with head and neck shots.
There are also good brush guns. Shorter barreled, with low magnification scopes, are good brush guns! There are NO "brush busters!" All calibers of bullets will be deflected by contact with brush!

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

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RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

Here's one way to look at "margin for error"...

Say I shoot a .30-06 with a fairly soft bullet, maybe a tougher JHP. Typically, when I shoot JHP's , unless I break the shoulder, I get an exit wound of about 4-5". Say I take a broadside shot, but miss the near lung by 1.5" to the rear. Since the wound tract is basically conical, by the time it reaches centerline of the body, it should be 2-2.5", maybe it would be 3" in diameter by the time it reaches the far lung, so it would take about 2" off the bottom end of the farside lung. With similar bullets in a .243, I typically only get about 1-2" exit wounds...that'd miss the lung completely. If I shot a .45-70 with soft enough bullets (that didn't fracture), I'd venture I'd get about a 6" exit wound, so I could miss by about 3" and still reach a little part of the lungs.

We're not running arrows through deer with a high powered rifle, we do a bit of tissue damage. The more tissue damage you to, the greater margin of error you get. No, shooting a .30-06 instead of a .243 doesn't mean you can miss the vitals by 4", but it does give you a little more leeway.

I had a similar experience with Win. Balistic Silvertips twice. The first time, I hit a little rearward of the heart-a good rear lung broadside hit. The rear lobe of the near lung was wasted, but the ENTIRE far lung was destroyed, and the heart was lacerated substantially. Fragments of my bullet, mostly the jacketing, had shredded the heart and far lung, as well as the upper reaches of the stomach on the other side. Had I been using less frangible bullets, I'd have only had a double lung hit (still deadly) on the lower lobes, likely would have chased the deer for 100yrds or so. Instead, I got a double lung and heart hit with only half a lung left in tact.

The second time was on a trotting doe at about 125yrds, broadside shot also. I didn't hold over far enough and hit her just behind the near lung. The near lung was fine, the lower lobe of the far lung was shredded.

And if you really want to split hairs, we all get a 4" margin for error, if I aim directly at the center of the lungs, there's an 8" diameter circle all around that that I can hit that will still be a lung hit. I can be 4" high, 4" low, 4" left, 4" upper right, etc etc and I still get a lung hit.

Yes, there is a "margin for error" in hunting. I don't have to be able to hit a dime at 200yrds to be able to kill a deer, as long as I can hit a milk jug, it's gravy.

No, the margin for error isn't huge, and shooting a 30cal eargensplitter-loudenboomer belted magnum isn't going let you miss CONSIDERABLY more than shooting a .243 or 7.62x39mm, but it does give you a little more room.

RE: Margin for error. ?????
 

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