Oldtimr

"Could be...that the deer in your area are so fat, that the fat clogs the entry and exit wounds". After reading this I sincerely doubt if you ever hunted anything!

flags

Well, while I can't speak for the guy I think you're quoting, I have taken 92 deer on license and another 150+ on culling operations, 25 elk, 16 or 17 pronghorns, 4 bison, 2 black bear, 2 mountain sheep (Bighorn and Stone), 1 mountain goat, who knows how many hogs and a slew of different species in Africa. I have never seen an animal shot that had fat clog either the entry or exit wounds. Maybe the member in question has more experience with shooting game than I do but I doubt it. Just sayin...

GOOD OLE BOY

I too never seen fat clog a wound.To the original poster.The only time I still hunt is when I,m standin or sittin still like in a blind.I love to stalk and sneak up on game.I wish people would quit usin these stupid nonsense terms just because they read some dumbbell journalist writes it in a rag.

Bocajnala

Look up "still-hunt" in Webster's dictionary. Just because a journalist uses a word appropriately doesn't mean that we shouldn't too.

It's ok to use proper words.

These terms also vary geographically which if where the confusion comes in. But still- hunting is defined as: to ambush or stalk a quarry. To pursue game noiselessly. A quiet pursuing or ambushing of game. To lie in wait or approach by stealth.

so, if you like to stalk and sneak up on game, like I do, then you are a still-hunter by definition.
-Jake

mrbb

my 2 cents , I think its the bullet types your using and the ranges your shots on deer are at
ALL bullets work differently and will expand or NOT at different FPS and
what could be happening and a GUESS here NOT knowing what bullets your using is

at the close range shots, your bullets are going too fast and blowing up, NOT making an exit wound and as such NOT leaving a blood trail, there going in, exploding and causing trauma, and then deer nuns"X" distance and expires pending damage inside them

this was very common deal with ballistic tipped ammo and high FPS calibers at close range and even at some LONG ranges where speed was still there for them

are you getting pass threw's on these deer

NOW IF so, the oppisite is happening
your using very SOLID bullets and there JUST punching holes thru deer and NOT expanding much at all and as such, NOT doing a LOT of expansion and such, larger exit holes and trauma inside to cause lots of blood
if you have very FAT deer in your area(say in area's with VERY cold winters, excessive body fat builds up on these deer)
that fat can be plugging up pass thru holes from more solid bullets that just punch a hole thru and exit the same size almost!

and YES, I agree 110% there is NO such thing as a BRUSH caliber
countless tests have been done and prove this
using calibers up to 50 BMG, 750-800 grain bullets with 14 k in energy, and they deflect just as smaller one do, or can blow up as do other caliber bullets
the simple fact is, when a bullet strikes ANY object it can alter its path and or adversely damage the bullet in motion!
the name of the game is to take CLEAR shots, NOT try to shoot thru anything, be it brush or tree's or??
hair and hide is all you should be trying to punch a hole thru!

Oldtimr

Most of the thick fat(tallow) on a deer is on the back, very few people shoot a deer in the back, the fat in the inside of a deer is not going to clog up a bullet hole.

hardcastonly

Its generally been my experience, that if you wait for a fairly clear shot at a reasonable range
And to me thats rarely over 200-250 yards and I want to sit or be prone with a bi-pod if thats an option,
, where your sure YOU can place the shot through the intended anatomy,and you
place the proper bullet in the correct place, you'll tend too find your deer's blood trails tend to be very short,
Id say most deer I have shot dropped either within a yard or two or they made a frantic run,
going nose first in the dirt well under 30 yards
I listed my favorite deer rifle's earlier,
no I won,t use the 44 mag carbine past about 130 yards, they all work.
deer that run very far were not hit well, in most cases,
yes theres always a few odd cases , nothings absolute!
but Id bet you 5 to 1 odds all day long that given a shot I'm comfortable making,
the deer in questions not going anyplace very distant from the bullets point of impact.
Admittedly I have nowhere near the experience some people may have, but in 50 years ,
of deer hunting , make me feel really confident in pointing out the results Ive seen,
are rather boringly repetitive, or put differently,
if you do something over and over and get the same result every time you kind of expect the same result the next time!
Simple rule... if your not 100% comfortable making the shot you might want to wait for a better shot?
yeah I've passed on a lot of deer and a few elk, yeah I get tag soup occasionally,
but I don,t remember ever needing to trail any game I shot in the last 45 years, over 50 yards either
and the majority drop rather quickly.

mrbb

I will have to disagree with you, I have seen this happen with my own eye's on several occasions
many very northern places deer get fat ALL Over, shoulders legs back around intestines and so on

some of the whitetails I have killed in Alberta were well over 300 lbs and had LOTS of fat every where

all the more possible again is you shoot them with a NON expanding bullet and make very small entrance and exit holes in them
I have even seen intestines slip out and block holes made too\ some real BIG holes here too!

as a deer runs off things can move and walk towards a hole and block em!
well over a hundred deer kills under my belt here while hunting with rifles and LOT more with archery gear too, , and about a LOT more in cull operations and managements, killed countless other large and small game animals in many countries as well
also was part of a few hunting videos on shooting all sorts of game
so I have a LOT of experience as well here , take that as you wish!
I sure ain't new at this game!

it can and does happen!
never say never LOL

Bocajnala

yep, that is why my first question asked what bullet he was using. The bullet is the only part of the entire hunt that actually touches the animal, and kills it as a result. It's important to use the right bullets for the right game/situation. MOST loads for the 7mm-08 are designed for deer. But it's still an important question.


Never say never. The northern Ohio farmland deer get fat. All the food available+ cold snowy Winters causes it. I've seen guts come out and plug a hole before. And I've seen chest cavities filled with blood that never bled outside the deer. In my opinion that was partially because of the thick fat on the does ribcage.

I wouldn't say that it's a common thing. But I do think it can happen . When theres almost 2" of fat over the rib cage, it can happen .

Here's the front shoulder removed from a fat northern doe.(not my picture or deer) You can see how that thick fat layer extends down and over the ribcage. My theory is that as the deer ran, the fat and skin shifted blocking the hole. The chest cavity was completely full of blood. It came gushing out when the diaphram was punctured while gutting.
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-Jake

mrbb

O agree I don't think its a common deal at all
but it can happen

I know I have seen inside many chest cavities after gun shots, and found all sorts of things floating about in them that I can also see floating out a exit hole that is small and plugging things up

its like when your tracking a good blood trail and suddenly things shut off?
many times its from things plugging up the hole, or a chest cavity being filled NOT high enough for blood to get to entrance/exit holes
hunt enough and you end up seeing a LOT of odd things, that many times you wouldn;t believe unless you seen it happen or were there!