Berger 6.5 130 VLD Hunting

[gpo1956]

I had a rough week last week with my Tikka 260 Remington and the above bullet. I loaded it to 2790 fps with one hole accuracy at 100 yards. I shot two deer last week and the results were terrible to say the least. First was a medium size 4 point at a lasered 176 yards. the shot was good but a little back of perfect. It was spotted by two friend with binoculars. The buck hunched up and almost dropped, then trotted into the woods. We gave it an hour and then tried to trail it. No blood what so ever. Plenty of hair, but nothing else. We never found any blood nor any sign of the deer.

The second was a nice 9 point shot a a lasered 213 yards. Again a buddy was spotting for me. The shot hit perfect broadside. The deer dropped and thrashed on the ground. Finally it rolled on its stomach. We were sure it was down for good. I was about to fire an insurance shot when it suddenly staggered to its feet and ran into the woods. We waited and hour and fifteen minutes and started trailing it. We never found a large pool of blood, but there was enough blood to easily trail it for at least a quarter mile. After that there was nothing. We got several dogs out to try and find it but nothing. We were never able to find any sign after that. Needless to say, I'm pretty disappointed in the performance of these bullets.

Both shots were good, with the second being almost perfect. I killed several deer in this area last year with a 25-06 and Sierra 117 bullets. Almost all dropped on the spot. the one that didn't left a blood trail that lead us directly to it. So, what other hunting bullets would you guys recommend for this type situation?

 

[MudRunner2005]

Where did you shoot the deer at? Shoulder? Vitals?

Vitals shots (not shoulder shots) work best for VLD's, because of the rapid expansion and energy dispersion of the thin-jackets and deep hollow points.

 

[8andbait]

You are using the right bullet, something else is wrong.

 

[Santiam338]

I have yet for a deer to catch one ...Blows through and down they go..

 

[Darkker]

1) First was a medium size 4 point at a lasered 176 yards. the shot was good but a little back of perfect. It was spotted by two friend with binoculars. The buck hunched up and almost dropped, then trotted into the woods. We gave it an hour and then tried to trail it. No blood what so ever.

2) The second was a nice 9 point shot a a lasered 213 yards. Again a buddy was spotting for me. The shot hit perfect broadside. The deer dropped and thrashed on the ground. Finally it rolled on its stomach. We were sure it was down for good. I was about to fire an insurance shot when it suddenly staggered to its feet and ran into the woods. .

1) So, the shot was "good" but back of perfect, and No bleeding. Sounds like a gut shot, or bullet failure; let's see what else we have.
2) The shot "was perfect", and you were sure it was down for good, and yet the VERY next thing is you were about to fire an insurance shot?!! So what, you just like randomly pumping dead deer with lead because why not?

Sounds to me more like you are only really sure that you shot a deer, somewhere in the side.

 

[Trnelson]

Hmm....... That is quite different than any of my experiences with that particular bullet. Or any other Berger that I've shot or seen shot. Your description of the shot placement with both deer is not what you are looking for, at all. With any sporting bullet.
It's not my place to judge so I'll leave it at advising you to take a look at the Berger videos to improve what you are doing for next time. Here's a link [ame]https://youtu.be/pDoTOoCR2_A[/ame]
My mentor once told me it's only truly a mistake if you don't learn from it.

 

[gpo1956]

The first shot was good, but indeed a little back. According to both spotters, it was a good shot. The second shot was dead on in the vitals. The "Insurance shot" was about to be taken when it rolled over onto it's stomach and it's head came up. The facts are straight. As I said, I shot several deer under basically the same circumstances last year with the 25-06 with completely different outcomes.

 

[Darkker]

. Finally it rolled on its stomach. We were sure it was down for good. I was about to fire an insurance shot when it suddenly staggered to its feet and ran into the woods. .

According to both spotters, it was a good shot. . The "Insurance shot" was about to be taken when it rolled over onto it's stomach and it's head came up. The facts are straight. .

