Same boat here in CO, I’ve got an 8 twist tikka 243 transitioning into 243 ai as we speak.I may be odd man out here, but I have never cared about or relied on blood trails in all of my rifle hunting, I can’t recall trying to get on one aside from a couple misses as a precaution before walking away
The vast majority of my hunting is done within 2 miles of the ocean on the Oregon coast in the really bad brush zone (a few miles east it gets a little better in general)
Blood trails have never seemed very reliable with a bullet ime, though sometimes I will be surprised with just a mess. That aspect of the 223 doesn’t bother me at all, and I figured my experience was a generalization, but I see it’s not
One thing I have always valued a lot is getting back on target fast, my first rifle critter was a blacktail buck that I shot in the base of the neck and watched him fall faster than gravity in the scope (first rifle I bought was a 7-08 and put a fixed 4x leupold on it)
That has stood out to me for ever, but I will always pick 2 bullets on target vs a blood trail with a firearm
Bear are the only critters that I would like a blood trail on, and coincidentally they are the least likely to get one regardless, but they are always close to a complete shithole and don’t stand around dazed like deer and elk when shot, they haul ass into the worst habitat around and don’t leave as defined tracks like a hooved animal, but it doesn’t seem to matter what you shoot them with, they either barely bleed or create a horror scene, but if the shot is good, you can be pretty confident they aren’t far, they have no will to live with damaged lungs… also why I don’t get fancy on shot angles with bear, I want a good angle on both lungs, and they need to be static or I’m not shooting… a wounded bear in dense brush is over rated, I have been there and don’t care to repeat it (and it was a braked rifle and in that situation I couldn’t wear ear pro and had to shoot that rifle twice without ear protection)
I’m not too concerned about blood trails, I’ve never expected them with a rifle, but I do value well placed shots, staying on target and fast follow up shots.
Unfortunately a 223 isn’t legal for elk here, so I need to figure out something else for my daughter, I’m thinking a compact rokstok and either rebarreling my 308 to a 6creed or getting her an 8 twist 243 and keeping the 308 (most likely) but she’ll be using my 223 for spring bear, and I’ll be using it for all of my rifle hunting