deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
Very weird. Ml are always weird.
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- Thread starter Mike_D.
- Start date
My guess is you hit spinal process, not shoulder. It stuns and temporarily paralyzes them but they get up and run. I'd guess that's the bone fragment as well.
I aim behind shoulder for two reasons. First is i really like shoulder roasts. Second is because I've never seen a deer not die soon from a double lung gunshot. They're generally dead inside 100yds and the only meat i lose is a couple ribs.
Try the 240gr xtp MAG's. They have a heavier jacket and are made for higher velocity than the standard xtp pistol rounds. Should shoot the same or close to your xtp's. Do a quick range check and adjust as needed.
My old mz LOVED the 240 xtp mags. Out of dozens of deer only had 5-6 run and they didn't make it far.
My new mz hates the 240's but loves a 300 gr xtp mag. Every single deer I shoot with the 300 xtp mag runs but only about 50 feet. When I use the 300 xtp (not mag) they run about 50-70 yds but have huge wound channel and great blood trails. The plain xtp's have much more fragmentation, especially when hitting bone. The Mags, have much better weight retention but still expand well.
This has been my experience, your mileage may vary.
My old mz LOVED the 240 xtp mags. Out of dozens of deer only had 5-6 run and they didn't make it far.
My new mz hates the 240's but loves a 300 gr xtp mag. Every single deer I shoot with the 300 xtp mag runs but only about 50 feet. When I use the 300 xtp (not mag) they run about 50-70 yds but have huge wound channel and great blood trails. The plain xtp's have much more fragmentation, especially when hitting bone. The Mags, have much better weight retention but still expand well.
This has been my experience, your mileage may vary.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
That is weird. Never heard of anything like that, finding part of the bullet on the ground with no blood. I have used the 240 gr xtps for a long time, and they have performed well for me, even when hitting shoulder on entry.
Muzzleloaders are not close to equal of even light centerfire deer rifles like a 260 or 243, they are more akin to shooting one with a 44 magnum rifle.
That is very odd.
I shot one on halloween night 1981 at aedc with a patched .45 RB at 35 yds. His front end went down but his back legs stayed up, after about 4-5 seconds he got his front feet under him and took off and that was the last we ever saw of him.
That is very odd.
I shot one on halloween night 1981 at aedc with a patched .45 RB at 35 yds. His front end went down but his back legs stayed up, after about 4-5 seconds he got his front feet under him and took off and that was the last we ever saw of him.
Rabbitkil
Well-Known Member
That's why we don't aim for shoulder because it's always a chance regardless of what you are using
DC219
Well-Known Member
I shot one with a muzzleloader a few years ago that dropped in his tracks. As I was packing my backpack up to go retrieve my prize, the deer got up and ran off. We trailed it a couple hundred yards before the blood ran out. Two weeks later, @PWoody shot that deer as it chase a doe. It had a hole through its back just above the chest cavity. I must have rattled the spine enough to incapacitate it briefly, but not enough to kill it. A high powered rifle would have put it down. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if that's what you did and the bullet just made it through and fell on the ground. If so, it probably wasn't lethal. I also killed a buck one year that had a muzzleloader hole through its neck from the prior week. Muzzleloaders just don't produce the hydrostatic shot that rifles do.
