VarmintGuy,

I do NOT aim for the shoulders either. I'm a heart/lung guy. The target is BIG and gives you your best chance at a lethal shot.

Just reporting on a couple of BT failures I witnessed.

FN

Varmint Guy: I take it by your handle that you shoot varmints? if so do you eat the meat or just vaporize them? I have a confession to make to you (and others) the "meat" part of my hunt is often-times a hindrance to me in that I don't let it go to waste, but frankly, give me a beef-steak any day with the possible exception of eland. I'm an unabashed trophy hunter first. So, we agree that the shoulder DOES tend to waste meat, but you area abosultely totally wrong that a shoulder shot animal succumbs slower. The evidence is there.

Where I hunt deer and hogs here in the south, the thickets, especially in Alabama are unbelievably chocked full of briars. I used to do the heart-lung shot as it offers a somewhat bigger target and every animal I shot there indeed did die, but I got tired of tracking them, albeit if only for short distances (all less than say, 200 yards, but even TEN yards through the briars is a bitch). I finally learned my lesson with a large doe, that I promptly whacked (50 yards) with a double lung shot out of a 7mm Weatherby and 140gr Nosler BTs ( they are incredibly accurate in my rifle and have accounted for myriad deer). It took me close to TWO hours to find her. The exit wound was large, but what remained of her lungs had lodged in the exit wound, thus minimizing bleeding.

I can tell you that virtually none of the deer I shoot in the lungs and to a lesser degree the heart( even a smaller target you must agree) have run anywhere from 10-200 yards whereas ALL my shoulder shot animals (deer, bear, hogs and african game)have dropped on the spot. Hell, I mostly shoot Weatherby calibers so I've come to expect LOTS of ruined meat. Again, no biggie, I give most of it away. So VG, we'll call it quits on this one, but if I can offer you a word of counsel, be more selective with the word ethical. I take great care in quick, clean kills as well as do most of us here and we take umbrage to your statement that we are being unethical. In closing, Nosler BTs are a great bullet for deer, but I prefer Partitons. jorge

Sorry to disagree with you VG, but what you said regarding the shoulder shot is not accurate. Yes it does ruin more meat than the heart/lung shot, but it anchors the animal more readily. It achieves the same damage as the heart lung shot with the added advantage of immobilizing the animal. Now I can see you not wantint to take that shot with BTs, but for those of us who use tougher bullets and or slower velocities, the shoulder shot is factually the better option. jorge