I had a first experience while participating in a doe cull several weeks ago---NOT a bang flop kill with a 168 TSX from a .30-06. The previous eight kills (whitetails and hogs) were all dead right there. The ninth critter I shot with this load ran more than 70 yards with minimal blood.

This was a doe that went about 80 pounds on the hoof. I took the shot at close to 150 yards over a food plot. I thought I had made a good shot but the deer showed little sign of being hit and took off running but at a good bit slower pace than the other deer present, which bolted.

I really thought I had made a good shot but given the mininal reaction worked the bolt and got back down behind the scope to shoot again when the deer stopped having gone 70+ yards. I was about to shoot again when its head began to wobble just a bit, then the neck wobbled quite a bit, and it fell down dead.

I'm surmising that I put the bullet in a bit high and only got the top of the lungs. There was some blood at the point of impact but none between there and where it stopped. (But blood a plenty at the point where it stopped.) Clearly the bullet expanded given the size of the exit wound and the lung tissue hanging out.

What do ya'll think? Was this to be expected from the bullet placement? Was I lucky to get 8 DRTs in a row?

It will be interesting to read the comments of others. I would say the shot was a little too far back for the angle of the shot. I would have placed the bullet just on the inside of the foreleg bone. Would I be wrong?

Thanks for the pic's LWD, I hope to learn from your experience.

Good hunting,

Whenever I have gone for a high lung shot to not waste any meat, I have had deer run for 50-70 yards. That has even happened with a 257 Weatherby and a relatively soft bullet.

I wouldn't worry about it much; you have nine one shot kills in a row.

The price you might have to pay for a more consistent DRT is to take out one or more of the front legs.

The Barnes bullet has certainly evolved over the last tweny years. They seem to have been aware of the "penciling" phenomenon and done what they can to lessen its occurrence.

FWIW, YMMV, JMO, etc.

LD

Impala do much the same when I shoot them with my .375. In my experience, 'Dead Right There' is not guaranteed with a lung shot - I find it to be more of a bonus when it happens.

FWIW, that was a great shot.

Shoot 9 more in the same spot, and see if it happens again.

LWD,

That's pretty much how I shoot all my deer and generally they will run a bit like you describe then pile up. Judging the angle there you pretty much took out the main body of the lungs even if you were a bit high to take the top of the heart out. When you take the top offf of the heart the massive drop in blood pressure from the bleeding into the cavity can make the drop on the spot or within a few feet, but as has beeen mentioned this often causes you to lose the shoulder meat.

Either way you have a dead deer so it looks like a good result!!

Congrats,
FB

There have been people shot where the bullet missed everything on the way through.

I know such a person.
It leaves a scar.

Don't try this at home.

Shooting at a target that's quite willing and able to move and spoil your shot from a field position that's never perfectly steady, plus your target has a lot of tenacity and will to live. It's not science and sometimes poo poo occurs.

I shot a buck with my 9,3x62 this year and blew his heart into a tulip shape. He still managed to make it 50 yards over a steep hill and further away from the truck. Made a shot similar to yours with a Rem Core Lock bullet from my 7x57 on a smaller buck and he managed to run 100 yards uphill towards the truck.

How did you get that buck to run twords your truck ! Thats a trick I would like to learn !
You just didnt hit the doe quite right would be my guess. 8 out of 9 DRT is a prety good record.
The tsx is a great bullet for the 06. I would use the same 168 grain for deer and elk...tj3006

O.K. For my 'education' now, that shot is a high lung shot with no meat loss. Given the angle of the doe, the bullet still took out both lungs. Had the bullet entered lower, it would have taken out the rear of the heart, right? My first thought would be to take that shot on the inside of the foreleg. That would have lost some meat but would have taken out the top of the heart. But would it have made any difference? Also, it would have increased the risk of a flesh wound (or broken bone) on the other foreleg. In short, the shot taken was the best choice, right?

Shoot enough deer and you're gonna get a few that decide they're not dead yet regardless of what magic bullet you use. Nothing wrong with the hit and it looks like nothing wrong with the bullet performance.

quote:

Originally posted by stillbeeman:
Shoot enough deer and you're gonna get a few that decide they're not dead yet regardless of what magic bullet you use. Nothing wrong with the hit and it looks like nothing wrong with the bullet performance.

9 out of 9 IS super shooting and bullet performance.
Some animals just don't know they are dead yet and REFUSE to go down.

I have shot several deer through the heart and had some of them run a distance.
Aren't those Barnes bullets awesome??!!

Guys-

Thanks for all the feedback on this. I guess I was getting a little spoiled with the bang-flops. (Though I will have to work on getting them to run TOWARDS the truck!)

In thinking about it, I think this was a pretty high shot compared to most of the others. That is to say I recall the previous shots being a bit lower to a good bit lower. Centering the heart with a TSX tends to liquify it!

