Twig. Grass. Small branch. Anything could have been between your muzzle & the deer to have deviated your perfect shot just enough to miss. It happens. Your shot was perfect, w/perfect follow-thru; as the trigger broke, you knew you were right on. So it couldn't have missed...I get it.
But did you hear that classic thump or smack sound? Did the deer hunch oddly, even for a fraction of a second to tell you it was a hit? If there is no blood, no hair, no sound of impact & no sign from the animal to indicate a hit, maybe something happened. Barrel inadvertently touching the bag or wood of blind? You either hit or you didn't. But when you hit deer with bullets there are almost always indications of that. You haven't listed a single indication of a hit.
Maybe the TARGET bullet, with no work done to clear the tip (hollow point) opening, failed to expand so it did just pencil thru. It happens. But you're asking us if your 208 grain .30 cal target bullet was the wrong choice. The answer - in this case - seems to be "yes". Would opening the tip more with a small drill bit or paperclip have helped? Maybe. But switching to a bullet made for hunting is a more sure fire fix for future hunts. (Totally NOT bashing Bergers here! They make bullets meant for hunting that would have been a better option.)
When all is said and done, I hope you go back out with a dog & find your deer. Then you'll have closure. If you don't find it, you'll never know if you hit or not. But one thing is certain - you probably can't trust your current bullet choice FOR HUNTING so, a change is in order.
In closing, I feel for you. Making what seems like a perfect shot & coming up empty feels bad. You want to know the "why" so you can fix the issue. If you check your rifle on a target & the zero is still good, it has to be a bullet failure to expand or a failure to hit the target. If it did not hit the target, you have to determine why because you can't have a repeat of that. Keep us posted.
But did you hear that classic thump or smack sound? Did the deer hunch oddly, even for a fraction of a second to tell you it was a hit? If there is no blood, no hair, no sound of impact & no sign from the animal to indicate a hit, maybe something happened. Barrel inadvertently touching the bag or wood of blind? You either hit or you didn't. But when you hit deer with bullets there are almost always indications of that. You haven't listed a single indication of a hit.
Maybe the TARGET bullet, with no work done to clear the tip (hollow point) opening, failed to expand so it did just pencil thru. It happens. But you're asking us if your 208 grain .30 cal target bullet was the wrong choice. The answer - in this case - seems to be "yes". Would opening the tip more with a small drill bit or paperclip have helped? Maybe. But switching to a bullet made for hunting is a more sure fire fix for future hunts. (Totally NOT bashing Bergers here! They make bullets meant for hunting that would have been a better option.)
When all is said and done, I hope you go back out with a dog & find your deer. Then you'll have closure. If you don't find it, you'll never know if you hit or not. But one thing is certain - you probably can't trust your current bullet choice FOR HUNTING so, a change is in order.
In closing, I feel for you. Making what seems like a perfect shot & coming up empty feels bad. You want to know the "why" so you can fix the issue. If you check your rifle on a target & the zero is still good, it has to be a bullet failure to expand or a failure to hit the target. If it did not hit the target, you have to determine why because you can't have a repeat of that. Keep us posted.
