The ethics of proper bullet choice

[The Hedgehog]

Worst bullet I've used were ELD-Xs, long retrieve with no blood.

Well, that's what happens when you shoot them right in the ass.

 

[88man]

SaskHunter said:
Worst bullet I've used were ELD-Xs, long retrieve with no blood.

No talking bad about Hornaday they spend the most marketing and are in all the big box stores so they gotta be the best bullets

 

[SaskHunter]

Well, that's what happens when you shoot them right in the ass.

That was with a Barnes Spit-Fire T-EZ and what I do with asses on my own time is MY business, siiirrrr!

 

[TheJason]

@JLS hold my while I drop my hockey gloves!

 

[SaskHunter]

View attachment 206943

The most lethal projectile of all: 280k gr HGCB-FT

High Gape Coefficient Beaver - Flat Tailed

 

[TheJason]

The most lethal projectile of all: 280k gr HGCB-FT

High Gape Coefficient Beaver - Flat Tailed

Is that in G1 or G7?

 

[SaskHunter]

Is that in G1 or G7?

Neither, the ogive of a G1 with the body for a G7, so definitely VD1!

 

[TheJason]

 

[Perlodid]

Back on subject before I get the paddle again. All TTSX kills in 308 or 25-06. Farthest retreive was maybe 60 yds on the bear, with a blood trail my 3 yo could follow. All others dropped on the spot or were dead within 15 yds.

Worst bullet I've used were ELD-Xs, long retrieve with no blood.

No blood trail with ELD-Xs? My experience with them is limited, but drastically different.

 

[Derek44]

No blood trail with ELD-Xs? My experience with them is limited, but drastically different.

That looks like the blood that came out of my elk this year with the ELD-X. 2 elk and one black bear and none of the three made it more than 20 feet. I’ve had good results with them

 

[mtmuley]

My bullet is better than yours. mtmuley

 

[220yotekiller]

Any bullet out of a 257 Weatherby.

 

[LopeHunter]

I got used to shooting a .338 WinMag and grouped really well at the range out to 300 yards. 250 grain factory load Federal Premium. I had a moose hunt in WY followed right away with a pronghorn hunt in WY. I only took the .338 and shot the pronghorn at around 75 yards, maybe under 50 yards. I had a bum leg, using a cane, and the pronghorn was near the road. The issue was the distance. Bullet never expanded as missed bone on way in and out while hitting both lungs. Never used the .338 on pronghorn after that.

 

[SaskHunter]

No blood trail with ELD-Xs? My experience with them is limited, but drastically different.

I've read the same reports online but after shooting a deer and an antelope the same season I stopped using them. Both hits were broadside double lungs. Both shots over snowy terrain with nothing but tiny drops of blood. I switched to TTSXs after this and haven't looked back. I'm sure there's tons of guys happy with them, I wasn't.

 

[golfer]

So would you stop using the tried and true nosler partition if you recovered one looking like this?

 

[Perlodid]

I've read the same reports online but after shooting a deer and an antelope the same season I stopped using them. Both hits were broadside double lungs. Both shots over snowy terrain with nothing but tiny drops of blood. I switched to TTSXs after this and haven't looked back. I'm sure there's tons of guys happy with them, I wasn't.

That's totally fair. I switched to TTSX's as well because I wanted the consistency, and I wanted to switch to copper anyways. I was just surprised you didn't have blood trails, but at the end of the day it's all anecdotal at the scale we are dealing with.

 

[shoots-straight]

I feel that if the bullet that you use won't kill, gut, and process the animal using the double wrap method, then "Ethically" you're a loser.

 

[SaskHunter]

So would you stop using the tried and true nosler partition if you recovered one looking like this?
View attachment 206961View attachment 206960

I've shot tons of animals with Partitions so, no. I've shot two animals with ELD-Xs with the same result. It was enough for me to move on to something different with much better results. Did I get a bad lot? Maybe, but I'm glad I made the switch anyway.

 

[shoots-straight]

I feel that if the bullet that you use won't kill, gut, and process the animal using the double wrap method, then "Ethically" you're a loser.

Oh and it must group within 1" at 1000 yrds.

 

[BAKPAKR]

The 62 gr TTSX kills way better than it should. Before my daughter shot her first deer, i had told her that I wanted her to tuck the shot in close behind the shoulder but that the deer would run with a broadside heart/lung shot. She shot and her doe dropped in its tracks. I was sure she must have hit high but the bullet hit the heart and the lungs and missed the shoulder and the spine. This was out of a 14.5” barreled 223.

We have both killed other deer with the 62 gr TTSX, and while not all have dropped in their tracks, they don’t go far.