6.5mm No Blood Trail

[gyates93]

Has anyone else experienced a lack of blood trail on whitetails with 6.5mm bullets at close range? I shot a doe this season with my 6.5 Creedmoor (I know I know...) at about 50 yards. The deer ran immediately and there were literally about 3 drops of blood over the first 50 yards of the trail and then nothing. Went back in the morning and found her 100yards away with a clean entry and exit wound through the ribs, lungs destroyed and thoracic cavity filled with blood.

The deer bled entirely internally and the round evidently did its job but made for hard tracking. The round used was federal's 140 grain 'non-typical' load ( power shok soft point).

I was thinking of handloading some Hornady 143gr ELD-X for next season, does anybody have experience with this bullet hunting at short and moderate ranges?

The blood trail:

The doe which was thankfully easily recovered in the morning and is delicious:

 

[Jetman]

used factory hornady 143 eldx in 6.5.. hit a rib bone going in on a small buck then thru lungs , no exit. no blood. deer went 20yds and dropped.

ive seen some reviews from one guy on federal trophy coppers, that hold their weight real good thru many types of wild game . they also get very good reviews from the masses

 

[hunter5425]

It can happen especially on deer carrying a lot of fat. I punched one through the ribs last year with my 280 and federal 140 grain Trophy bonded tip bullets and though he fell in sight there was very little blood but he was a fat deer which I thing helps plug the hole.

 

[time4t]

........

 

[mbogo3]

I put a .54 ball through a WT buck's heart at 90 yards and he never bled a drop externally.Found him tucked up under a balsam 50ft away.Upon opening him up he was full of blood........all came out in one gush.

 

[Jgoulin]

I've had two similar events. 4 or so years ago I picked up an xbolt 243 that was finicky on sighting in. After several attempts I was dead-eye #### with nosler partitions. Took a doe at 120 yards with zero blood anywhere. Did a spiral out 40 yards and still nada. My uncle found her about 80 yards away. No exit wound. Upon dressing the hearts and lungs were hamburger. Later when we skinned it out there were multiple pin point exit holes not visible in the hair.
Last year I was on stand with my 25-06 and had a 7 point walk up from behind me and pop up 10 yards to my left. Perfect broadside in the basket. He turned and ran about 50 yards and collapsed on the edge of a hay field. Which was considerant of him as I was sitting in a cedar swamp.
Hornady Whitetail exploded on contct with rib cage with minimal exit wounds. Almost like a small amount of bird shot on the skin. Again, no blood trail at all. The only explanation I can fathom is the projectile was moving too fast at such a short distance.

 

[dand883]

I shot a doe this year with my 6.5x55 and had a great blood trail. She ran maybe 60 yards and had a 6"-8" spray of blood every 8 or 10 feet.

Was using Fiocchi ammo with SST's, hit her right at about 100 yards.

I suspect you just had a one off odd shot that didn't make the hole it was supposed to. I always hear people talk about how good accubonds work and how big of a blood trail they leave, but the one deer i shot with one had a tiny exit hole and almost no blood to speak of. Luckily he didn't go far and i didn't have to track him through anything nasty.

 

[medvedqc]

first you found it. now after you shot, did you wait a little before going after?. 100 yards i s not that much.

 

[Suther]

OP I wouldn't worry about it too much. It happens. If it keeps happening, I would look to switch bullets but a sample size of 1 doesn't really tell you anything.

 

[bunny]

Need a bigger hole .458WM for the win !

 

[powdermaker]

My son shot a buck last year that was facing us at a slight angle at 150 yards. He was shooting 140 gr Barnes TSX in a 7-08. The bullet broke the shoulder and angled through the lungs but did not exit. The deer dropped at the shot but got up and took off like it wasn't hit. No blood for the first 75 yards and then we started seeing a bit. The last 25 yards was easy to follow. It somehow ran 150 yards.
You just never know how an animal will react. No matter how the animal reacts, we always assume a hit and do a follow up regardless.

 

[mbogo3]

My son put a 130gr Scrirroco II from his 6.5x55 T3 into a WT does frontal chest shot during a drive about 30 yards head on.Took out one lung and exited the opposite flank.She dropped jumped up and took off in a 125yard semi circle.Followed the disturbed frost covered leaves on the ground as there was no snow.She was bedded beside a brush pile when I headshot her with my .250-3000.One lung destroyed?

 

[gyates93]

first you found it. now after you shot, did you wait a little before going after?. 100 yards i s not that much.

Gave her 15 min before proceeding to the site of the shot, probably 30 before going into the woods after her. She was almost certainly dead because I was 20 yards or so away in the dark and I would have heard her otherwise.

There was an exit wound approximately 3/4in through the opposite ribs and visible through the pelt, but there was absolutely no blood on the ground even where she died.

It was a high lung shot and the deer definitely couldn't have been more dead, but I believe the bullet did not expand fully based on the close range and high velocity.

I agree with above that sample size 1 is not sufficient to judge but I certainly do not want to lose a deer in the thick stuff.

 

[Suther]

Gave her 15 min before proceeding to the site of the shot, probably 30 before going into the woods after her. She was almost certainly dead because I was 20 yards or so away in the dark and I would have heard her otherwise.

There was an exit wound approximately 3/4in through the opposite ribs and visible through the pelt, but there was absolutely no blood on the ground even where she died.

It was a high lung shot and the deer definitely couldn't have been more dead, but I believe the bullet did not expand fully based on the close range and high velocity.

I agree with above that sample size 1 is not sufficient to judge but I certainly do not want to lose a deer in the thick stuff.

Isn't close range and high velocity usually a recipe for MORE expansion, not less? Perhaps the bullet came apart in the body cavity and only a small piece exited? When I did some testing with Federal 130gr in my 270, shooting into milk jugs at pretty close range the jacket and lead completely separated and the biggest piece was only a fraction of the initial weight.

 

[blargon]

Daughter and I both took bucks this year with 120 ttsx. Mine dropped on the spot, hers went about 30 feet.

 

[Dukester]

If its heart isn't beating there is no blood pressure and little blood. 100 yard runs after being shot and cleanly killed by rifle are not uncommon.
Bullet change isn't going to solve your problem. Good thing you aren't in yote country.

 

[blasted_saber]

3/4" exit wound isnt nothing

Id just chalk it up to bad luck and some fat or viscera plugging the hole.

 

[remyltr]

not trying to start anything but.....
try another bullet placement on the deer

 

[fingers284]

I would bet that there is blood on the ground, you just didn't see it because you didn't know what to watch for. ttl from the hit to recovery but that just isn't the case rather it is the exception rather than the rule I have found. Some blood trails are just a pin head sized drop after another, sometimes many feet apart and it takes an extremely diligent tracker to follow...every hunter can teach themselves to be that tracker just be prepared to spend a lot of time doing it. I learned the care & attention and hunted with a couple other men that were better than I was and tracking somebodies wounded animal sometimes progresses at a rate of 2 hrs per 100 yrds...but it can be done.

 

[Longwalker]

I have seen very fat deer ( and bears) that left no blood on the ground even with an exit wound. Sometimes fat plugs the hole.