Broadside deer recovery distance?
- Thread starter Peakbagger46
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I shot a buck with a 58 round ball during the October muzzle loader season about 20 years ago. Double lung from no more than 20 yards. It did the jump/kick and ran down the well worn trail it was on. I got a little concerned as I heard hoof beats fading away in the distance. After a short time I climbed down from may stand and followed the trail. Found it dead not more than 50 yards away next to a stump that it had kicked repeatedly with diminishing force.
I usually shoot antlerless in the neck.
My experience has been that bullets moving well over 3000 fps tend to cause more bang-flops than slower ones.
Lightest was 55sp @430yds in a 22-250. It flopped.
300gr .452@ 1800 caused 150 yd trail with lots of blood.
308,30-06,&270 tend to let them run 50 plus yards if lung shot.
300 mag and 240 wby ends them with authority.
My experience has been that bullets moving well over 3000 fps tend to cause more bang-flops than slower ones.
Lightest was 55sp @430yds in a 22-250. It flopped.
300gr .452@ 1800 caused 150 yd trail with lots of blood.
308,30-06,&270 tend to let them run 50 plus yards if lung shot.
300 mag and 240 wby ends them with authority.
Random 8
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40 to 60 yards with a double lung is pretty typical. I've taken over 50 and been involved with hundreds of rifle kills on MN and WI whitetails, rifles ranging from .25-35 to .338 WM. I've personally hunted a lot with the .308 and .300 Sav rounds using 150 grain soft points. I currently use a .280 rem with the 145 Speer GS.
Some outliers to the 50 yard rule may be of interest. Heart shots, they tend to run farther, sometimes much farther. My wife shot one, perfectly through the heart with a Speer 150 from her .308 at close range. That one made it over 100 yards up a steep hill into heavy cover. I had one large buck eat 3 154gr SSTs from my .280 until a 4th in the base of the skull anchored him. The first 3 were into the lungs without an exit. He made it about 100 yards, but was in full alarm mode before the first shot, having been driven into my woods by other hunters. I typically see deer make it farther with this shot placement with low velocity rounds such as 30-30, .44 magnum and shotgun slugs, but blood trail is usually very good given a heavy bullet and pass through. Ditto for extended ranges with .30-06 and similar, where the impact velocity is lower. I have never seen a DRT shot behind the shoulder where shoulder or spinal area were not impacted or nearly so, resulting in hydrostatic tissue damage in these areas.
Some outliers to the 50 yard rule may be of interest. Heart shots, they tend to run farther, sometimes much farther. My wife shot one, perfectly through the heart with a Speer 150 from her .308 at close range. That one made it over 100 yards up a steep hill into heavy cover. I had one large buck eat 3 154gr SSTs from my .280 until a 4th in the base of the skull anchored him. The first 3 were into the lungs without an exit. He made it about 100 yards, but was in full alarm mode before the first shot, having been driven into my woods by other hunters. I typically see deer make it farther with this shot placement with low velocity rounds such as 30-30, .44 magnum and shotgun slugs, but blood trail is usually very good given a heavy bullet and pass through. Ditto for extended ranges with .30-06 and similar, where the impact velocity is lower. I have never seen a DRT shot behind the shoulder where shoulder or spinal area were not impacted or nearly so, resulting in hydrostatic tissue damage in these areas.
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FL-NC
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As crazy as it sounds, my last 3 deer I shot broadside, and 1 hog, were all DRT, from 223. 75 grain Hornady BTHP.
Again, In my experience, that's generally the way it works with those bullets depending on the range and velocity.
Hit solid bone, or get a bad angle, and it can be a long afternoon. Otherwise it's usually walk over and pickem up.
I honestly like the Grendel better for hunting, and think it's a more reliable round, but the lower velocity doesn't seem to produce the quick kills like the .223.
FL-NC
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I guess, maybe. With proper shot placement on a broadside deer, the only bone that might get hit is a rib at the start, which is going to pop like a carrot- as I understand deer anatomy.
redneck2
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Shot a medium size buck head on with a 12 gauge 3” Remington Copper Solid slug. Hit slightly left of center, totally destroyed the heart, part of the left lung, and nearly all the right lung. Exited just forward of the left ham.
He still ran over 100 yards. Fortunaly he fell in an open field.
He still ran over 100 yards. Fortunaly he fell in an open field.
That should have been a blood trail a blind man could follow.
sage5907
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If you are a meat hunter I can understand the lung shot, but I can't see doing it on a big mature buck. For me the lung shot is strictly an archery shot. I can say that because I'm not a meat hunter. The only time I would ever shoot a deer in the lungs is with a quartering away shot where I was trying for the far shoulder. I want to see the animal fall when the bullet strikes and that always happens with a high shoulder shot.
