.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

[N2TRKYS]

What circumstances hindered finding it?

Lack of a blood trail on her 50 yard death run. It was broadside and hit ribs only. The bullet was just under the hide on the offside. The recovered bullet weighed 27.5 grains.

I’m gonna give it another go before moving on to another bullet.

 

[NoveskeEnjoyer]

That mirrors my (limited) experience with the TMK as well. Just wondering if you do happen to get a "runner", if a TSX or similar bullet that likely exits leaves a much easier blood trail to follow. I don't have enough experience yet with the 223 on game to know either way.

Same here, really enjoying the 5.56 as a deer cartridge now however!

 

[Thegman]

Blood trails are so variable. Smoked a doe with my bow Wednesday. Rage trypan, cut the top of her heart off, compete pass through. Found a few drops along the way, but nothing great, and certainly nothing that made me think she had a 2+" cut completely though the vitals.

Good point for sure, can't count on any particular result all the time. I'm thinking more "on average", which would require a lot more experience with both types of bullets than I have. The other part of the answer though would be how much difference either makes, which I'm guessing might not be too much at all. I'm probably splitting hairs, but curious about the difference, if any, anyway.

I've had to follow two animals shot with a 55TTSX. Without my dog's help, I don't think I could have followed those two blood trails. In those (very limited) examples, the 77TMK may even have done more damage and produced a better blood trail, IDK.

I should add, as with most cases, bullet placement probably had more to do with having to follow, than the bullet itself.

 

[Marbles]

I hear the way to get good blood trails is to shoot them in the leg, than make sure to push them so it does not clot.

 

[atmat]

I hear the way to get good blood trails is to shoot them in the leg, than make sure to push them so it does not clot.

Lol I hate that I hang around here enough to recognize memes from other threads

 

[amassi]

Good point for sure, can't count on any particular result all the time. I'm thinking more "on average", which would require a lot more experience with both types of bullets than I have. The other part of the answer though would be how much difference either makes, which I'm guessing might not be too much at all. I'm probably splitting hairs, but curious about the difference, if any, anyway.

I've had to follow two animals shot with a 55TTSX. Without my dog's help, I don't think I could have followed those two blood trails. In those (very limited) examples, the 77TMK may even have done more damage and produced a better blood trail, IDK.

I should add, as with most cases, bullet placement probably had more to do with having to follow, than the bullet itself.

I guarantee the tmk would do more damage than the 55 tsx.
Monos on whole are unexceptional. .224 monos the worst of the bunch.
Shot a few cow elk with the 77lrx /22 creedmoor less than 100 yards and the wounding was less than a 223/77tmk at 250/300 yards.
Generally the lrx is Barnes best unleaded offering


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[NoveskeEnjoyer]

I guarantee the tmk would do more damage than the 55 tsx.
Monos on whole are unexceptional. .224 monos the worst of the bunch.
Shot a few cow elk with the 77lrx /22 creedmoor less than 100 yards and the wounding was less than a 223/77tmk at 250/300 yards.
Generally the lrx is Barnes best unleaded offering


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Interesting. Did the LRX give an exit wound?

 

[amassi]

Interesting. Did the LRX give an exit wound?

2 or 3 exits out of 8-9 hits
The exits were unimpressive, maybe 1.5x caliber. Certainly not something I’d count on and those impacts were well over 3000 fps which may explain the lack of an exit (higher velocity, larger frontal area, harder to exit).

 

[Tahr]

I guarantee the tmk would do more damage than the 55 tsx.
Monos on whole are unexceptional. .224 monos the worst of the bunch.
Shot a few cow elk with the 77lrx /22 creedmoor less than 100 yards and the wounding was less than a 223/77tmk at 250/300 yards.
Generally the lrx is Barnes best unleaded offering


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Not sure. The 60 grn Hammer Hunters blow a good exit and mostly leave a blood trail. Certainly on average better than the 77TMK. That doesn't though make them better, just different.

