Shot Placement w/ Bergers

[Plinker147]

I prefer Behind the shoulder for everything except bears. Bears (black) through front shoulder. I've had perfect performance with them both ways. My son shot a bull elk at ~525 and hit it in shoulder with 140 VLD in a 6.5. Bullet penetrated and expanded inside chest cavity. Bullet didn't make it to off side but killed the elk just fine.
I prefer Berger's EH line of bullets

 

[Southern 62]

New to Berger's Fallowing

 

[Jcook02]

Near or far, I always aim for the top of the heart.

 

[Rick Richard]

If your aiming for high shoulder, you take a chance regardless of bullet make. However, in the boiler room and…..well enough said.

 

[huntforfood]

270 win Fed 140 hybrids on a deer at 350 amd 125 yds. Recovered bullets from both, did not explode, act like std cup n core perfect muchrooms, deer fell with 20 yds on 125yd shot amd 5 yds with 350 yd shot, both in the lungs. Now, .338 edge with 300 gr Elite hunters are freakin amazing on elk, multiple cow elk out from 600 to 800 yds one with 650 yd shot thru both front legs and full penetration, no explosion. 800 yd shot on cow elk drt, 600 shot on antelope, they did run, not sure how. One antelope was lung shot but didnt get much expansion and require followup. Another was 700 yds and got into the ribs with angling further back so these are better for heavier animal or with some kind of resistance on entry.

 

[19elkhunter51]

Clear disclosure. I have only used the 70 grain .224 caliber Berger bullet. Nothing but coyotes and at less the 200 yards. In the crease, no exit on any of the shots I have taken. At this time it is close to 100 shots on coyotes, give or take a few, ahem, misses. Other than my poor shooting, the coyotes drop in their tracks. Even when I don't get the perfect shot, I haven't lost a any of the coyotes that have taken a hit from the Berger bullet.
I haven't nor will I ever, hunt big game (deer, elk) with any bullet other than Barnes.
Ah yes, my proverbial two cents worth of limited knowledge of Berger bullets.

 

[6mm06guy]

6mm-06 105gr, 270 ss 170 gr, 28 nosler 180 gr, 300 win mag 215 berger, 270 Winchester 130 gr, 270. Wsm 140 and 170 gr, and finally my sons 243 wssm 87 gr, have accounted for more deer per year than I can count. I shoot all my deer and elk right behind the shoulder as soon as that front leg moves forward. All except 1 with he Sherman have dropped dead in there tracks. Hunting or target bullets. My brother on the other hand prefers neck shots and they seem equally as effective for him. Basically if you get near anything vital they will go boom and mush every thing inside.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Dead broadside, tucked in behind the shoulder and a little high. Usually drop in their tracks more often than not.

Last years Antelope hunt in Az I shot my goat at 563 with a heavy quartering away shot. I put the shot in at the rear of the rib cage and it exited just behind the opposite side shoulder. That was a 144 Hybrid 65 PRC. Goat spun around and walked about 5 steps. @lancetkenyon gave me some advice to open up the tips of the Hybrids with a .060-.065 wire drill bit. Changed my bc by -.002 and it's dead on and deadly.

Working up a load for my 300WSM using the 200.2x Hybrid and will go down the same road of opening up the tips.

I've shot 8 Coues deer with 140 Bergers, 1 Antelope and witnessed a few elk and have never had or seen a single issue using them.

 

[CoachChris]

Inside 300yds I aim for the shoulder crease.
Outside 300 I aim high shoulder/neck/CNS

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

Not asking for the often repeated argument about whether Bergers/match bullets are hunting bullets or not… if you haven't taken lots of animals with Bergers please refrain from commenting. For those that have I'm interested in your approach on shot placement… heart/double lung shots closer than x and maybe high shoulder shots beyond for example… I hunted with Bergers 15ish years ago and it didn't perform as expected and I wrote them off… but then I expected traditional lead core construction results…I appreciate now that I didn't know what to expect or how to effectively use them… always thought you needed an exit and blood trail which isn't what the Berger is necessarily design for. I'm interested in your thoughts/experience on how I should think differently about shot placement considering that I've taken the overwhelming majority of my animals with high heart shots with accubond (a few Barnes) or similarly constructed bullets… thanks for your help

high shoulder with the 215s I move them at 3009 on all big game at long range closer say to to 400 behind the front shoulder a lot of moose bears sheep taken with them only bullet I will run in my 300

 

[31pointer]

We've had great success with behind the shoulder shots. Using 25-06, 6.5 creed, 7 REM MAG, 28 Nosler and 300 WIN MAG

 

[Allen Kitts]

The crease midway up the body has always worked for me. If you put a bullet in the heart/lung area the animal is going to die. I have taken dozens of animals utilizing Berger Bullets with great success. I have also taken several with the straight on approach when it did not appear that a broadside or quartering away shot would become available. Bang Flop. As someone else stated I am not a fan of the shoulder shot, not because I don't think the bullets will kill with that shot but they do make a hell of a mess.

 

[esorensen]

It seems to me the title is somewhat misleading, as ungulate anatomy is essentially fixed. The disruption of vital systems via projectiles of diverse construction and how to exploit their greatest terminal effect appears to be the topic. It's been hashed over for decades on this site and others, and often quite passionately. We are fortunate to live in a world with dozens of great bullets to chose from. My wish would be to have a bullet that can withstand a close range shot as well as a long range shot, all the while with consistent terminal ballistics, little wind drift, and stellar accuracy. A tall order indeed.

My priorities are: accuracy, high BC, and then terminal effect; in that order. My requirements may not be the same as other hunters. This prioritization comes down to can I put the bullet exactly where I want, if (read always) my wind call is off, can that elevated BC make up for my mistake, and lastly, if both of the above are less than expected, will the terminal effect be of enough significance to anchor the target.

When Berger came into the hunting scene with VLD's in the 90's I believe, the high shoulder shot was "advocated" for long(er) range shots. This allowed your elevation on a broadside shot to have the smaller window, while the windage a larger window. All of this while the VLD's penetrating a couple inches or so then coming apart violently, disrupting locomotion, nervous, vascular, or respiratory systems; either some or even all. In my experience this has been the exact case for LR shots, regardless of bullet manufacture. Closer range shots (0-200 for me) head, neck, or pocket. 300-500 pocket, then further out higher shoulder for the greater windage error window. Any more, I just shoot what is the most accurate, and then make everything else work around that. I DO start with a "known" hunting bullet and go from there. The limit for me is where the terminal velocity begins to get around the 1800-ish mark. That gives the projectile the best chance to do it's part. Sorry for the dissertation.

 

[mdw717]

Blacktails I aim for below, behind or in front of the ear depending on angle of shot. Hogs I aim for neck just behind the head. I use Bergers in 88gr .243 and 70 gr .223. Never had to track a wounded animal and I get all their meat. However, I've never shot past 400 yds at any animal. Your mileage my vary......