small holes can still ruin a bit of meat, it all depends on shot placement. I prefer any exit hole at all, because i had to trail a deer last season that for some reason either didnt have an exit hole or just didnt bleed, and luckily i could follow her tracks in the snow, so i guess i would prefer a bigger exit hole through the ribcage for trailing purposes.

I love a big exit hole. Thats braggin' rights. but I do try my utmost to ensure it exits through the ribcage. (I boil the good part of the ribs for my dogs.) So no lost meat for myself.

Great quote Firehawk.
"The old Lakota was wise. He knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans, too."
-- Luther Bear, [Standing Bear]

Actully my 45/70 doesnt ruin as much meat as my 300wm. I give the meat to family members and really like it but I am a head hunter
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Well with my shotgun, i allways get holes that are big. Lost deer I shot hit her in the hind legs while she was running, thought she was about 40 yards, turned out to be about 80. Even tho my shot was a luck shot and I wasn't aiming at the legs either. But boy o boy did she go down in a hurry. Walked up to wear she dropped and she was gon. Found the blood trail that Ray Charles could follow. She was still crawling with her front legs. But I like big holes, as long as you do get a good heart/lung shot you arnt ruining much meat. And plus I doubt you are really gona notice the amount you lose from the enter/exit holes.

Chee, ADD, I thought you never spent any timeout ofthe off-season forum!

I personally wouldn't want a really big exit hole, it's not very amusing to me, I don't mind blood, heck, it's hunting, but more than neccessaryisn't my taste.
Blood andgore shouldn't be entertainment,IMO.That doesn't mean it doesn't amaze me what guns can do. It's a good reminder of how dangerous they really are.

I don't really care either way when it comes to exit holes. As long as the vitals are destroyed, I'm happy. My hunting buddies and I generally use plenty of gun for deer, and we've never had to track them very far.

I switched to ballistic tips to make sure I had enough blood to track-and it works well. Those Nosler partitions didn't leave any blood to speak of. They don't mess up enough meat to make a difference.