 

[Pilsner]

Man this eA

Arkansas public land mountain buck. AAC 77gr TMK at approximately 60 yards from factory tikka lite. He ran maybe 50 yards which I partially attributed to him chasing a doe at the time.
View attachment 626785
Entry side with shoulder cut away.
View attachment 626786
Exit side. Complete pass through.
View attachment 626788
Blood trail was 18-24” wide in places starting about 15yards from where he was shot so no issues for the ‘tracking.’

I’ve used 75gr gold dot and 75gr ELDs in the past with great success as well. I’ll likely use this AAC loading if it stays availab

Man those Arkansas mountain bucks make ya work hard for em don't they?
Well done.

 

[np307]

62 gr Federal Fusion at 60 yards, 75 yard death run. Decent blood. Will show a wound cavity when I clean her, letting her sit in case she was in estrus.

 

[jadkins223]

Lack of a blood trail on her 50 yard death run. It was broadside and hit ribs only. The bullet was just under the hide on the offside. The recovered bullet weighed 27.5 grains.

I’m gonna give it another go before moving on to another bullet.

If I lose another deer to the 5.56 tmk I’m going to switch as well. For people hunting in thick wooded areas like me a lack of blood trail can be a lost deer easily. I’ll go back to my 7 mag to be honest with a 162 Eldm. I like bang flops.


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[atmat]

If I lose another deer to the 5.56 tmk I’m going to switch as well. For people hunting in thick wooded areas like me a lack of blood trail can be a lost deer easily. I’ll go back to my 7 mag to be honest with a 162 Eldm. I like bang flops.


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Do you get pass-through with the ELD-M? I don’t (albeit smaller caliber).

 

[PNWGATOR]

If I lose another deer to the 5.56 tmk I’m going to switch as well. For people hunting in thick wooded areas like me a lack of blood trail can be a lost deer easily. I’ll go back to my 7 mag to be honest with a 162 Eldm. I like bang flops.


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Unless something bizarre happens ie bullet failing to perform as designed in its impact velocity performance window (which is possible with any bullet) you hit an animal in the chest with a 77TMK it’s dead.

 

[jadkins223]

Unless something bizarre happens ie bullet failing to perform as designed in its impact velocity performance window (which is possible with any bullet) you hit an animal in the chest with a 77TMK it’s dead.

I agree sir. But out of my 5 kills so far the shortest blood trail was 30 yards and the other 4 were well over 70-80 yards. One ran 120 or so. In thick woods a 70-80 yard track is near impossible without blood. You can walk right past a deer and not see it in a thicket.


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[jadkins223]

Do you get pass-through with the ELD-M? I don’t (albeit smaller caliber).

With the 7 mag yes absolutely. It’ll blow the opposite side off. It’s brutal.


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[Formidilosus]

I agree sir. But out of my 5 kills so far the shortest blood trail was 30 yards and the other 4 were well over 70-80 yards. One ran 120 or so. In thick woods a 70-80 yard track is near impossible without blood. You can walk right past a deer and not see it in a thicket.


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Why don’t you put it through the shoulder and spine?

 

[amassi]

Not sure. The 60 grn Hammer Hunters blow a good exit and mostly leave a blood trail. Certainly on average better than the 77TMK. That doesn't though make them better, just different.

“Good” being subjective
Out of 30 or so hammer exits I’ve seen most were a little larger than caliber unless the shank hits a bone on the way out. The best hammer exit ever was when one clearly tumbled and exited perfectly sideways.
Blood trails are very much over rated, this thread especially.


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[rabbithuntr]

Blood trails are weird we had a guy shoot a buck last year that left a significant blood trail for over a 100 yds we can to a spot where he had stood for a bit with three puddles (entry exit and mouth/nose). After that we couldn’t find another drop looked for hours and never found the buck.


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[jadkins223]

Why don’t you put it through the shoulder and spine?

Old habits I guess. As a bow hunter I am just so use to tucking everything behind the shoulder. Going tomorrow again. Will aim for shoulders and report back. A bang flop would be sweet


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