MCgunner
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I hit a nice buck like that quartering away from about 150 yards with a 7mm 150 grain bullet which starts out at 3200 fps. I actually saw his chest swell up momentarily as the bullet expanded. It left his left side front part of the shoulder. The buck never moved, just fell. There was very little meat damage. That gun and load WILL damage meat, though. Next day hit a doe at 50 yards in the shoulder and ruined most of the front of the deer, but it never moved.
THAT one I probably should have hit in the lungs behind the shoulder. I hunt mostly with my .308 now. It doesn't do the massive meat damage I saw on that doe and it kills just as dead. I've not had one move, yet, about a half dozen deer and 4 hogs with it. I shoot a 150 Nosler BT in it.
jmorris
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I am more of a “running gear” shooter a bit more forward of the OP but they land where they do and in that area the longest I had to track one was 110 yards hit with a 180 gn JSP out of a 30-06. Knocked off its feet landing in its side/back and jumping back up to take off. Upon field dressing the insides were liquid.
Never underestimate something’s willingness to live.
Never underestimate something’s willingness to live.
Nature Boy
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I started a similar discussion after last season
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/bullet-selection-shot-placment-lethality.830068/
Most run.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/bullet-selection-shot-placment-lethality.830068/
Most run.
Captcurt
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Took a big doe Saturday at the range of about 200 yards. She went 4 feet into the air and ran about 50 yards. This was a 150 gr. Accubond out of a 300 WSM. Hit tight behind the shoulder about 2/3 of the way down from her back. With a hole the size of your fist and the arteries above her heart gone. She still went 50 yards. Didn't have any trouble tracking her though. I have taken deer with bow, 45 and 50 caliber muzzleloader, 243, 257 Weatherby, (3) different 6.5's, 270, 7mm TCU, 300 Savage, 30-06, 300 WSM, 357 mag and 45 LC. It doesn't seem to matter what you use. Some are going to run.
The only caliber that has not had one run was the Weatherby, but that was only 2.
The only caliber that has not had one run was the Weatherby, but that was only 2.
edapp
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Both shots over the weekend with 143 eldx
First shot, 150ish yards, ribs on the front, shoulder socket on the back. Ran ~40 yards
Second shot, 165ish yards, ribs on both sides. did not take a step.
The slightly higher, just behind the shoulder shot, pic 2, is what I try to go for every time. More blood with less bones, less meat loss.
First shot, 150ish yards, ribs on the front, shoulder socket on the back. Ran ~40 yards
Second shot, 165ish yards, ribs on both sides. did not take a step.
The slightly higher, just behind the shoulder shot, pic 2, is what I try to go for every time. More blood with less bones, less meat loss.
lastofthebreed
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Some deer gonna run, that's just a fact of life. Paraphrasing Jack O'Connor it all depends on what the animal had for breakfast, whether or not his love life is going good, relative humidity, air temperature, the position of his feet, whether the animal is inhaling or exhaling, what his heart valves are doing at the time of the bullet strike, wet skin or dry skin, time to the next autumnal equinox, etc. Nobody can reliably predict how far an animal will travel after a mortal wound. As hunters, we owe it to the game we pursue to make an ethical, clean kill each time we touch the trigger. After the bullet strike, every effort should be made to recover that animal.
SoonerMedic
Member
To kind of put this into perspective, I remember working a rollover where a girl got tossed out of the truck. She had a hemo/pneumo. One lung was filling with blood and the other was collapsing because of the air around the lung. She was compensating ok for a few minutes but once both lungs were nearly 100% compromised she went downhill within a minute max before CPR was required.
To parallel this with hitting both lungs in a deer, you have to realize the deer will become flooded with adrenaline and begin breathing heavily and the heart rate will increase rapidly. So, I would say the average deer will have between 15-60 seconds before total compromise and loss of consciousness. This is just my take on it.
To parallel this with hitting both lungs in a deer, you have to realize the deer will become flooded with adrenaline and begin breathing heavily and the heart rate will increase rapidly. So, I would say the average deer will have between 15-60 seconds before total compromise and loss of consciousness. This is just my take on it.
Captcurt
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And if they are on their feet for 60 seconds they can cover a lot of ground. In High School track I could run a 440 in 54 seconds. A deer is a little faster than I am. Like twice as fast.
SoonerMedic
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Yeah, they're quick for sure. But usually they are running to the nearest wooded area. The thicker the better for them.
Captcurt
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So true. We had to blood trail one probably 400 yards back years ago. At times we were on our hands and knees crawling through thick brush. We looked like we had been in a cat fight when we found it.
This is why a little lost meat is better than a runner where I hunt. Two jumps and they're in Briars.
FL-NC
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Put a bad shot in one around here, and you will soon find yourself in triple canopy swamp with the skunk ape and hoping you aren't either snakebit or on your way to being gator poop.
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Peakbagger46
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Yikes! I’d probably shoot shoulders in that country.
You just made me ALMOST feel better about western country oak brush, and that’s not an easy thing to do.
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