I feel bad/chance in a million?

[Burdy]

I shot a buck chasing a doe on an opposite ridge a number of years ago, he went down in a heap. Turned my attention to the doe, shot her, she dropped as well. Looked over to where the buck had laid and he was gone. Crossed the hollow and found a 50cent sized spot of blood but nothing leading away from it. Circled around for half an hour and couldn't find a drop. Gutted the doe, went back to camp got my buddies and we searched for several hours without finding a sign. A week later a guy on our lease drug the buck in, he had shot it chasing another doe. It had a fist size chunk blown out of his back which had scabbed over, it was amazing the deer could even stand up. The bullet had went between his lungs and spine. Was shooting a 25-06 with 117 gr Nosler partition bullets, 52 gr of 4350. A rifle and load that had killed a bunch of deer for me with no issues.

Let me guess, inside 100 yards and your MV at the POI was above 3150 fps?

 

[Horsehat]

Let me guess, inside 100 yards and your MV at the POI was above 3150 fps?

Very close to this. 80+- yards, Never owned a chrony but from memory published data put this at 3000 (maybe 3300) plus muzzle velocity. settled on this load because it was extremely accurate from my Ruger 77.

 

[Burdy]

Once a small bore exceeds 3150 mv at POI on deer sized game the smack from the round against the surface tension of the fluid inside the animal will cause the round to "blow up" prematurely. Its like jumping into water from a 3 foot diving board vs 30 foot, flat footed. Penetration gets limited and wounding is sub-par. Its one reason 50% of the people will tell you a .243 is a deer slayer and the other 50% say its not enough bullet. It just depends on the load, velocity and game. Just one example of why bigger and faster are not always better. But hey, the 25-06 is probably the 2nd best whitetail deer round next to the .270 Win.

 

[Bear44]

I was out in the field today. I figured the deer would be moving after last night's cold front and sure enough I saw a whole heap of deer even before 8.15am.

Anyhoo, around 8.30am a lone 8 pointer breaks the tree line and moves across the field in front of me keeping about 90 yds away. I have the cross hairs on his shoulder and wait until he's slightly quartering away before sending the .308. In the rush of noise and adrenaline I see him buck and limp into the opposite tree line dragging his left front leg.

I wait 20-30 minutes before quietly walking up to the edge of the forest, just as I get to the tree line I spy my buck bedded down and very much alive 20 yds inside the trees. I raise my rifle to administer the coup de grace and he stands up and trots another 30 yards into the bush before I can pull the trigger. At this point I withdraw quietly from the trees and wait another 10 minutes before moving down the outside of the tree line to where I think he is moving. I then sneak into the forest again as quietly as I'm capable of and after 10 painfully long minutes I see him bedded again but alert and quartering away from me. I slowly, SLOWLY raise the rifle take careful aim and shoot him again, he jumps up and runs 30 yards before finally pilling up.

When I finally get to examine him, it's apparent where the fatal shot went; behind his front leg through his heart and out of his chest. But the first shot, the one I'm struggling to reconcile, seems to have struck his shoulder as intended, but instead of passing through, by a freak of nature ricocheted down off the bone and all but blew off his front hoof leaving a decidedly useless leg and a non fatal wound (It was badly damaged enough that I'm sure and infection of coyotes would have eventually got him).

I was using my cartridge of choice, 165 grain 308 Federal/Sierra gameking and it's never failed in the past. It's really bothering me that this animal was put through unnecessary suffering through some fault of mine, but the bullet went pretty much where I wanted it to. Have any of you guys ever experienced something like this?

Thanks for reading.

Yes! On two occasions. Once myself and once my brother. Both were good hits that deflected badly. Both bullets failed to hold together well and did not follow the predicted direction once entering the body due to that. Both deer were eventually recovered, but one had been too long in the woods in warm weather and the other was destroyed by coyotes before we found it. Both were with a 7mm Rem Mag using Sierra Gamekings.

I've never used Gamekings again.

 

[Bear44]

But that's the thing, I was aiming for the shoulder and that's where it hit, but instead of punching through it ricocheted down through it's leg. It's got me rethinking shoulder shots now, but since I'm tagged out I'll have all spring and summer to think about it.

Nothing wrong with a shoulder shot. It was a failed bullet.

 

[Bear44]

OP, here are a few examples. Google search each one for an accurate description. What happened to you was likely a totally random kind of thing. Deer are tough animals.
My bullet of choice is the Barnes TTSX or the TSX in the top left corner. The same thing is possible even with that bullet.
View attachment 1416650

I'll point out that every one of those bullets is either a bonded core or solid copper bullet. The SGK is not.

My go to bullet is the Barnes TTSX, but I'll also use and trust an Accubond.

 

[Rzr570]

Hey.... where's the pic with ur buck?!?!?!

 

[Bear44]

Winchester Ballistic SilverTips

Nope. Inconstant expansion. I've had them blow right through with no expansion and had others basically disintegrate without nearly the penetration they should have had.

 

[Rzr570]

Nope. Inconstant expansion. I've had them blow right through with no expansion and had others basically disintegrate without nearly the penetration they should have had.

Through the years I've been fortunate enough to go on several pay hunts at various places. On two separate occasions, I've had the outfitter request that no one use ballistic tip ammo. Both claimed they've lost far too many animals as a result. I've always used accubond with great success and my rifle shoots lights out with that ammo.

 

[Horsehat]

Once a small bore exceeds 3150 mv at POI on deer sized game the smack from the round against the surface tension of the fluid inside the animal will cause the round to "blow up" prematurely. Its like jumping into water from a 3 foot diving board vs 30 foot, flat footed. Penetration gets limited and wounding is sub-par. Its one reason 50% of the people will tell you a .243 is a deer slayer and the other 50% say its not enough bullet. It just depends on the load, velocity and game. Just one example of why bigger and faster are not always better. But hey, the 25-06 is probably the 2nd best whitetail deer round next to the .270 Win.

Trying to recall as close as possible, I believe I shot 37 deer, 1 coyote and a number of armadillos with this rifle/load. This was the only deer lost and only 2 went more than 50 yards, most dropping within a few feet. I believe what you are saying to be correct but subject to circumstances such as material impacted (bone vs soft tissue) and bullet construction of course playing a large part. Very few had exit wounds, most were shot either angled through the near lower shoulder to traverse the heart/lungs or angled through the heart/lung area to impact the far side shoulder. I am in agreement with your selection of the top two deer rounds but would reverse the order if the average dressed weight was sub 100 pounds, as most GA deer are. Either will do a fine job and I wouldn't want to live on the difference.