Pass through or Expended in Target?

[WildRose]

IMHO the perfect bullet will exit, but barely. I want an exit hole for tracking. You shoot enough animals, unless you consistently sacrifice a ton of meat to break the shoulder, they will sometimes travel even with a double lung. In heavy cover a 50 yard dash can be a pain if there is no blood. You can make a perfect shot and if the blood pools under the entry wound you get no trail.

One of my favorite woods guns is a Ruger carbine in 44Mag. With 240Xtps I consistently get exits with the jacket caught under the offside skin, which is enough of an exit to provide a good (and typically short) trail.

With the right bullet, that shoulder/spine shot wastes very little meat.

Again, the importance of understanding how a bullet is designed and what it is designed for.

Bullets designed to punch through hard bones don't fragment much and have limited, controlled expansion.

Use an Amax for the same purpose though and you get a heck of a mess.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I've also seen where a frangible bullet that wasn't placed in the best spot has actually saved our butts. The one instance I can think of is my sister shot a buck at about 200 yards with a 140 amax. The buck was quartered to her alittle and didn't realize it. With the path that bullet was going it was going to be all gut shot. But when that bullet hit it hit a rib and the bullet started to rapidly expand and it Sent bullet fragments into the lungs and he only went 80 yards and was done. A bullet that held together that would've ended very differently I have a feeling. I dont remember now if any of that bullet exited.

 

[WildRose]

I've also seen where a frangible bullet that wasn't placed in the best spot has actually saved our butts. The one instance I can think of is my sister shot a buck at about 200 yards with a 140 amax. The buck was quartered to her alittle and didn't realize it. With the path that bullet was going it was going to be all gut shot. But when that bullet hit it hit a rib and the bullet started to rapidly expand and it Sent bullet fragments into the lungs and he only went 80 yards and was done. A bullet that held together that would've ended very differently I have a feeling. I dont remember now if any of that bullet exited.

I don't doubt it but that kind of luck is really rare.

 

[BenelliHunter]

By any means am I a perfect shot, far from it, and in my experience I've had both pass thru's and non-pass thru's, animals were recovered either way. The non-pass thru's didn't go any farther than the pass thru's. I've also had DRT results both ways. I know this is boring to hear, but bullet placement is everything, so is practice, and more practice. Honing one's skills is a huge factor.

I agree. Visually I like the pass through and when asked I would have to say it is what I prefer for tracking. That being said, it is rare that I have ever had to track an animal that I have shot with a bullet.

I am very fond of my McWhorter 45 XML and out of 25 shots I only tracked one animal in a millet field about 45 yards, and that was due to bullet placement not bullet performance.

My 8 year old shot two bucks this year and each ran less than 25 yards, both heart shot with Hornady 87 grain 6 CM, no exits.

On a kill permit this year we killed 27 doe, all died within feet of where they were shot, no tracking needed, all killed with 6CM's at ranges of 75-475 yards with Hornady 87 grain bullets.

Again, I like the thought of an exit but in principle, aim small, miss small, track little.

 

[Spotter's Signature]

In a long quest for finding a perfect hunting bullet, I came across Hornady's SST, in 165 gr. It amazes me how quickly these bullets dump their energy upon impact. I shoot a 300 Win Mag. I developed a (hot) load for my rifle and shot a great buck from about 50 yards in 2020 with it. He took off after the hit and did about 300 yards before I lost the visual. It took me a long time to track him and I was getting convinced I had missed. I'm into long range shooting, so missing this kind of target from this kind of distance was driving me insane... I had no high shoulder shot (my default) chance, so I hit the heart/lungs. The bullet stayed inside after obliterating his lungs and heart. There were no blood signs at all, no exit wound. It was his white belly that accidentally revealed his location from a distance, where he was dead. In 2021, I loaded heavier, 180 gr SST bullets and hit a doe from 108 yards. Same story; she collapsed some 150 yards away, and again, it took me a while to find her. There were some minor blood marks from the entry wound, which helped. She had no heart nor lungs left. Needless to say, no no-pass-through bullets in my plans anymore. Great distance, perfect shot placement, and a big 300! And a lot of luck that I recovered these animals. I killed four more deer in 2021 (Arkansas) with Accubonds. DRT, every time, high shoulder or vitals...

 

[M T Pockets]

Ideally I want the bullet to expend as much energy inside the animal leaving enough to exit the opposite side. I realize different ranges will dictate how this happens so matching the cartridge/bullet to the game and area hunted comes into play.

 

[FEENIX]

Regardless of whether the preference is a pass-through or inside, besides the "NUT" behind the trigger being the largest factor, shot placement is instrumental. "I" like the lung/heart shot when there is room to run and high shoulder when I want it DRT.

 

[fmuguira]

I think it "depends" …. There's strong arguments and facts for each camp. In my experience and IMO, shot placement, angle of shot and bulk/size of animal on menu along with their tenacity all comes into play.

To summarize, massive internal trauma and damage along with the longest wound channel INSIDE the animal seems to be a good formula. That said each scenario changes based on shot placement (bone?tissue?) angle of shot ( longer path to vitals, getting to offside of animal) and animal size. Having a balanced bullet that induces both trauma and penetration is probably the safest approach !! The years old partition with its soft nose (trauma and energy transfer) along with a near solid rear construction (penetration) has been the one all others get judged against. Fortunately lots of other good choices now too!

 

[OldElkHunter1961]

What we "want" and what terminal ballistics deliver may or may not coincide. Yes, you can load bullets that are designed to exhibit specific characteristics, but you won't always see those results. Both work and there are myriad factors beyond our control bearing on the outcome. What we can control is where we plant that golden bullet. In the end it'll get the final vote. Pick the pill that constantly groups tightest in your rifle. Then practice your marksmanship skills until you're not the weakest link.

 

[Plowboy85]

I voted pass through because as a big bow hunter my heart tugs that way. I have no idea on the game and predators I have killed but most have been short tracking jobs or watched them go down. Someone mentioned most of his mushrooms were in the offside hide typically, I think this is the best of both worlds. I would lean more to stouter constructed bullet that will increase my chances of getting through all the vitals than coming apart half way. With all of that said I think I'd go with "pass through" as my intention.

 

[WTOBob]

I have usually been pretty adamant about my bullets staying together and a pass through. This past season I hunted with my new 6.5/284 and it really likes Berger 140 Elite Hunter. Shot both my deer, whitetail and MD, and what a mess. Both deer DRT but geez. What a mess to clean. Both deer shot behind shoulder in lungs, bullets exploded inside. Sure made a bloody mess field dressing. Going to work up new loads with Accubonds. Love those bullets and how they perform.

 

[gvjm]

I like 2 holes. Easier to track if needed.

 

[crashlanding]

The bullets we prefer to hunt with are barnes tsx and Sierra gamekings, both kill but in different ways. The barnes pass through, animal runs off or walks off but usually no more than 100 yards, gamekings usually drop them within 25 yards. These are .243, .270 or 7mm. Barnes are reserved for elk, sierra's for deer. I've worked up 2 loads for each of those calibers using those bullets. This is western hunting, terrain varies. I did not take the poll, there are too many variables

 

[Will Gray]

It depends what the bullet hits or passes through. If it hits a rib before hitting the heart or passing through the damage will be great. If it does not hit bone and goes through the lungs only, get your tracking shoes on. If it hits the CNS it is DRT. If it hits enough bone up high to shock the spine: DRT. Neck shots are good as long as you don't MISS haha. Head shots are risky on white tails as they move so quickly, the brain shot ends up blowing the jaw half off and the deer starves to death or the coyotes get it.