First experience with match type bullet on game

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

My son shot a whitetail deer last weekend, and it's the first time I've used a match type bullet on a game animal. Just wondering what everyone's experience with this is and if what happened to us is typical? He was shooting a semi custom .308 that I traded for using factory federal premium ammunition. The bullet was a 175 grain Sierra match king.

The deer appeared about 300 yards away, and I was ranging him to tell him how much to dial, he started walking towards us. He ended up stopping at 110 yards, quartering hard to us. My son made a perfect shot, hitting him in the point of the right shoulder. The bullet broke the shoulder blade in half, liquefied the heart, clipped a lung, and came to rest in the paunch.

The deer actually turned and ran about 15 or 20 yards and tipped over and fell. He kicked a few times and jumped back up, stood broadside, and just as I told my son to send another one, the deer fell back down and died for good. All my hunting experience has been with some type of tipped bullet, and I've never had this happen. All well placed shots have been DRT. This bullet did it's job as the bone and vitals were destroyed, but I'm not happy that the animal was able to run off. Is this typical for an SMK bullet, or did this deer just have an extreme will to live?

 

[Coyote_Hunter]

What do you mean by "point of the shoulder"?

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

The point of the shoulder is where the shoulder blade angles down toward the front of the animal and then turns back and angles back down towards the elbow. It's the front most point on the shoulder blade.

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

Here is a representation of the point of the shoulder. My sons deer was actually quartering at a harder angle, almost standing fully facing us, and the point of impact was just to the left of where this picture is showing.

 

[dirtytough]

I think it depends on which match bullet. My buddy used the 150 SMK's in a 6.5-06 and didn't have very good results. The 150's are tipped I believe which might of been part of it. Not sure if the 175 is tipped or not. Maybe check the tips and make sure they are fully open?

 

[Nimrodmar10]

"The bullet broke the shoulder blade in half, liquefied the heart, clipped a lung, and came to rest in the paunch."

I'm not sure you can expect much more from a bullet

 

[david g ranes]

View attachment 159508
Here is a representation of the point of the shoulder. My sons deer was actually quartering at a harder angle, almost standing fully facing us, and the point of impact was just to the left of where this picture is showing.

Pe

View attachment 159508
Here is a representation of the point of the shoulder. My sons deer was actually quartering at a harder angle, almost standing fully facing us, and the point of impact was just to the left of where this picture is showing.

People jump out of airplanes there chute doesn't open they hit the ground but don't die so statistics says sometimes animals don't die as quick as you think they should you had a deer not travel very far after the shot be happy thousands of animals have been shot with that bullet most times when animals go right down the central nervous system has been compromised and they drop the heart and brain function is still there for awhile but they can't move and dead quick heart shot deer fueled by adrenaline can travel a ways sometime. David

 

[Canhunter35]

Broke the shoulder and liquified the heart, sounds successful to me.
If it had been a few inches higher it would've hit nerves and dropped the deer. Those bottom 1/3 heart shots kill but they usually run a little bit.
Ime the best deer hunting bullet in a 308 is a 168 eldm(match bullet) they're impressive.

 

[bigngreen]

A 308 with that weight bullet doesn't have much shock and awe to it but it will crush it's it' through causing a lot of trauma which takes a little time to take effect.
I blew the heart right out of a whitetail doe one evening and she ran a couple hundred yards then stood there and all of the sudden jump straight up in the air and dropped.
You can't ask much more from a bullet than to wreck the organs that lay in the path you put it on.

 

[Plinker147]

I've witnessed about a dozen elk, Barbary sheep, and oryx shot with SMK. From 175 gr in 308, 200gr 300 WM and 250gr in 338 rum. Most all penciled with little expansion, and just about all passed through. We recovered all animals, but had some intensive tracking jobs one one or two. Most all ran a ways and didn't appear hit.

Great accurate bullet but I don't like them. My buddy who I watched all these continues to use them. He likes them and has never lost any game with them. I think there are better choices for hunting.

 

[KyCarl]

I just don't get it? It says right in the name! S. MATCH K. it doesn't say one word
about hunting! So why would you even try?

 

[DJ Fergus]

My son shot a whitetail deer last weekend, and it's the first time I've used a match type bullet on a game animal. Just wondering what everyone's experience with this is and if what happened to us is typical? He was shooting a semi custom .308 that I traded for using factory federal premium ammunition. The bullet was a 175 grain Sierra match king.

The deer appeared about 300 yards away, and I was ranging him to tell him how much to dial, he started walking towards us. He ended up stopping at 110 yards, quartering hard to us. My son made a perfect shot, hitting him in the point of the right shoulder. The bullet broke the shoulder blade in half, liquefied the heart, clipped a lung, and came to rest in the paunch.

The deer actually turned and ran about 15 or 20 yards and tipped over and fell. He kicked a few times and jumped back up, stood broadside, and just as I told my son to send another one, the deer fell back down and died for good. All my hunting experience has been with some type of tipped bullet, and I've never had this happen. All well placed shots have been DRT. This bullet did it's job as the bone and vitals were destroyed, but I'm not happy that the animal was able to run off. Is this typical for an SMK bullet, or did this deer just have an extreme will to live?

I'm not sure that I would consider that an undesirable result from a 308 175 gr bullet. Higher inpact velocity aids in instant kills but I wouldn't trade off that load you have for a 150gr if the 175 shoots good. I would try a heart/lung pass through with that load before you write it off. It passed the test of going through the toughest part of the animal with great success in my opinion. Heart/lung shot through vitals of the softest part of the animal will let you know if the round is going to give the all around performance you are looking for. But my answer is that it done well so far. All around reliability is more important than instant kills.

 

[Mustang72]

Some animals are dead on their feet but won't give up right away. Had to track a buck a quarter of a mile or so that had a destroyed heart and off side shoulder. That said I learned the hard way about thirty years ago that the smk just isn't consistent and reliable enough on expansion for me. For deer the 165 Sierra gameking hollowpoint gives me just as good of accuracy with consistently devastating results. Sometimes they are just going to run a few yards.


hollowpoint

 

[DJ Fergus]

Some animals are dead on their feet but won't give up right away. Had to track a buck a quarter of a mile or so that had a destroyed heart and off side shoulder. That said I learned the hard way about thirty years ago that the smk just isn't consistent and reliable enough on expansion for me. For deer the 165 Sierra gameking hollowpoint gives me just as good of accuracy with consistently devastating results. Sometimes they are just going to run a few yards.


hollowpoint

I have heard the same thing about the smk many times so I never went that route. I'm guessing that making sure you hit bone with it is the most reliable choice for it. I thought the tipped match king might be worthy of trying if for a heart lung minimal bone shot since there is a tip to initiate expansion, but I haven't tried.