centralmainehunters
New member
Every brand of ammo makes claims of the best most effective bullet. But each gun shoots differently and there is no magic bullet. After some trial and error, I discovered that the federal fusion ammo is the most effective from our .223 bolt. This year I used a 25-06 with hornady whitetail ammo (I believe its their interlock bullet). I had my big moment at about 15yards and put the bullet it the best place I could thru the brush with a head on shot. I didn't hit any shoulder bone, just punched hole in the ribs a liitle bigger the a golf ball. I didn't get any pass thru, I never found the bullet, it never touched the other side of the rib cage. I had trouble finding the entrance wound, in fact I felt it before I saw it. I never had any blood to follow, it didn't run out of ear shot fortunately. So although the bullet did exactly what is was supposed to, one shot, dead deer in less than 50 yards, I expected the deer to drop right there, or at least stumble or hesitate. Im still new to the ballistic side of hunting, so perhaps my understanding is incorrect, or was this just a case where the bullet wasn't ideal for the type of shot?