this past weekend i tried my luck at still hunting in the DCNF. i found a section of woods littered with clusters of thickets. if you've ever hunted the piney woods you know what i mean by thickets. this stuff is thick. i had deer 45yrds from me and couldn't tell what they were. well long story short.........i shot a nice 10 point from 30yrds away and the round entered behind his last rib on his right side and the bullet went up towards the front of his chest but never exited. the bullet was extreme devastating internally, but left me with a very small entry hole and no exit. i was shooting hornady 130gr inter bonds. the issue here was, due to the fact of how thick the woods were and the lack of a large entrance and no exit hole, the blood trail was horrible. the deer only ran 40 yards but the fact that i found him was a miracle. I'm looking for a bullet that will give me extreme expansion on impact but retain enough weight to exit. any recommendations?
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I'd look at the barnes TTSX -
You need a whole new gun for that situation, at that range the velocity was too high. Move that shot to 200 yards and it would have exited. Get a 30-30 or 45-70 and it will punch 2 holes thru at close range. There is no such thing as extreme expansion and exiting on larger game.Comment
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This.Originally posted by mrc View Post
Usually it is a matter of extreme expansion OR exiting, not both.
As far as getting an exit wound, a bonded bullet is the way to go. Or as stated above, a solid copper bullet like the Barnes.
Berger hunting vld bullets are great at repid expansion, but I have no experience at this close of a range. At inside 75 yards, I would just as soon take neck shots with a varmint bullet out of a small fast caliber like a 22-250. Drops them right there. No blood trail. Some will probably disagree with that, but I hunt in a place where I like to drop deer in their tracks and neck shots rarely fail if you put it in the right place.Comment
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Any other opinions?Comment
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Sierra Game Kings
Noser Ballistic Tips
Winchester Ballistic Silvertips
I see the recommendation for the Berger VLD. In my experience I haven't seen them create huge wounds like you would expect them to. I've seen in them in .257 and .300 ultra. Not disappointed just from a bthp you would expect more hole.
I wouldn't use the Barnes either. They work wonderfully but generally leave little blood and leave small holes. Kill great though.Comment
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Just guessing, but did you use a .270?
At the ranges you're hunting (I just moved away from Lufkin, I KNOW what you're talking about with DCNF!), I'd have to agree with the 30-30 and a nice round soft point like Rem Corelokts, or even a 6" barreled 357, 44 mag, 41 mag, something like that if you're a good shot with a pistol.
A slower moving bullet with good expansion at that range but plenty still for an exit wound, that's what you're looking for. From my own experience and from what I've read on the interwebs, ballistic tips are mo betta for varmints and for reaching out farther than you're talking about. My $.02Comment
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Originally posted by Brazman View Post
Looks like I will be in the market for a 30/30 in my near future.Comment
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Like mrc--first thought that came to my mind was a Marlin 336 in .45-70 shooting 300-gr Barnes HPs at about 2200 fps.Comment
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Yes sir! Another option is the .375 H&H magnum. Slow round and a chunk of lead/copper.Originally posted by dustoffer View PostComment
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the 130gr interbonds only come loaded in the superformance correct?Comment
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Yes. I also have a older box of customsComment
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30-30, 35 Remington, 35 Whelen, 358 Winchester, 44 Mag, 45-70 and some others.
I would go with a 30-30 if you like lever actions or a 35 Whelen if you like bolt guns.
450 Bushmaster or 458 Socom are good choices if you want an AR platform.
458 Socom is on my list as a brush gun.Comment
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Nailed it. Nothing like a good old lever action for those close range quick shots in brush.Originally posted by mrc View PostComment
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