Muzzle Loader Bullet Question

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archie126

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Tonight I shot at a Doe approx 90-95 yards. My brother was sitting beside me and saw the shot. Deer's back legs into air, her nose almost hit the ground. He thought she was down for the count.


Get to where she was standing, no deer, no blood, snow on ground made that easy.

Heres the question.

I am using Hornady 300 grain SST with the red plastic tip, think they call it a ballistic tip.

We found this red tip lying on the snow where the Doe was standing. On the side I was shooting at. Its not deformed in anyway on tip or sides. Any suggestions what happened.

We found the trail she went in but did not want to push her will return in am to continue looking.
 
I have had that happen to me with a 10 pt buck 3 years ago. Same distance. Fresh snow, no blood but found some hair. I let it go for a hour or so before following the tracks. I got to an old rail fence that it jumped over expecting to find blood if I were to ever find any. None found but 30 feet on the other side of that fence the deer was laying in a huge poll of blood. The deer maybe went 80 yards max. Dead center though the boiler room the shot was. Was also a dead center bullet :) I hope the best for you, Good luck.
 
Huuummm....Don't really know about the tip. I shoot a similar bullet (DC 200gr). Of all the deer that I (and friends) have shot with this bullet,
I have never recovered the tip. Judging by her reaction, sounds like you definitely hit her. You said no blood...but what about hair?
With the rain we are getting tonight/overnight, blood trail will be non-existent by morning. You made a really good choice though not to push her.

..Good luck trying to sleep tonight...and good luck finding her in the morning. :)
 
Archie
I shoot the same bullet and have never had to look for a deer but have found the bullet tip inside the deer a few times. My only explaination is you may have hit her a little high or a little far back and the bullet went between the ribs leaving you a very small exit, the blood has not reached the level of the hole yet leaving you no blood trail. I am sure you will find that the deer is dead judging by your description of the hit. Post your findings in the morning with a nice pic.
Best of luck
 
Thanks for the responses. Its weird and dos not make sense to me. I shot a nice buck in the exact same spot same load on the BP opener last year, great blood trail with the pass thru.
 
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Sometimes blood will not begin to show for a significant distance, but the snow should show it easily. What about hair?? ANY hit will ALWAYS leave some hair.

The fact the tip was there leads me in a different direction though; could you have shot low? I have seen deer damn near flip over when shot under. Also, snow will cause a bullet to expand quickly and slow down rapidly, even soft powdery snow. Without blood in the first 100 yards or hair at the site of impact, I would guess your shot went low.

Just a thought. I hope you find her.
 
PudelPointer got it!

Went back today after the am hunt and checked. No hair, no blood, the bullet hit low and the plastic point must have come out on impact.

The plastic tip was on the ground approx 1 foot from the deers hoofprints so looks like it was a clean miss.

We checked through the bush out to the next feild just to make sure though.

Thanks for input appreciate it.
 
Glad it was a clean miss. I developed a bad habit of lifting my head (and thus lowering the muzzle) from shooting black powder when I was young. I used to shoot at pop cans filled with water and was always trying to see the impact (impossible by the way).

This habit came back recently when I started hunting with a muzzleloader again and unfortunately resulted in me losing a very nice whitetail buck this year, at 60 yards no less. I had to make a concerted effort to keep my head down and managed to take a couple of nice bucks, one about 40 yards farther away.

Hang in there.
 
Ummm...my 2 cents

My thought you smoked her and the bullet did not open...I witnessed and ranged a doe for a friend, he shot, she did the exact same thing and we could not recover her and could not believe that the deer he just smoked ran away and would not stop or expire...

A couple of days later he took a 210lb 5 x 4 Sask Whitetail @ 100 yds. I have the 250 gr sst that came out of the far side hide for that buck...IT DID NOT OPEN. As soon as I find my camera I will post the pics...my good friend took his deer with it...a good shot, good placement...the bullet did not open or mushroom...VERY POOR BULLET PERFORMANCE. SASK OUTDOORS HAS A FEW OTHER STORIES ABOUT THE NEW HORNADY SST AND POOR PERFORMANCE.

THE SST USED TO GRENADE ON IMPACT TILL THEY MADE THE JACKET HEAVIER, NOW THEY DONT RELIABLY OPEN...

I REFUSE TO SHOOT THEM. I have used for years BARNES SPITFIRES and have 4 Barnes Spitfires from bucks and does each one perfectly mushroomed and petalled back...from 35 yards, 110 yds and 2 at 200 yds...

Both bullet makes are shot using Winchester primers and 100 grs Triple 7 Pellets...

Cheers
 
Sask Hunter said:
My thought you smoked her and the bullet did not open...I witnessed and ranged a doe for a friend, he shot, she did the exact same thing and we could not recover her and could not believe that the deer he just smoked ran away and would not stop or expire...

A couple of days later he took a 210lb 5 x 4 Sask Whitetail @ 100 yds. I have the 250 gr sst that came out of the far side hide for that buck...IT DID NOT OPEN. As soon as I find my camera I will post the pics...my good friend took his deer with it...a good shot, good placement...the bullet did not open or mushroom...VERY POOR BULLET PERFORMANCE. SASK OUTDOORS HAS A FEW OTHER STORIES ABOUT THE NEW HORNADY SST AND POOR PERFORMANCE.

