MRH, on the note of 308 being inadequate, Id say bullet construction would be a likely factor. 308 isn't a screaming round by any means and thats why its accurate. I've noticed over the years that people tend to use bullets that are over constructed on our little southern white tails and most of that is probably due to them hear horror stories about the ballistic tip from people who made bad shots and the bullet didn't exit or whatever. My father in law wanted me to load him some bonded 180's for a 308 of his and I asked what he was hunting and he said just deer. First of all bonded bullets need a speed of XXXX amount before they can expand properly and if your shooting a bonded bullet in a heavy weight from an already "slower" cartridge then your starting a loosing battle when it comes to proper expansion on a little thin critter. On cartridges that shoot 3000 fps or slower, a lightly constructed middle weight bullet would be best, like a 150 BT in 308. I load 168 BT's at 2750 in my uncles 06 with pure deadly results. He wanted something similar to my 270 that i have 130 BST's running 3050fps and it smacks them dead in their tracks every time. I can usually predict the outcome most of the time when people tell me what they want me to load them without listening to my input. I warn them that its a tough bullet and if they just hit soft tissue that they may experience expansion issues. People tent to think that a heavier bullet with a tough construction is going to hit harder and hold together, but their mislead to an extent. Yes the kinetic energy is higher, with a 180 over a 165, but its only noticeable if you shot it into a steel wall that could stop the round. What people don't consider is the fact that it doesn't matter how many ft/lbs of energy you have if the target doesn't absorb that energy. All that extra energy usually winds up in the ground behind the deer. what you want is a bullet thats so perfectly suited for the animal you shoot that the bullet does maximum expansion inside the cavity without blowing the opposing shoulder off. From examining close to 100 deer that I've shot with my 270 130 BST's, the round hit soft tissue, expanded violently and in a lot of instances had core separation which isn't as bad as people make it sound so that they can sell you a premium bonded bullet at twice the cost. I don't usually hit bone, but in a few cases have and I still had complete pass throughs, but with a BT Id recommend not hitting bone... it amplifies the explosion. So from what you said about the 308 sending deer a half mile, Id say the bullet was too tough for the speed that it hit on as soft a target as a white tail and it more less left a pin hole effect which caused the deer to run until it bled out of the pin hole wound it left. I had it happen about 15 years ago when I was introduced to my 270 and I picked up a box of 150 core locks and I shot a deer in the boiler room 4 times and the poor thing still ran off and bled a slow death. Upon examining the deer, there were pin holes with very little expansion on the little 100 pound deer. It was too much bullet for the little target. Now I'm sure someone out there uses 220 grain bullets in a 308 and they would argue with me, but since I've changed how I load mine and the people who will listens bullets for them, they have had phenomenal results. bot saying BT's are the only bullets that have my results, but its the same concept.
