Bullet Exit Wounds

Bullet Exit Wounds

  • Total voters
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U

Uncle Buck

New member
I was wondering how you guys felt about bullets that do/do not exit the game you have shot.

Some people insist that a bullet must have an exit (Exit wound) in order to perform properly.

(Counter argument: It waste too much meat)

Some people have said it must stay in the animal in order to work properly.

(Counter argument: That just goes to show you were at the max range and the bullet lost all power, therefore could not exit.)

Other do not care as long as the animal is killed with the bullet used.
(Counter argument: Never heard one)

So what says you? Which do you prefer and why?
 
Exit holes give a better blood trail especially important for handguns. I eat what I catch so excess damage I don't want. Meat damage is more a problem with fragile bullets and high velocity like a 270 130gr within 100 yds.
Absorbing all the energy inside the animal is nonsense ! Damage to vital organs kills an animal not energy.
 
If you don't hit the brain or nervous system, then it takes blood loss to shut down the mechanism.

Bleed enough, and it dies. Always. 100% lethal, no exceptions.

A big hole on both sides will help the drainage.
 
I don't buy the counter point of no exit.

I shot a deer at 25 yds with a 12ga slug (1-1/8oz) and the slug didn't exit. I actually found it at the opposite hip while skinning it. It entered, and actually ran down the hide on the opposite side. Go figure. I can all but guarantee that 25yds is not the extent of the range of this slug (or any slug for that matter).
 
If the animal drops right there, or within a few steps.....does it really matter?

If it doesn't drop at the shot, a second hole could let it bleed out quicker, and make tracking it (if required) easier.

I don't worry about wasting meat since I go for chest shots and get heart/lungs, but I guess to some that could be a consideration.

I honestly haven't thought a whole lot about it, since all of my big game so far (in 20 years of hunting big game) has had an exit hole.
 
I voted if it works who cares. I like an exit and unrecovered bullet. However as long as there is meat in the freezer who cares, the bullet and I as a hunter did the job.
 
Dead is Dead both ways work. either get a good blood trail or transfer all energy or shock to the animal.
 
Absorbing all the energy inside the animal is nonsense ! Damage to vital organs kills an animal not energy.
Click to expand...

I agree. Energy is just something that goes along for the ride to punch through stuff. I prefer to have an innie and an outie.
 
The terminal affect a bullet has on an animal has little to do with whether it exits or not. An exit will help with trailing the animal if it runs, but other than that it really has little or no affect.

Damage to tissue, organs, and the CNS kills the animal. Seriously. If the bullet exits the hide, or rests just under the hide on the far side of said animal really makes no difference in the end result.

As long as it does enough damage to kill the animal on it's way through, and penetrated deep enough to do said damage, the exit, or lack of exit is irrelevant.

But to answer the question, on big game, I like an exit. When a bullet from the cartridges I shoot stays in the animal, it means that the bullet fragmented, and that causes a lot of meat loss. For that reason, I want an expanding bullet that will expand well, but hold together. That combination usually exits with the cartridges I favor for hunting. I have a fairly small collection of recovered bullets from game.

For shooting fur bearers, I don't want the bullet to exit. The meat is of little consequence, but I don't like big exit holes in the fur. A .17 Rem with a 25 grain Berger match exiting the muzzle between 3800-4000 fps does the trick nicely.

So I have experience both ways, and can honestly say that an exit, or lack of exit has very little or no impact on terminal results. It's what the bullet does on the way through that makes a difference.

