Bang Flop: Lungs??

I got a pronghorn buck about 5 years ago, at about 200 yards in a stiff cross-wind (down near Etzikom in WMU 102... Southern Alberta 'nutz know about the kind of winds down there) and it dropped where it stood. I was aiming at the vitals, but with the wind got it in the neck. Rifle was a Model 70 in .270Win, 130gr. Hornady SST BTSP.
I also got a Mule buck at about 20 yards, it was facing me and I shot it through the brisket, with a Model 70 in 30.06, 165gr. Hornady Interbond BTSP... again, bang-flop.

A buddy of mine bang-flopped a young doe at about 50 yards, severed the spinal cord behind the shoulders, with a .308.
Another dropped a cow moose where she stood (in a &^%$# swamp of all places!) with a Remington 760 in .35 Whelan.

So, yeah, it happens.
 
I shot a doe with my muzzleloader up high through the lungs this year and she dropped pretty much on the spot. But, I also shot a young buck with my 300WSM right through the heart, 165gr hornady interbond, blew a hole the size of an orange out the other side of his ribs, and he still leapt a fence and went around 30 yards. Paint brush wide blood trail though. As long as I find them and they don't suffer unduly, that's all I can do on my part.
 
I have shot deer in the lungs - no bone, just lungs - and have bang-flops. This topic came up once when I was talking with a game warden in Europe. He had seen this phenomenon every once in awhile on deer and stag. His reasoning - and I have no way to verify this - was that it probably depended on what stage of breathing the animal was in. For example when the lungs were the fullest the reaction would be different than when the lungs were the emptiest (exhaling). This was a long time ago and iirc he felt that if the bullet hit the animal when the lungs were at the fullest it would often drop on the spot.
 
My Mule buck this year dropped like a stone with a nothing but lung shot at 430 yards. Used a 140 grain Interbond out of a 280. I'm sure he would have ran aways, but I nailed it on a very steep slope and there was no stopping that fall. He didn't move when he finally stopped rolling. I've also seen a little WT doe run 20 yards after a 7mm RM took out her heart and a front leg, so anything can happen.
 
Big heavy bullets with flat points will take the front end down instantly with shoulder hits, most any gun/cal. will take 'em down "bang flop" with hits to the central nervous system, which includes brain, spine, etc. Hits anywhere else are harder to predict as to how fast they "drop".
 
Hit deer sized game 2/3 of the way up, right on the shoulder with almost anything .30 cal or up, and it's an almost guaranteed "bang flop" . That shot will break the shoulder blade, take out both lungs, and graze the bottom of the spine. I've seen it happen a bunch of times, it's especially effective with a .50 cal muzzleloader.
 
After a lot of deer(I used to live in the UK) I have only seen one drop to the shot that was just a lungshot. Damage was minimal with a .243/100gr interlock through the lungs of a Fallow doe at about 125 yards. She went straight down to a broadside shot and I thought I had hit the shoulder on the way out. Took my time before I went to her(maybe 4 or 5 mins) and when I got there she was stone dead with a small exit behind the far shoulder. Opened her up and I had'nt hit anything but a rib on the way out. Clipped the tail end of the heart. I still don't understand why she fell so fast and hardly even kicked.
Usually if they drop to the shot you've hit the shoulder or spine.In the UK I was selling the deer, so I would rather not hit any big bones or the game dealer might'nt buy them!
 
Mule deer. .303British reload with Hornady 174grn round nose Interlock and factory Remington Express with 180grn CoreLokt. The deer just stop.
 
I have never seen an animal bang flop from a shot only to the heart or lungs. i believe the nervous system has to be shocked to have an animal drop on the spot. If you have had one drop, I think you must have hit a rib and sent enough shock to the spinal column. IMO
 
270 Win..257 Weatherby.and 7 Rem mag..never had one move ever with Bergers and Partitions, the 257 wby..is like Thors hammer.
I have tracked with a muzzleloader though..just once.
To elaborate..I have shot deer I thought I missed..they went down that fast..one shot.
 
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bearkilr said:
I don't recall ever seeing an animal drop in its tracks from being shot only through the heart or lungs, they generally run. Some stand still and collapse after some time as is the case with some moose and bison. By this I mean a shot which doesn't touch the shoulder or spinal column,lungs and/or heart only.
A "bang flop" means you should quickly reload and stay on target. I've seen many "dead" animals get up and run after cheering and high fiveing. :)
Click to expand...

That sums up my experience exactly.
I have had a few kills where the animal dropped, but there was always, without exception, damage to the CNS.
I had a moose a few years ago who did exactly that; it was bang, bang, bang, backflip. Also shot a small whitetail buck that dropped like a bag of hammers, kicked a little, then got up and ran off never to be seen again. The shot went over the lungs, behind the shoulder blades and under the spine (no man's land).

I have had a hard time believing that the energy of a bullet can knock an animal over ever since I saw a young doe shot through the guts with a .300 Weatherby and run off the field.
 
"whitetail buck that dropped like a bag of hammers, kicked a little, then got up and ran off never to be seen again"
It is possible to clip the spine just enough to shock the animal into dropping to the shot by stunning them. They ususally lie there shivering violently for a few seconds then recover and run off. It only happens if you hit the spine without breaking it.
 
Many years ago, my Career Manager sentenced me to 48 months in Saskatchewan (yes it was a sentence and not a posting!). As there wasn't much handgun shooting in the immediate area at the time, hunting season became my favorite time of the year.

I shot my bragging shot with a Remington M788 fitted with a Bushnell/Banner 4x scope fitted with a BDC. I was using Remington 150 grain Core Lokt. I was hunting on the prairies and only able to get within 450 yds. I got into the prone, snuggled up to the stock, dialed into 450 and gently squeezed. 6 pointer mulie buck, 1 shot, heart shot! He went straight down. I never started out hunting season unless I had fired a minimum of 200 rds in practice for that year.

If you have an opportunity , buy one, great guns


It is not the gun you have, it's how much practice you get with the gun you have!
 
I have very very rarely seen broadside lung shot animals drop at the shot unless a shoulder or the spine was involved. Most that I have seen drop at the shot had little bits of stray bullet fragments or rib fragments that hit the spine. A very few were mysteries.

Based on my rather rudimentary understanding of physiology and anatomy, I have a little different theory than some previous posters about instant kills due to the "breathing" - it seems far more likely that if a bullet hits during the peak of systolic pressure of a heartbeat, there is more hydraulic pressure on the nervous system that may shock the brain. But you can't time a bullet strike to hit at the precise instant that is the peak of blood pressure, so it's kinda irrelevant.
I expect animals hit in the chest to stay on their feet until their brain is depleted of oxygen, about 5-10 seconds.
 
Blah,,Blah..Blah

Do you think you would stand up for 5-10 seconds with a 7 Rem mag bullet,,entering thr right side of your body..blowing your lungs out..and 3 for ribs on the way out...and not drop immediately..I don't Fing think so.
Get all high tech you want..they go down because of pain aswell.......guess we will never know.
I am not saying they are dead when they hit the ground..but they hit the ground..and I mean now.
 
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