Your posts don't match, that's what's straight. At first when it finally hit its stomach, that convinced y'all it was done. Then the story changed to because it hit its stomach, you weren't convinced it was done. So which was it? A bad shot that needed insurance, or a good shot? If you are confident in your ability, why are you relying on a spotter to tell you where the bullet hit?? We're talking 100-200 yards. There should be no doubt.....

You don't like the notion that maybe your shots weren't where you thought, I understand that.
You asked "what other hunting bullets we recommend for this type of situation". From the other responses and videos, the consensus is that well-placed Berger's, don't have deer running off. So there is your answer about "this situation", agreeable or not.
If you, or maybe your spotters, are still convinced there was no bad shots; AND you already believe that Sierra's work in "this type of situation"....
You already decided on the answers, but asked a rhetorical question anyway. Guess the better question is why did you ignore what worked for you, in the first place?

 

[Waynzee]

I know from experience that Sierra bullets do what they are made for. Berger bullets at closer distances, I don't know. But if it ain't broke don't fix it, keep with your Sierra bullets. At the distance you shot those deer at, a 120 gr. Sierra Pro Hunter in that 260 would have dropped both those deer and if you had to track them at all, it wouldn't be far.

 

[toddc]

I used to live in Old Mexico and I have seen hundreds of deer shot in the VITALS with a 22 lr. Never seen one lost and certainly never seen one run 440 yds with a bullet thru its heart or lungs. I have seen lots of gutshot deer run miles with cartridges up to the 300 RUM. If you want a cartridge that will ensure a bad hit you need to look into the 300 SMK or Berger out of a 338 at 2850+. That will generally wipe out even a gutshot deer. Or you could just hit them in the lungs with a 22 lr.

 

[toddc]

I know from experience that Sierra bullets do what they are made for. Berger bullets at closer distances, I don't know. But if it ain't broke don't fix it, keep with your Sierra bullets. At the distance you shot those deer at, a 120 gr. Sierra Pro Hunter in that 260 would have dropped both those deer and if you had to track them at all, it wouldn't be far.

A 260 in the guts won't permanently drop an animal without a huge tracking job.

 

[Waynzee]

A 260 in the guts won't permanently drop an animal without a huge tracking job.

I don't recall him saying he gut shot the deer. What I do recall is he said he hit it a little far back. Also, I said if he had to track the deer it wouldn't be far, nothing said about permanently dropping a deer.

 

[toddc]

I don't recall him saying he gut shot the deer. What I do recall is he said he hit it a little far back. Also, I said if he had to track the deer it wouldn't be far, nothing said about permanently dropping a deer.

Point was that neither of the deer were hit in a vital spot or the outcome would have been very different even if he had been shooting a 22lr. The bullet was blamed instead of the shot.

Deer hunch on being hit for ONE reason GUTSHOT. Then the bullet is blamed.

The deer that dropped was most likely hit very high and dropped due to spinal shock. The wound was probably eventually fatal but a high hit like that is very hard to track as it can take a long time if ever for blood to drop.

One more example of blaming something other than bullet placement for a bad outcome.

No deer hit in the VITALS will magically run 440 yds with any bullet. Berger or Sierra.

 

[Waynzee]

Point was that neither of the deer were hit in a vital spot or the outcome would have been very different even if he had been shooting a 22lr. The bullet was blamed instead of the shot.

Deer hunch on being hit for ONE reason GUTSHOT. Then the bullet is blamed.

The deer that dropped was most likely hit very high and dropped due to spinal shock. The wound was probably eventually fatal but a high hit like that is very hard to track as it can take a long time if ever for blood to drop.

One more example of blaming something other than bullet placement for a bad outcome.

No deer hit in the VITALS will magically run 440 yds with any bullet. Berger or Sierra.

I agree with a deer hunching from being gut shot, but you don't know anymore than I do what really happened there. We can only guess. And what I originally said I know what a Sierra bullet would have done at a close distance. You're going off saying the deer was gut shot it wasn't hit in the vitals. wth Where you there?