tbonecpa

Unfortunately, we can't predict exactly what a bullet is going to hit when it strikes the deer. Hitting a rib on impact will obviously expand the bullet faster than hitting "rib meat". This phenomenon causes me to lean towards a bullet like the nosler partition. I usually hunt from a tree and getting a pass through with a low exit will normally create a good blood trail. The theory is no different than for an arrow. The lack of blood trail that can occur is sometimes due to the shot hitting high in the deer's chest. The blood simply fills the chest cavity but never high enough to come out of either the entrance or exit holes. The shortest tracking and least meat damage seems to come form a shoulder blade hit. That hit typically sends the bullet and parts of the shoulder balde through the vitals so even if the shock to the spine only stuns the deer the organ damage finishes the deal. The deer tends to just tip over as if the wind blew it down.[:-]

Rack-attack

After you shoot someone in combat you do not have to track him down and find him.

As Taz said - two men to carry him.

IMO two hole always better than one

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jimpok61

I vote for pass thru ammo. My boy nailed a monster doe last year with his 12ga.[no rifle allowed] quartering away shot and he popped her good. Double lung/heart but slug lodged in far side rib/hide. I came over to Joe and asked, "success" he responds "yep". He directs me to right where he nailed her. I looked and looked and finally could detect a very faint blood spray in the snow. Luckily, she only went 30 yds into a very thick reedy, snow covered swamp[of course], never saw another trace of blood till we found her. We were lucky, many non pass-thrus end up lost deer. Double hole all the way, if possible ,is the way to go in my humble opinion.

kevin1

I prefer that the bullet stay in the body and transmit massive shock to the tissue of the heart and lungs , not many deer get off their butts when that happens . Passthrough is desirable in archery for a good blood trail , but an arrow kills by cutting .

Aught Six

This has been an interesting discussion, but I feel that one point has been left out. With today's loads in a decent rifle (IMHO, a .243 or larger), I really don't think it makes much difference whether the bullet passes through or not. Within acceptable ranges, the bullet's energy is still going to be enough to devastate a deer with a vitals hit.

For tracking, two holes are certainly better than one.

Cisco

I agree that a .223 is probably enough caliber to take deer down in most cases but there are about 20 other calibers that I think 99% of people will agree is a better round for whitetail deer. In this state and I believe most others in this country it is against the game laws to hunt deer with a .223 rifle. JMO though.

zrexpilot

I disagree but hey thats what this board is about. I like to discuss things like this.
Energy "quote unquote" is derived from a mathmatical equasion, dont know it exactly, but it's the weight of the bullet times it's velocity etc.etc etc. It does not show actuall damage from bullets or the devestation thats created with different bullets traveling at different speeds. I for one believe velocity is 10 times more important than energy. Velocity is what creates the shock wave not the weight of the bullet. Most people believe only in big big guns and that energy is the ticket when the truth is, I have seen a 22-250 with hollow points do 10 times as much damage to a deer than a 30-06. Yes with it's little 55 gr bullet traveling near 4000 fps. The only advantage to heavier bullets is there tendancy not to be stoped by bones in big game such as elk or moose. It would be more to your advantage if you match your gun to your game. Deer size game do not require big bores and the smaller guns will do more damage as the bullet does what it designed to do. A big bore or heavier bullet traveling slower will easily go through deer with out the shock wave thats created like smaller bullets traveling faster.
This is why I do not like medium bore calibers there is no real advantage to them.
Ok Iam puting my flame suit on now LOL
Thats why .243's 25-06's and 6mm,s are so great. I say a bigger bore requires more velocity thats why 7mags. and 300's are so great. Bigger and faster = more devastation,
not bigger and slower, that = small entry small exit or no exit if you use rapid expanding bullets and thats probably what is needed in these medium bore calibers.
Man I wish I could find them articles on shock value, some real good reading.
But hey thats just my $.02

hammer06

Energy=massXvelocity. So your really fast lightweight bullets have a good bit of energy. Personally, I would rather have a good bloodtrail from 2 holes than 1 hole with an exploded bullet inside. With these fast-expanding bullets, what happens on sharp angle shots and facing shots??? If your bullet explodes on the first shoulder blade (which I've seen happen) you don't get into the ribcage. If you hit if far back hoping for an angle into the ribcage, then it explodes in the guts leaving no bloodtrail. What happens if you hit the deer high in the ribcage?? You would have a poor bloodtrail and a deer hightailing it away from you. In most cases, it may work well. But, I prefer a 30-06 or 270 with corelokt ammo that drives the bullet through the game. I've had exit holes the size of my fist. Deer roll right over like you hit them with a ton of bricks or they run 50 yards. But that's just me.

Duffy

JagMagMan
What cartridge were you using for the two deer you mentioned?

I like a pass through for the blood trail, within reason. The bullet has to expand and do some internal damage and not just go zipping through.

I have shot deer with a .35 whelen and 250 grain bullets that had to be followed up and shot again. Two holes but not enough bullet expantion. I have shot deer with a .243 and 100 gr. pills, that didn't go far and were dead but left no blood trail and were hard to find. Something in between is more to my liking.

Robin