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

[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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[N2TRKYS]

Blood trails are absolutely not overrated for me. They’re essential.

 

[Luke S]

Yeah blood trails are nice where we bear hunt. Some of the death runs described here would probably result in a lost bear if there was no blood to follow. Just really thick brush. I'll probably stick with my 308 for those. Might be overkill but our longest run was maybe 50 yards. Most were shorter and good blood trails if the bear didn't die super fast.

 

[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. View attachment 631743

Blood trail pic [representative of the average trail, some spots there were a couple pin pricks, some spots there was better blood than this]
Entry:
Exit:
Heart and lungs (picture of the heart and lungs outside the body won't upload, but the heart was destroyed and the lungs with decent damage surrounding the heart)

Didn't lose any meat on either shoulder.

 

[Thegman]

Blood trails are absolutely not overrated for me. They’re essential.

Like you say here essentially, for some people/hunting situations they're important, for others, maybe not so much. Can't really be addressed with any one blanket statement I don't think.

When I have my dog with me, which is 90% of the time, they're interesting to follow if they're present, but not really important. The other 10% of the time there are situations where like you, "interesting" sometimes changes to closer to "essential".

 

[N2TRKYS]

Like you say here essentially, for some people/hunting situations they're important, for others, maybe not so much. Can't really be addressed with any one blanket statement I don't think.

When I have my dog with me, which is 90% of the time, they're interesting to follow if they're present, but not really important. The other 10% of the time there are situations where like you, "interesting" sometimes changes to closer to "essential".

When mine run off, that’s the only way for me to find them. Especially, when it’s dark.

 

[Trapperkid]

https://eagleeyeguns.com/500-round-...6n19-5-56-nato-77-grain-tmk-tipped-matchking/
Being a good rokslide citizen they have 8 in stock of 500

 

[fwafwow]

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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I’ve been so scarred from recent archery blood trails and failed tracking jobs that when I hunt with a rifle, I press the easy button and shoot the shoulder.

Good luck tomorrow

 

[macatac]

Shot a nice buck this morning with the 77 grain TMK. He was about 50 yards and went less than 20. Just behind the shoulder hit. Lungs and heart were jello. There was absolutely no blood on entrance and there was not an exit. I attribute some of that to the fact that he did not go far enough to start bleeding. . Sorry I don't have any pics, but the proof in in the cooler.

 

[Mountain_Life]

.223 77tmk, 150 yards, 2750 muzzle velocity. Quartering away with head down, bullet entered right side behind shoulder. Bullet recovered against hide top of neck. Went 10 yards with a heavy blood trail.