Given the about 150 yard range, I wouldn't have taken a neck or headshot because my shooting abilities aren't good enough to ethically take that shot. So I would say in response to 303guy's question that a lung shot was the best available shot given the circumstances. Since we were culling does and I didn't want to waste meat, I wasn't going to take a high shoulder shot.

Thanks again for the feedback.

LWD

Good shooting! Almost identical to what my spike did when a 150 gr.TSX 300SAUM hit him. That's a great record but living things have a will to live as already been stated and won't react the same every time. Your doing a lot of things right!

i wouldnt take that exit as a sign of expansion.
the exit woulnds diameter doesnt equal the size of the projectile. i have shot deer w/ standard SP at similar distance from 308 carbines and seen much larger exits.

What I think is this is about usual for my
TSX deer shooting, since give or take a few
inches, this is where I place my shots.
I shoot 130 gr. TSX bullets out of my 308 Win
chambered Striker, and this year, two antlerless
deer were taken, and both went about 30-40 yards
with vitals turned to red jello, and piled up.
Neck, high shoulder, or spine shots, are DRT,
for me. Chest hits, with no shoulders broken,
usually means I will find the deer 30 to 100
yards down the trail. So I will say "yes" to
the "Was I lucky..." question. While the
TSX is my favorite bullet for big game, I
don't expect it to be a rocket propelled
grenade. I don't worry about the bullet
exploding on impact, at a 10 yards shot,
and I don't worry about the thing not expanding
at a 250 yard shot. I have yet to encounter
a deer that did not die quickly with a well
placed shot from a TSX. I have had two
real world hunting shot placements, that may
have turned into unrecovered animals, that
traveled far less than I would have expected,
with the less than ideal shot placement.
Both were a bit too far back, liver shots,
and neither animal went over 100 yards.
The autopsy results showed
very little liver left to examine. All of
my big game rifles shoot TSX bullets.

Squeeze

quote:

I have yet to encounter
a deer that did not die quickly with a well
placed shot from a TSX.

or a soft point.
or cast lead
or BTHP's.
i have seen deer hit w/ all of these properly and killed.
i dont think th e TSX is the end all-be-all of bullets.
nor was the barnes before it, or before that or...

Despite the shrill assertions to the contary, even with a magic bullet like the barnes, one still has to hit the deer in a letal spot. If one does that, a myriad of bullets will do the job just as well.

Instant kills happen sometimes and sometimes they do not..that will never change no matter what as their are just too many varibles involved..I like a bullet that leaves a big blood trail and if they run 100 yards I don't care. I have had Impala and Springbuck run almost a 100 yards with their internal organs destroyed by a 416 or 375..

A light fast varmint bullet will give you instant kills 98% of the time, the other 2% they will run off, not leave a blood trail and you might never find them....A bigger bore movintg at less speed will knock a big hole all the way through them and let a lot of blood out but the animal will run quit a ways, but who cares he is easy to find..I prefer the big hole and more blood myself..

The other thing is bloodshot meat, that comes from high velocity. I like deer meat and prefer to use my .375 even on whitetail as it just knocks a broom size hole in them the run 75 yards and run out of blood. A blind man could track them and you can eat right up to that hole.

quote:

prefer to use my .375 even on whitetail as it just knocks a broom size hole in them the run 75 yards and run out of blood. A blind man could track them

as my dad says " Helen Keller could track it w/ both hands in her pockets"

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
..... I have had Impala and Springbuck run almost a 100 yards with their internal organs destroyed by a 416 or 375.....

A light fast varmint bullet will give you instant kills 98% of the time....
.....A bigger bore moving at less speed will knock a big hole all the way through them ......
..... my .375 even on whitetail as it just knocks a broom size hole in them ......

You have just explained very nicely something I have been wondering about! The difference between a fast bullet creating a large but short wound versus a heavy bullet creating a small but very long wound channel - all the way through.

I once shot a bushpig with a 174gr 303 round nose. The wound channel would have been about 600mm long - shoulder to exit just behind the diaphragm. Heart split open, one lung and the liver. (I did not know the heart was so high in an African bushpig – a lot of grizzle under the rather flat rib cage). I realised then that I might need a bullet that can reach the brain from behind. Funny thing is, those slow, round nose bullets worked just as well on dassie and vervet monkey - indistinguishable from a 223 hit. One dassie (Rock Hyrax) took it on the tip of the jaw-bone. Exit was through a butt cheek. Both forearm bone broken, ribs exposed and broken on both sides, organs mash, skin peeled off down the shoulders. And that from a 2300fps bullet!

Why worry about it. You shoot 10 deer in exactly the same spot and some of them will react differently when hit ie running a short distance or dropping dead on the spot. I guess some things just can't be explained but I would be happy with the killing power of your load.