Daryl
 
I agree with Daryl in there is such a wide variety of bullets & calibers to serve all hunting applications from explosive 17s for for pelt shooting, to .57 Dangerous game calibers that can knock holes through trees.
I voted "who cares so long as the bullet does its job".
I settled on using 150 grain power point bullets in my 308 many years ago for all hunting applications. I know how this round will shoot & have fired well over 1,000 rounds, mainly in hunting & culling.
The 150 grain bullet explodes rabbits. The 150 grain leaves 3 inch plus holes on cats & foxes. On goats the 150 grain bullet leaves golf ball sized exit wounds. On small fallow deer the 150 grain leaves half inch exit wounds.
The 150 grain will occassionally ,but not always pass through a pigs chest, but the results are the same.
On red deer the 150 grain bullet usually just rests under the far side skin.
On Scrub Bulls & Water Buffalo there are no exit wounds.
Same bullet on a variety of game, some exited, some didn't, "who really cares so long as the bullet does its job".
 
I really don't care but if I had to make a call, I'd prefer a bullet to exit. However I'd prefer a bullet to dump all of its energy in the deer for example rather than dumping it all in the ground after it passed through the deer. I can't have it both ways thought I guess.

I guess when you get right down to it, there really isn't a good answer.
 
I have to go with the "doesn't matter as long as it dies quickly group". Here's my experiences.

A few years ago I shot a doe @ about 30 yds with a 165 gr Core Lokt. She bounded out of sight. I waited several minutes and walked down by where she was. No blood. I started to walk the direction she went and saw a bit of hair but no blood. Long story short I walked the direction she went and found her about 25 yds away in a thicket. It was a through the ribs shot just behind the shoulder and there was a 30 cal entrance and a gaping exit wound but no real blood trail to follow.

A couple of years later I shot a buck at 95 yards with the 50 cal muzzleloader. He bounded off and before the smoke cleared I heard him crash. When I walked over there was a blood river showing the direction of his 25-30 sprint before the crash. There was NO exit wound as I shot him between the front legs straight on. Never did find the bullet.

Last year I shot a button buck at about 60 yds with 130 gr. 270 sierra game king boat tail spitzer. For the first time I had a deer drop in his tracks but within a minute he jumped up and ran. Now he only went about 30 yds before crashing. He was shot through the right shoulder and there was NO exit wound but there was a very good blood trail to where he dropped. When I field dressed him, he looked like he had been gut shot. That spitzer must have literally exploded and sprayed shrapnel througout his body cavity.

My last story was an Impala Ram at about 65 yds in South Africa this August. He was shot with a 180 gr Hornady 30-06 right through the point of the left front shoulder quartering to me. The guide's response was "GOOD SHOT" you really shocked him. He staggered about a yd and was dead on the spot. Again no exit wound and we found a good portion of the bullet under the skin on the right side behind the shoulder when we skinned him.


So, that's why I have to side with the guys who select dead is dead:) That's also why I think the bullet and bullet placement have a lot more to do with blood trails than whether or not you get a pass through.

As another aside, I love to hear the arguments between my gunsmith friend who set me up with my outfitter in Africa over the best bullets to use. Because of the gunsmith I bought the Siera spitzers (which my personal jury is still out on) and the Hornady soft points that my African outfitter uses.
 
Cowboy mo,

I used Sierra bullets almost exclusively for about 12 years (late 70's & 80's), and they're a bit too fragile for my taste. Speer kill reliably for me, without the massive meat damage.

;)

Daryl
 
Daryl,

Thanks for your input. As I said my jury is still out on the Sierra's. My African guide says they are the best 'paper punchers' ever made and I like the way my rifle shoots them. I also have been loading some Speers and they shoot equally well. I think I may give the Sierra's another try this season but if they produce explosive results again, I will save them for punching paper.:D
 
To amplify Daryl and Cowboy's remarks, I've also found Sierra and Speer standard bullets explosive at muzzle velocities of 3000fps or greater. I haven't had the same results with Hornady.
 
In a perfect world, a bullet would always expand every last bit of it's energy inside the animal with juuuust enough left to break the skin on the off side and fall out on the ground.

Obviously, it's not a perfect world and having an exit wound, ESPECIALLY from a tree stand, can be a very good thing.

So, the best margin for error is a bullet with enough energy to almost always exit. Maximum expansion, maximum damage, with enough energy to ensure an exit wound under most any normal circumstances.
 
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