THE SST USED TO GRENADE ON IMPACT TILL THEY MADE THE JACKET HEAVIER, NOW THEY DONT RELIABLY OPEN...

I REFUSE TO SHOOT THEM. I have used for years BARNES SPITFIRES and have 4 Barnes Spitfires from bucks and does each one perfectly mushroomed and petalled back...from 35 yards, 110 yds and 2 at 200 yds...

Both bullet makes are shot using Winchester primers and 100 grs Triple 7 Pellets...

Cheers
Click to expand...

That is why I shoot PR bullets (Dead Center)....all lead, NO copper jacket for thin-skinned animals. :D
 
A couple of days later he took a 210lb 5 x 4 Sask Whitetail @ 100 yds. I have the 250 gr sst that came out of the far side hide for that buck...IT DID NOT OPEN. As soon as I find my camera I will post the pics...my good friend took his deer with it...a good shot, good placement...the bullet did not open or mushroom...
Click to expand...

That's a pic I'd like to see........

I'm sure I have over 50 kills with the SST at ranges from 30 yards to a touch over 300 and I've never seen one not expand! I've heard of people complaining about SST bullets coming apart but never not expanding.
 
beefman said:
That is why I shoot PR bullets (Dead Center)....all lead, NO copper jacket for thin-skinned animals. :D
Click to expand...

As long as you don't push them too fast they are a great bulllet but they aren't designed for the velocities achieved by many of the smokeless or the three pellet loads used by hunters today. Jacketed bullets are a must when you start breaking the 1900-2000 fps barrier.
 
sheephunter said:
As long as you don't push them too fast they are a great bulllet but they aren't designed for the velocities achieved by many of the smokeless or the three pellet loads used by hunters today. Jacketed bullets are a must when you start breaking the 1900-2000 fps barrier.
Click to expand...

That is total missinformation. There are numerous different bullets in the PR lineup, each with its own purpose. If you are shooting a lighter charge, go with a QT, or one of the budget hollowpoint bullets and you will get terrific expansion. If you are shooting a heavy load, use Dead centers. They are dseigned for less expansion. The owner of the company shoots a Savage using smokeless using a lot of heavy loads...I shot/witnessed shot at least 6 deer this year with PR Bullets, not one failed to expand, only one didnt pass through(I shot a buck quartering too in the front shoulder at a hard angle, the bullet passed theough the heart and was somewhere in the mess after he was gutted)
I think that most stories about lost deer with "I smoked him placement" are BS, and the shot was not as good as it looked. If you shoot a deer through both lungs, even if the bullet doesnt expand, it isnt going too far.
 
Xs24-7 said:
That is total missinformation. There are numerous different bullets in the PR lineup, each with its own purpose. If you are shooting a lighter charge, go with a QT, or one of the budget hollowpoint bullets and you will get terrific expansion. If you are shooting a heavy load, use Dead centers. They are dseigned for less expansion. The owner of the company shoots a Savage using smokeless using a lot of heavy loads...I shot/witnessed shot at least 6 deer this year with PR Bullets, not one failed to expand, only one didnt pass through(I shot a buck quartering too in the front shoulder at a hard angle, the bullet passed theough the heart and was somewhere in the mess after he was gutted)
I think that most stories about lost deer with "I smoked him placement" are BS, and the shot was not as good as it looked. If you shoot a deer through both lungs, even if the bullet doesnt expand, it isnt going too far.
Click to expand...

Actually, it's pretty solid information.....it's got nothing to do with terminal performance and everything to do with obturation and accuracy.
 
Sask Hunter said:
My thought you smoked her and the bullet did not open...I witnessed and ranged a doe for a friend, he shot, she did the exact same thing and we could not recover her and could not believe that the deer he just smoked ran away and would not stop or expire...
Click to expand...

Yeah my brother was sure I hit her, but the next day in the light it was pretty evident it was a miss.

I had good success with the SST last year, I ve heard complaints of the Hornady Shotgun Slugs with the SST not expanding on deer. I only use 100 grains of powder although never chronographed the fps should not be too high?
 
Xs24-7 said:
That is total missinformation. There are numerous different bullets in the PR lineup, each with its own purpose. If you are shooting a lighter charge, go with a QT, or one of the budget hollowpoint bullets and you will get terrific expansion. If you are shooting a heavy load, use Dead centers. They are dseigned for less expansion. The owner of the company shoots a Savage using smokeless using a lot of heavy loads...I shot/witnessed shot at least 6 deer this year with PR Bullets, not one failed to expand, only one didnt pass through(I shot a buck quartering too in the front shoulder at a hard angle, the bullet passed theough the heart and was somewhere in the mess after he was gutted)
I think that most stories about lost deer with "I smoked him placement" are BS, and the shot was not as good as it looked. If you shoot a deer through both lungs, even if the bullet doesnt expand, it isnt going too far.
Click to expand...

I must agree, I have had bullets just pencel hole deer between ribs on both sides and not expand at all and none have ever went more than 100-120 yards.
 
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