I shot the biggest buck of my life (12 points with a 19" inside spread) with a 165 gr. Nosler partition (30-06) in front of 57gr. of 4350. The shot was 257 yards. Right through both shoulders. The deer spun around and dropped dead. The heart was totally gone and all of the vitals were hard hit.

The strange part is that the exit wound was just a tiny hole. I am used to a bullet putting at least a 3" hole in the far side of a whitetail. Is it common to get a pencil hole like that?

yes... Many NP make small exit wounds, but like you have noted, it was devistating.

The reason is that the mushroomed petals strip off, and the back part of the bullet goes on through the deer, and exits with a .30 hole. Ku-dude.

Just sit back and think. What pistol bullet is considered the most damaging? Wadcutter.

What does a NP without it's nose look like? Wadcutter! I have seen the same thing with "X" bullets. As long as it makes a mess out of the innards, it doesn't matter how big the exit hole is. JMO, Dutch.

Here's a picture on a 180 gr Nosler Part out of a .300 Win Mag. The moose was hit at the last rib on the left side and we found the bullet under the hide of the front right shoulder. The range was about 25 yds so the bullet was still moving at close to 3000 fps. Internal damage was amazing. The bulls momentum carried him another 25 yds and he was stone cold dead when I got to him. I'v never had one die that fast. 49% weight retention.



[ 01-21-2003, 20:58: Message edited by: Mauser98 ]

The nose came apart the base carryed through worked just like it was surpose to. Lots of times you well see that if the bullet comes apart in side you well only have a part of it go all the way out.May be you hit more bone this time who know but stuff happens when your hunting. Sounds like it worked just fine.

I'm not complaining. I think the bullet worked just fine. The bullet broke the two rear ribs on entry so I imagine the front half came apart with the pieces acting as little bullets on the lungs. Anyway, both lungs were liquid.

You did this with a 30-06???

I'm confused...

Whoda thunk? I thought the old aught-six had been relegated to squirrel gun duty since the advent of the megla-maniacal-super-whizz-banger-my-gun-is-bigger-than-your-gun era...

Good shootin'

Dan