Whitetail facts and shot placement...

[DocHolladay]

here are a few links:(note: i think the "rear end" shot is a good shot to take if a deer is running away. i have shot 2 that way and they fell instantly with minimal meat loss.)
shot placement
more detailed shot placement
facts

[howardlong]

hey doc are you there what bullets are you shotting,im shotting 150grain hollow points,i seen your own now,howard.

[DocHolladay]

Im just popping in checking messages from email. I use Hornady 140gr. SST Ballistic tips. Havent shot a deer with them yet, but hoping.

[howardlong]

::)maybe we can get together and hunt kentucky or somewere in tenn,i know a dandy place in kentucky,load up the 4wheelers an go were the big boys are,im going to find someone to hunt with because ive had both hips replaced an you try dragging a deer out of a hollow it get hard,i killed a 9pt at this place in kentucky,he had a point off one of his brow tines that was 4inches sticking out over his eye,i seen to big bucks fighting before daylightduring muzzleloader it was still dark an i didnt have no cap on ,talking about tore up he was a dandy whipped a 9pt an took the ladys,hope to here from you,howard.

[bigblue]

This is where bullet constructiion comes into play. Almost any bullet will work fine on deer if hit broadside through the lungs and heart, but when you have only one chance to shoot and your at a bad angle, or even forced to take that Texas heart shot, you want a bullet that can penetrate far enough to make a difference and not come apart in the first few inches. Two of my favorites are the Barnes X bullets and the hard cast loads. I've never found one inside of a deer. Now there are two schools of thought on that. First are those that say the bullet needs to expend all it's energy in the deer, and the other is that two holes are better than one. Permanent would channels mean more to me than tissue disruption due to hydrostatic shock. That's one reason I like the larger caliber, .40+, wide metplat hard cast bullet designs. They penetrate and leave a big wound channel. The Barnes X bullets give similar results in smaller caliber higher velocity bullets. By opening up their petals they give great expansion and the solid copper doesn't break up like the jacketed bullets can. In my opinion, bullet construction is even more important the higher the velocity is. Having always had bullets travel completely through deer, leaving two holes, I've never had a deer take one step after I've shot them.
Bullet design has come a long way in the past few years and the inclusion of the bonded bullet designs are greatly improving the performance of jacketed bullets.
Don

[bubbawitha4570]

Here's my take on bullets.

Larger and heavier is better. I've hunted with .30 cal guns and have not been overjoyed by the product. Especially when I went to the .45 cal guns, the .30's didn't even seem to do much damage. My 45/70 has never let me down, whereas the .308 really didn't impress me last year at all. And the 7.62x39 will never go hunting with me again.

I like the reaction of the 300 HP's that I use in the 45/70. I've had them lose some of their weight, fragment out, and such; but they have always done their job. I've never taken out any cast bullets for hunting, but that is something that I am thinking of trying out this coming year. Normally once the deer are hit, they don't go anywhere after that.

The .30's that I've used....well in the beginning I seemed to have good luck with them. An M1A using 30/30 flatpoints worked pretty well. Then I tried the SKS out with handloads and Winchester softpoints, the couple of deer that I shot with that combo did not impress me one bit. The bullet that I recovered from the last doe I shot wasn't even opening up, it just sorta kinked over at the tip. And last years' hunting exploits with the .308 Winchester made me rethink alot about bullet selection. I had used Nosler softpoints and was completely dissappointed by the performance. I had bullets come completely apart, and doing a bunch of damage but nothing that brought down the deer with a single shot. It was like shooting ballistic tips, shattering/splattering but not deep damage.