.223, 6mm, and 6.5 failures on big game

[gwak06]

I neck shot a small buck Thursday afternoon with a 73gr Eldm out of a 20in 223. Never found him. He showed on on the game camera today. You can see where I hit him. I guess that will be my last neck shot.

 

[Formidilosus]

I neck shot a small buck Thursday afternoon with a 73gr Eldm out of a 20in 223. Never found him. He showed on on the game camera today. You can see where I hit him. I guess that will be my last neck shot.

The spine is low where it meets the body cavity. That placement is well above it.

 

[OneGunTex]

The spine is low where it meets the body cavity. That placement is well above it.

Are you surprised that the wound channel did not fracture the spine with that bullet and placement? Would a different caliber/bullet have produced different results?

I grew up taking neck shots on deer with what were at the time high-velocity cartridges that supposedly produced "shock". Personally switched to lung/heart shots to give me more margin of error in more random field conditions, but I have family that still mainly does it because it makes less of a mess. The above post certainly looks to qualify as "bullet failure" to me

 

[The Guide]

Are you surprised that the wound channel did not fracture the spine with that bullet and placement? Would a different caliber/bullet have produced different results?

I grew up taking neck shots on deer with what were at the time high-velocity cartridges that supposedly produced "shock". Personally switched to lung/heart shots to give me more margin of error in more random field conditions, but I have family that still mainly does it because it makes less of a mess. The above post certainly looks to qualify as "bullet failure" to me

If you don't hit bone, all you have above the spinal column is flesh. Looks like a pretty thin necked deer so you may not have enough flesh to initiate fragmentation before you pass the spine so all you get is a flesh wound with a tiny entrance and larger exit.

Jay

 

[Formidilosus]

Are you surprised that the wound channel did not fracture the spine with that bullet and placement?

No.

Would a different caliber/bullet have produced different results?

Not likely. Though the 73gr ELD-M does not produce quite as wide of wounds as the 77gr TMK.

I grew up taking neck shots on deer with what were at the time high-velocity cartridges that supposedly produced "shock". Personally switched to lung/heart shots to give me more margin of error in more random field conditions, but I have family that still mainly does it because it makes less of a mess.

Sure. However, the neck has a lot of space that isn’t fatal.

The above post certainly looks to qualify as "bullet failure" to me

Bullet failure? If you are stating that, you have a lack of understanding of actual terminal ballistics and animal anatomy.


Is this bullet failure from a 300 Win mag?

 

[Lawnboi]

A small neck may not give the depth needed for upset. Depends on bullet, but they all don’t upset immediately. Most of the reason I don’t take neck shots. Small target especially on a doe.

 

[OneGunTex]

Bullet failure? If you are stating that, you have a lack of understanding of actual terminal ballistics and animal anatomy.

Geez don't make this personal. You'll note that I appended that to a couple of questions about relative performance.

If he expected a dead deer from that shot with that bullet, and he didn't miss, he should be forgiven for seeing it as a failure. That's what this thread is for, isn't it? For examples of where a 223 shot into an animal didn't kill it?

You posted a pic of a dead deer shot in the neck with a 300 WM. That's a success. I've killed/seen dozens of deer killed with neck shots. Success. Which begs the question why his shot "failed." A reasonable answer is "hit a nonvital area", but clearly that isn't /always/ the case, so "terminal ballistics" are a little more complicated than you make it out to be.